I linked to that one as a comparison price wise . I'm less impressed with the amount of steam holes a iron has, rather it's ability to produce a continuous flow of steam.The only place I need steam is at the tip, as you glide the iron forward the dry part of the sole plate irons over the portion the the tip steamed, steam, press. I hope I'm making sense. I presently own two irons, Rowenta steamium and a Rowenta with separate tank, reason, their good at vertical steaming as well and general ironing. I will be purchasing another semi professional unit with a separate tank. If a person wanted one iron reasonably priced, I would recommend as others have the Rowenta steamium/steamforce. The reason I'm purchasing another pro model, probably Reliable brand, would be for it's weight. I, and I guess, many tailors prefer hefty irons and the reservoir provides up to 1 1/2 hours of ironing. Heavy irons require less bearing down and I find that a benefit especially when doing suits/jackets and shirts as well. Again,I use a Rowenta when I need bursts of steam when holding the iron vertically. I,m not proposing anyone should have three irons, just my preferences for their respective advantages and to provide further info about ironing.I got the link up now.
https://imageshack.com/i/ex6vRWFjj
You also show a floor type of system (pictured above). Any idea as to what the advantages are of this type of system (other than having a larger water reservoir)?
Rowenta brags about their 400 steam holes.
https://imageshack.com/i/iqQlocTQj
The DeLonghi you showed :
https://imageshack.com/i/idCYBct1j
Meanwhile the LauraStar looks like this:
https://imageshack.com/i/p3IW8HCZp
Just to compare, here's the Philips I mentioned earlier.
![Image]()
Philips makes an issue as to thier self-adjusting temperature function but I'm not sure if this is a very good idea or a very bad one. Good houskeeping rated it best but I'm not sure how much that's really Worth as they don't go into why/how they came up with such...
Overall Winner (score 91/100)
Philips Perfect Care Azur GC4914
Features: 2600W, 50g/min continuous steam, 190g boost, 1.65kg when full, T-Ionic glide soleplate, 350ml water tank
Good Points
OptimalTemp technology means you can iron any fabric without changing the temperature, and we found the temperatures very constant
350ml tank meant we could iron for more than 15 minutes before it needed refilling
Good at removing creases
One of the lightest irons we testedDrawbacks
The slowest to reach temperature of all the irons we tested, taking an average of one minute 59 seconds
Have you ever tried to iron a suit/shirt/pair of trousers with an Omega? How often do you strap your iron to your wrist?
Yes, and on my Omega's as well.
Many people here don't really trust cleaners to do their laundry. As to the math... At $5 a shirt, 7 shirts a week, it's $35 a week. 52 weeks at $35=$1'820. For shirts only. No trousers. No getting wrinkles out of jackets. No ironing the bedlinens. etc. That's the cost of a high end board/iron system that can handle pretty much anything (and they're good for at least 2 years until the warranty runs out and most likely much, much longer). Of course dry cleaners will save you quite a bit of time over any machine but they're hardly cheaper than high end irons, steam sytems, etc..
A truly good working iron must have the water tank separate from the iron itself. Several companies make this style, here is one example:
I've seen this mentioned before but I have no idea as to why this is. Do you have any further information as to the issue that I can try to research online?
Think about it. A relatively large tank steams the water. Obviously , a separate boiler tank system provides more power than any compact self contained steam iron is able to achieve.
The water tank is larger and can be more pressurized which delivers more steam. The iron itself only needs to deliver the heat. It's often lighter.
I'm not referring to the iron itself. I have a nice German made Rowenta that has served me well for years. I also understand the math of DIY vs. dry cleaner. To be clear, I'm asking specifically about the vacuum ironing board. I have a decent one that cost me about $50 and has a surface that is not slippery and holds my garments (shirts, suits, pants, and every other thing I can think of ironing) in place while I'm ironing. What does the vacuum ironing board do that is so different to justify 50X the cost of my current ironing board?
There are two types of vacuum boards, one is vacuum only, the other is vacuum/ up air. The purpose of the vacuum is to draw the steam vapor down through the fabric puling the moisture away at the same time cooling the fabric by drawing in cool dry air. A nice feature when steaming / pressing. To explain up air, it's easier to understand if you've ever watched an experienced presser either at a dry cleaner of garment factory operate the large pressing machines, after pressing with the upper portion of the machine he will then purge the garment with air and sometime purge while pressing lightly to avoid pressing marks in the garment say around the pockets. The air blows up through the garment causing it to billow while gently pressing it. Vacuum will hold a garment in place to a degree but that's not it's primary function. To some like myself, having become proficient at pressing, steaming, sponge and press, these systems are ideal. There's a little more to it but I've tried to address your question about the vacuum boards. As for ROI I think that's been answered. I do send my clothes to the cleaners when necessary, garments need to be cleaned periodically to rid them of odors and such but that's infrequent, I happen to be fortunate in that my local cleaner is good, others can speak to their own experiences good or bad. I cant see myself running my clothes to the cleaners every time they need a pressing or sponge and press when I'm capable of doing it myself. Next time you visit your local cleaner ask if he or she does sponge and press. Hope I've answered your question. I've been long winded here so I'll leave it at that.
I have one similar to that one, older model. Their nice, however the iron itself is very light, at least mine is, and I prefer heavy irons. But if you don't want to invest heavily in a system that will work quite nicely.
That is a nice unit from what I see. I suppose you could call it entry level for lack of a better term and priced reasonably. What I like about it is the heavy iron.
If you use distilled water or at least filtered water it becomes less of a problem. What I do is add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda with each fill and that also helps. I don't remember where I picked that up. My other Rowenta has the self cleaning feature but to be honest, all it does is purge the unit with higher pressure bursts to clear the holes. It works better by adding a little vinegar to the water and use the feature, but then you have to run clean water after to rinse it out.
Thank you for the tips. Very helpful.
Your quite welcome.
