Rechargeable iron, any good?

jamjar,

I need to get a new iron, and thought that a rechargeable iron, with no lead to catch in the ironing, would be a good idea. They also seem cheap, £20 - £30. Does anyone have any experience with these, and would they recommend one?

lindens

If I tell you mine is in the attic now - does that give you a clue?
My biggest gripe was the recharging unit was big, and it needed recharging quite often, but it wouldnt sit on the ironing board anywhere without falling off. If your ironing set up means you can have a table or something next to the end of the ironing board, maybe. I found connecting and disconnecting the iron all the time whilst ironing just slowed me down. It was more frustrating than having a cord IYSWIM.
I had a cord tidy which was a springy thing that clamped to my board and i put the cord in it and kept the cord out of the way.

chloe99_2

If I told you my recharging unit went in the bin within a month and the main iron continues to provide excellent service 5 years later - would that help as well? :rotfl:

jamjar,

Thank you for replying. I'm getting the idea! Rechargeable is not the way to go, so what is the best iron to get?

chloe99_2

Well, i know it's not for everyone but i finally went for a steam generator. You need a fairly sturdy board with a big enough area to put your iron on or maybe a table or counter right beside you. They are absolutely not a gimmick and i will never go back to a regular steam iron - my ironing time has been cut by at least 50%.

Here's one that looks excellent - if you compare it with others it is much more powerful (look at bar pressure and grams g of steam) and a very very good price too. No idea what reviews/users are saying about it though.

http://www.empiredirect.co.uk/content/products/details/index~modelcode~ROW-DG7140~dept~smallapps~subdept~IRONING~brand~rowenta.htm

rowenta dg7140 on https://www.empiredirect.co.uk
Sarah

chloe99_2

ps - try and check if you can fill the rowenta up if it runs out of steam whilst you're using it.

tomstickland

I bought an £80 Phillips steam generator and think it's amazing.

Stompa

chloe99 wrote: »

If I told you my recharging unit went in the bin within a month and the main iron continues to provide excellent service 5 years later - would that help as well? :rotfl:

Same here.

jackieb

I had one a few years ago. It was hopeless. No use for anything big like sheets or jeans. I always had to wait until it reheated.

I have a Tefal steam generator and it's great. It can be refilled when it's still on. My old model had to be turned off, and then it was kind of scary taking off the knob, incase you got a scoosh of heat come out lol.

The link to the Rowenta iron doesn't look like you can refill it when on. It has a knob like my old one. One thing about the Tefal that I do't like, is the non-stick surface. When it gets dirty it's a nightmare to get clean. Probably one with a stainless steel soleplate would be better.

TimBuckTeeth

I don't have one, but a rechargeable iron simply can't produce the amount of heat required for normal use. They might be OK for single items as a light duty travel iron.

Mains powered irons use 1000W power or more. To compete with this a battery pack for a rechargeable one would need to be the size of a car battery and would still not last very long.

nick74

In my limited experience of these they are not "rechargeable" as such, ie they don't contain a battery. "Cordless" is a more accurate description.

They have a base which is connected to the mains, and can only heat up when sat on this base. Once you pick them up and start using them they slowly cool down, and only re-heat when you put it back onto the base.
Always seemed a bit pointless to me!