Has anyone got an iron that they feel is a prince among irons? I need to one that both works and lasts.

[Hassled]

I don't know what I do to them - I've tried upper price range, and now I go with cheap (in an almost disposable/landfill-unfriendly way), and have yet to come across an iron that makes me think I've hit the iron Holy Grail.

I live in a very very hard water area which I suspect is the root of the problem, and haven't had great success with limescale removers - eventually they clog up completely and become steam-free.

How long is the average iron meant to last for anyway?

Any recommendations gratefully received.

I have a morphy Richards steam iron one that sits on a hot plate had it for about 5 years and its the best thing ever

Do you mean something like this?. 5 years - I can only dream of 5 years! Many thanks.

Yeah very similar I couldn't live without it now

i got a Philips Azur iron after a good review on Which, it is very good and has lasted well. It was about £60.

Last time they tested irons, 14 of the Philips irons (but not all) were best buys. The scores seem to be unrelated to the prices.

Handle a few and see what you think.

p.s

water softener here. Yoiu can also buy 5 litres of deionised water in the motoring aisle at Tesco (is used for car batteries) cheaper than bottles of ironing water in the laundry aisle.

Mines a tefal steam generator pro. It's brilliant. Cuts ironing time in half. I think it was about £180. Worth every penny.

A Philips perfect care steam generator iron. With deionised water from Robert dyas. You don't need to adjust the tempreture, very quick to iron.

Many thanks for the suggestions - and I must get my act together with the deionised water. I nearly threw the current iron against the wall today.

Have no suggestions as in the same boat so will check out some of the ones above (and any more that are suggested).

Another fan of the Tefal steam generator iron. I couldn't live without mine. Worth every penny.

Philips Azur makes you almost want to iron. It sort of does it for you. All other irons are puny wretches in comparison.

But I'd love a steam cleaner too.

Yep big tefal steam generator fan. My DSis bought a cheaper version at same time. She's been through 3-4 New irons since. Seemed ridiculously expensive but had it for years, and have definitely spent less in long run than my poor sis.