12 best steam irons that make light work of stubborn creases in your clothes
12 best steam irons that make light work of stubborn creases in your clothes
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For hard-to-banish wrinkles and creases, this iron was hard to beat. It saw off stubborn creases easily, and the tapered tip was fab at getting into tight corners. School shirts looked brand new after a going over with this power steam machine – and the button groove meant minimal fuss when ironing. As well as traditional ironing, you can do vertical steaming with this iron, and it’s pretty versatile in other ways, too. You can adjust the temperature on the dial (useful, as it did get astonishingly hot, so beware, kids and novice ironers) and the amount of steam it jets out. The steam function was absolutely drip-free, too. Those in hard-water areas will appreciate the self-clean function and anti-scale cartridge.
This iron is a great all-rounder – perhaps a bit on the heavy side, but we’ll forgive it as it was still easy to manoeuvre. Designed to be easy to store, this is a great iron if you’re short on space, as the cable tucks away neatly and the plug tucks into the base. Although compact, it’s a full-size machine, making ironing a load of washing relatively quick. There’s a 320ml water tank on board, and you can opt for dry or steam ironing. While dry ironing, you can use the steam shot or you can spritz water on garments to get out really dried-in wrinkles. We found the dry mode did an adequate job – our washing looked like it had been ironed, for sure – but the steam mode was much more effective at giving it that crisp look.
The iron is pretty lightweight, and it glided well over all fabrics. We liked that there’s a one-temperature control, so it’s safe for all ironable fabrics, giving us peace of mind. It’s also a good iron for those who are new to the game (hello, students). We found the Tefal’s high pressure iron an absolute game changer when it came to ironing. The steam generator base has a 1.2l tank, which meant we could get through huge piles of laundry without refilling. The iron took just moments to heat up – no more than a standard steam iron, in fact.
We loved the smart setting, which detects when the iron is moving and blasts steam, and then stops when the iron isn’t moving. We found it provided enough steam that we didn’t need to do both sides of garments – especially handy when ironing bed linen and other large items. It also stops steaming automatically when it’s upright, which is a very handy safety feature. One last thing to mention is it has a headlight on it, which sounds gimmicky, but is very useful for showing up wrinkles, especially if you’re ironing in less-than-perfect lighting conditions. The price tag of almost £400 may be eye-watering but could still be worth every penny to die-hard ironing perfectionists, who are sure to love this machine.
Our highly discerning tester was blown away by this steam generator iron. At the end of the test period, they said they’d “highly recommend it”, which is not an easy accolade to achieve. The iron itself looks smart – all black with some rose-gold-coloured trim. The slots in the base unit enable you to tuck in the flex and the steam cable neatly when it’s stowed away. As for the 2l reservoir, we found it to be easy to fill – it slots out horizontally and slots back in easily.
The iron comes with different modes, including the iCare mode, which makes sure all ironable fabrics will be safe; and a turbo mode for creases that are really dried in. However, during testing, we found the model to be so efficient, we barely touched the modes – the iron heated up quickly, and is so lightweight it glided easily over all fabrics. This machine is certainly an investment but, if you’re particular or do a lot of ironing, we think it’s worth it.
For those who are new to steam generator irons and are baulking slightly at the price, this Beldray is a great entry-level option. It’s considerably easier on the purse than some of the other steam generator irons we tested for this review, and it did a very decent job of our laundry. The 1.5l water tank took around a minute or so to get up to full steam. You can adjust the temperature on the iron using a traditional dial, and that’s all the variables there are. The trigger button is well positioned, so you can squeeze it while you iron.
The soleplate was pretty friction-free – while it didn’t glide quite as freely as some of the other steam generators here, rest assured it didn’t catch or rumple the fabrics. Nor did it get overly hot and leave shine on the clothes. You can also use this as a vertical steamer on hanging items, which is handy. If you want to do ironing away from the mains power, this Tower corded and cordless iron offers you that functionality. If you’re doing a big load of ironing, and battery power isn’t going to see you through the whole lot, you have the option of plugging it into the base charger and using the whole thing.
