The modern variety in the home appliance market provides great opportunities for customers with different purchasing power. To make the right choice of iron, you need to familiarize yourself with popular brands and the main characteristics of the product.
Popular brands
Shelves of shops are filled with irons of various brands - from those that are at everyone's ears, to completely unknown ones. Brands such as Philips, Roventa, Tefal, Bosch, Brown, Mulineks have long established themselves. It is the models of these brands that are in high demand today, offering consumers high-quality products.
Soleplate
If you are tormented by the question "which iron is better to buy", you need to look at the possible options for the sole, which is constantly in contact with the fabric, which means that it is responsible for the convenience of ironing and for the safety of linen. The sole should be non-stick, durable, should slip well, just clean and not scratch things. Therefore, the choice of iron largely depends on the material of the sole.
Modern manufacturers produce irons with various coatings of the working surface, which have both advantages and disadvantages. Ceramic sole glides easily, but not strong enough. The lightweight aluminum surface heats up quickly and cools just as quickly, but it can become deformed and scratched, resulting in tissue damage. A Teflon coating will prevent clothing from being scorched, but gliding will not be good enough. Sapphire spraying makes the sole very durable and scratch resistant.
Each company is constantly developing to obtain the optimal combination of qualities necessary for the sole and offers its own proprietary coatings. Typically, the choice of iron is determined by what is preferable - strength or sliding quality.
Tefal is known for metal-ceramic soles with perfect glide. Brown focuses on strength and produces soles coated with sapphire powder.
The popular Philips brand has developed composites coatings that combine both strength and good glide. A good solution is to choose a Philips iron with an aluminum sole that heats up quickly and evenly. A special coating is applied to the aluminum surface, significantly increasing its strength.
Until recently, irons with soles made of durable stainless steel were used. Such an iron is quite heavy, it gets dirty quickly, and it can burn the fabric. Modern manufacturers, such as Mulinex and Roventa, continue to produce models with a polished steel sole, improving the products of chrome plating and laying grooves next to the steam holes, which leads to the creation of a steam cushion that improves sliding.
Power iron
An important characteristic of the iron is the power of the electric heater - TENA. For a household iron, it is recommended to choose models with a power indicator from 1500 to 2000 watts.
Iron functions
Modern irons, unlike their predecessors, have various functions that increase the quality of ironing and facilitate the work of the hostess. The choice of iron depends largely on personal preferences.
The convenient humidification function greatly simplifies the smoothing process. There are two types of humidification - this is spraying water onto the surface of the fabric and supplying steam during ironing from the spout of the iron and / or a special hole in the working surface.
Strongly dried clothes and items made of dense fabrics are recommended to be ironed with the help of "steam boost". For ironing coats, jackets, curtains, the function of vertical steaming is intended.
For those who have to iron a lot, the ideal solution would be to choose an iron with a steam generator, with which you can steam things without removing them from the hanger.
In some models, an anti-lime cassette is installed, which prevents limescale holes in the sole when using ordinary tap water.
To iron delicate fabrics, irons with an anti-drip system have been developed, the principle of which is to automatically close the steam valve when operating in low temperature mode.
Today, models with automatic shutdown have appeared, which will eliminate the danger with the iron left unchecked. This function will turn off the device after 10 minutes, if it is in this vertical position all the time without movement, and after 10-30 seconds, if it stands on the sole.