NOW CLOSED: Philips PerfectCare Xpress Iron Feedback review thread PLUS your chance to win your own one (RRP £120)

[AnnMumsnet]

This is the feedback thread for the 20 MNers recruited to take part in the product test for the new Philips PerfectCare Xpress - Philips say this is "the World's first pressurised steam iron, with "revolutionary OptimalTEMP technology and compact steam generator, it's built for powerful crease removal and is faster than any other steam iron, as tested by independent institute, DWI, June 2011".

"PerfectCare Xpress has no settings, just one perfect temperature that's safe on all ironable fabrics, even delicates. Iron from jeans to silk, to linen, to cotton, to cashmere...in any order, without having to adjust the temperature, it's 100% scorch proof! Plus with an automatic motion steam sensor inside ironing has never been easier. Compact and convenient for storage it's perfect for ironing small loads, every day"

Seeing as this was a very popular product test and so many of you applied - as well as it being nearly Christmas, we twisted the arm of the Philips team and are pleased to say we have another one up for grabs! if you're not a tester, all you need to do to be in with a chance of winning one is - on this thread - pass on your best ever ironing tip or share your worst ironing disaster. Everyone who does will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a PerfectCare Xpress iron of their own (RRP £120).

If you are a tester, please answer the following questions and share with the MN community your thoughts on the iron.
Please also add a review here.

~ Firstly - what is your general opinion of ironing?
~ First impressions - what did you think? How easy to follow were the instructions?
~ First use - what did you try it on? A mountain or did you ease it in slowly? How did it handle the first few items?
~ Did you have to adjust how you iron at all? How did you find not changing the settings?
~ Any comments on ease of use? Including size, weight, storage etc?
~ Any one else in the family used it? What did they think?
~ Is this an iron you think you'd recommend to other people (should the conversation arise)?
~ How would you rate the value for money?
~ Any other comments on the product?

thanks
MNHQ

[Kittycatcat]

Firstly - what is your general opinion of ironing?
HATE HATE HATE IT. I usually leave it as long as possible and then of course it takes even longer.

~ First impressions - what did you think? How easy to follow were the instructions?
I was expecting it to be small but its bigger than my iron because it's a steam generator. My iron is just your basic rubbish as i now know! I like the look of it. It feels unexpectadly heavy. VERY easy to use. Plug it in. Wait for blue light to stop flashing. GO.

~ First use - what did you try it on? A mountain or did you ease it in slowly? How did it handle the first few items?
I was brave. I went for it. Didnt even sort my ironing first. Hubby's polo shirts have never ironed so well. They looked great. I went from polo shirts to shirts to my more sensitive clothes and it ironed all of them well. I did still feel i wanted to spray the shirts wet again first, but i dont have a tuble drier so my clothes crease alot.

~ Did you have to adjust how you iron at all? How did you find not changing the settings?
I used to sort my clothes so the 'hot' setting was at the bottom of the pile and the 'cool' setting at the top, no need! Loved not having to faff about. This definately saves time.

~ Any comments on ease of use? Including size, weight, storage etc?
Bigger than my previous iron, but feels nicer, glides well. It's heavy. My arm actually ached after the second time i used it on a larger pile. Boy is it thirsty. It got through several 'cups' of water. The second time i used a measuring jug. Think i refilled it once. The second time i noticed water marks on the clothes i was ironing and it wasnt easy to iron them out. And the room got very warm. It steams so much my glasses steamed up. I didnt notice much difference when using the steam boost, opting to wet the clothes instead. It's also incredibly noisy. Hubby commented he couldn't hear the tele! Nor could i tbh. When the water runs low it clunks! A warning light or beep would be nicer.

~ Any one else in the family used it? What did they think?
Nobody else irons

~ Is this an iron you think you'd recommend to other people (should the conversation arise)?
I dont have much to compare it to. I think i would as it made my previous iron look pathetic, and it did what i asked. Sped up the process and made the job more enjoyable.

~ How would you rate the value for money?
Given my hatred for ironing i would never have spent this much. I'd say it's a good iron but maybe a tad overpriced due to the thirst and noise.

~ Any other comments on the product?
Thank you very much for letting me try it out. It's a vast improvement on my last one :)

[HoneyLovesCake]

Worst ironing disaster I recently couldn't be bothered to get the ironing board out & ironed something on the bedroom carpet. But it's a cheap acrylic carpet & the iron was too hot so now the whole carpet needs replacing as I've scorched an iron mark into it. My OH was not happy!

[BlastOff]

Best ironing tip - get someone else to do it.

Worst ironing disaster - wasn't me, but someone I was at Uni with ironed her trousers in a hurry because she was late for an exam... Whilst she was still wearing them...

[Littlechangeforthis]

I have been testing the iron now for the past month.

It isn't Particulary bigger or bulkier than my existing iron, although I wish with the advances in technology someone would design a method for keeping the flex tidy rather than Havibg to wrap it around the iron.

I love the fact that there are no buttons to mess about with, enabling me to iron delicate tops and jeans without having to wait for iron to heat up/cool down

It seems to be taking slightly longer to iron shirts, not sure whether this is due to temperature restriction.

Overall I like it, easy to use, comfortable and nothing burnt so far!

Thanks Phillips and MN

[PinkPepper]

~ Firstly - what is your general opinion of ironing?

I like having ironed clothes - but not so much the ironing :)
In theory it's great, stick tv on, you can do it any pace, but I never get around to making the time, then stare at piles of clothes / ironing board in the way of everything and it starts to get on my nerves.

~ First impressions - what did you think? How easy to follow were the instructions?

Looked good, nice and sreamlined but then I guess most irons are! We had a previous steam phillips one and it looked and felt quite similar.

~ First use - what did you try it on? A mountain or did you ease it in slowly? How did it handle the first few items?

We always have a ready waiting mountain at the moment so got started on that - did a t-shirt and then some trousers, they really didn't get 'shiny' at all which I was impressed about

~ Did you have to adjust how you iron at all? How did you find not changing the settings?

Didn't really have to adjust how I ironed, it gets through the water quick so maybe had to fill it couple more times, I was quicker to iron things I may not have before - lighter fabrics and trousers mainly as I wasn't worried about damaging them.

I didn't really change settings that much on my old iron so can't say I noticed a big difference there.

~ Any comments on ease of use? Including size, weight, storage etc?
It's quite heavy - this is good in that it's easier to put enough pressure on the clothes, but it might be a bit much for anyone with weaker hands. I liked the lights and that there wasn't much to it - just plug in and go.
It is quite big but our old iron was the same size so storage isn't any harder - I think it'd be hard to get a good iron any smaller. I find it makes a lot of steam and I had to be a bit more careful placing my clothes so I wouldn't burn my fingers - but this is a positive really as shows the


~ Any one else in the family used it? What did they think?
My partner has mostly used it, he's impressed. He chose the original phillips that we had and he likes the auto shut off features and the continuous steam.

~ Is this an iron you think you'd recommend to other people (should the conversation arise)?
Yes - I have discussed it with a couple of people, but they are cautious to spend so much on an iron.

~ How would you rate the value for money?
Quite good - I think a basic iron is fine, and gets the job done. As we already had a good iron (I think it was about £80 new) I think we were accustomed already to the benefits of continuous steam and high power. I think it probably is value for money over time as our old iron has lasted great. But it's a big initial outlay when you can get irons for less than £10

~ Any other comments on the product?
I'm pleased with it - I like just plugging it in, waiting for light to stay on - and getting to the ironing, without checking settings or worrying about sorting my ironing pile. It's made me much more likely to iron the odd item - whereas before I wouldn't turn the iron on unless I had a few things or needed something specific. I even ironed some of the babies things to soften them up!

[ISawSantaKissingThePortlyPinUp]

My best ironing tip is to leave a huge pile out whenever you ironing obsessive grandmother comes to visit, it'll be done within minutes, knickers and bras too

Worst ironing tip, wear clothes when ironing, I've burnt myself in tender areas several times when rushing to iron something to wear immediately.
I just let dp iron now.

[Caerlaverock]

How can an iron cost so much? I don't iron anyway, polyester is my friend [spontaneously combusts]

[RichTeaAreCrap]

Best ironing tip - use a good iron, have some trash tv recorded, set up the ironing board and do it while watching the tv. You won't notice how awful it is and the time will pass quicker! I always try and do just a little bit every day - if it mounts up I dread doing it. I also set a time limit - so I iron for an hour and then have a break and make sure I go and have a coffee, then do another hour.

Worst ironing tip - do not buy a nice new iron then decide to try it out on everything you have. If you put it on an expensive new fluffy dressing gown on a hot setting it will make a nice scratchy patch and ruin it!

[justaweeone]

Best one-get your husband to iron his own shirts
Worst one- use an ironing board not the carpet!

[Isaidhangonamin]

Best ironing tip: delicate or awkward to iron clothes can be steamed on the hanger. Make sure you are not holding the hanger (I hang mine on the door frame) and that you steam with An upwards motion rather than down wards.

Worst disaster? Melting my fave jumpsuit when I was about 14

[ComradeJing]

I already own one of these and I love it (though would happily win another for my lovely mum.)

Best ironing tip is to only iron collars and cuffs if you're wearing a jumper over the top of a shirt.

[WannaSplitAPineapple]

Worst ironing disaster - when I was young my mum repeatedly told me off for putting a towel on the floor and ironing on that as apposed to getting the ironing board out. As a teenager I completely ignored her. Then one day whilst ironing on the floor I knocked the iron over and burnt a hole in her brand new carpet! I now use the ironing board.

[mummyofcutetwo]

Best ironing tip: don't put off doing the ironing - a growing mountain of clothes just isn't motivating!

Worst ironing disaster: When I was a student I used to make a lot of my own clothes. One day I managed to weld some fabric and wonderweb to the bottom of my mum's new iron. My mum's great - so laid back and forgiving (as she knew it was a genuine accident). I must have spent a small fortune on "solutions" to the problem, none of which were entirely successful. It probably would have been cheaper to just buy a new iron...

[AnnMumsnet]

Thanks for all the amazing tips - BetsyBlingtastic has been selected as the winner of the PerfectCare Xpress Iron. Well done!