favorite "new" iron

[scott55405]

I'm glad to read the good reviews about the "pressure" irons. I have considered getting one of those, partly because they hold more water, and because the new Rowenta Professional does not have a removable tank, which you will always want once you have. I think someone above mentioned another brand that has it however.

I have a Rowenta Professional from about 1989. It does indeed say it was made in West Germany, so it was before they tore down the wall. For that reason alone I'll always keep it, along with my Hobart KitchenAid mixer.

Anyway, that iron also says to use tap water. The iron works great and although it does throw water sometimes, it's not a problem for me, I just iron over the spot until it dries. Apparently where the issue comes in with that is there are certain fabrics that can be damaged by this.

Old GE irons are great, so if that Black and Decker Classic is still made, I think that would be great for a reasonable price. Sometimes you can find nice older irons on Ebay, probably people that got more than one for weddings and so forth.

 

[sudsmaster]

I visited Costco today and they have the Rowenta Professional 1700 watt iron, made in Germany, for $70. I read the manual that came with it, and it says never to use distilled water, that it might cause the internal parts to separate and leak. Well... I've been using distilled in my older Rowenta for several years without a problem... but since I can't locate the manual I guess I'll start using tap water in it just in case. I have to say I don't recall the owner's manual ever stating not to use distilled water, but my memory may be a bit hazy on that.

I do like the most recent one at Costco - it looks like it has a bigger reservoir, and it also looks like it would be easier to fill - it has a little door over a fairly large fill hole instead of a labyrinth fill hole.

 

[jeffg]

We have a Rowenta Advancer (1800W) and love it. Made in Germany. Be sure to use it on its own circuit (20A preferable to 15A). It's heavy, and creases so effectively you have to be careful (errant creases made with the iron are sometimes hard to remove).

The manual recommends tap water, not distilled. We split the difference and use bottled spring water, and have never had spotting, sputtering or clogging problems.

 

[sudsmaster]

I went online and found an owner's manual that is close enough to the Professional (1200 watt) model I have. Yep, it says use distilled water only, or the unit could split and leak. Well, mine hasn't started leaking so I'm switching it back to tap water (which is what I recall using when I first got it) and hopefully it will be fine.

Thanks for mentioning the requirement here. I would have gone on using 100% distilled until the iron started to leak!

LOL.

 

[sudsmaster]

Although the 1700 watt model currently in stock at Costco is starting to look tempting...