Buying a new iron

[custardlover]

It's been a long time since I bought a new iron but now I have to as the old one (purchased because it was the cheapest in the Argos catalogue when I was skint) is now steaming rusty limescale on my clothes (I've descaled twice and no difference).

So, now that I am a grown up, and don't have to always choose the very cheapest; what makes a good iron? Any recommendations?

Maybe I don't even need one; should I just get a steamer?

Or just stop ironing...

If you do enough ironing to justify the cost, a steam generator iron. Go for best reviews and look after it. Look for decent sized water tank to avoid having to refill so often and easy descaling if you live in an area with hard water.

My current one is a Morphy Richards, and it replaced a Tefal. I have a large ironing board, but iron next to the tumble dryer. The iron sits on that - it's another consideration as they're heavy.

As above. Definitely get a steam generator one. It beeps to remind you to descale and whizzes through the ironing pile as the iron itself does not need to be temperature adjusted. You do not need to stand it on end in between ironing strokes and you can iron straight over motifs and very delicate fabrics. You can just use the steam to gently remove creases from garments while they are still on the hanger. I used it on daughter in law’s wedding dress and all the bridesmaids’ dresses. With a good sized tank it saves having to keep refilling. I love my Phillips one.

Do you have any links? I'm also in need but unsure what to buy!

It’s a Phillips perfectcare compact essential which I bought from Curry’s. Not sure what I paid as I returned a Tefel ordinary steam iron one which was not ‘fit for purpose’ in my opinion. It just never got hot enough to do the job. No quibbles whatsoever as I produced the receipt and was allowed to put the credit towards a different one. I opted for the smaller of two tanks which was less bulky.