'Board' of wonky ironing?? (Vileda Caprice Ironing Board with Heat and Steam Management)

Member Name: mossy51

Product:	Vileda Caprice Ironing Board with Heat and Steam Management
Date:	30/01/09 (1211 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A stable ironing board with a good amount of space to complete the dreaded task on.

Disadvantages: It squeaks when I put it up and down...I'm fairly sure it's the board not me!!

I decided enough was enough and I wasn't going to put up with my wonky cheap ironing board any longer. So just before Christmas I decided it was time to really invest in a good ironing board to try and make the chore of ironing a little easier on myself.

I brought the Vileda Caprice Ironing Board with Heat and Steam Management from Argos for just under £45. A big investment but in my opinion worth it!!

* Features and Experience *

One of the features of this ironing board is the Heat and Steam system which makes ironing more efficient and quicker...isn't that what any woman or man wants from their ironing board.

The Heat and Steam system is in effect the 10mm thick felt underlay which retains and sends the heat back into the item your ironing. It's the equivalent of putting foil under the cover of your normal ironing board (I haven't personally done this so I don't know how it compares). In an ideal world this would mean that you'd only have to iron one side of the item however personally I still feel I need to iron each side once to get a well pressed item.

The board has a really useful sized ironing surface, (Length is 140, width is 45cm). Which gives a great amount of space for ironing items from clothes to bedding. It comes with a fitted cotton cover and as mentioned above a 10mm thick underlay, the underlay also helps to make ironing smoother.

The ironing board is multi-position and has a height adjustment of up to 96cm and when folded it's height is 170cm.

One fantastic feature is the release levers which are on both sides of the board making it so much easier to adjust the height and fold it away when you've finished with it (great feature for left and right handed people). The ironing boards I've had in the past have only ever had release levers on one side and I would never go back to a cheaper ironing board with less features again!!

The release levers on both sides are connected by a thick steel rod and the handles are made of thick dark grey durable plastic and appear to be good quality.

The board is very stable and a delight to use (if ironing can ever be delightful).

The frame is made up of large tubal pieces of metal (see picture above) and are painted a metallic grey colour. Bearing in mind the size of the ironing board and the thick metal it is constructed of to make it so stable it is in my opinion only marginally heavier to carry than a normal ironing board.

This is a slightly larger sized ironing board and does have as part of it's design two small wheels to make it more easy to move. The two wheels are positioned at one end of the ironing board, one on each end of the foot (the wheels are positioned above the pointed end of the board). The wheels are made from the same plastic as the levers and are bolted securely to the frame.

One downside of this ironing board is that because it's quite big it does take up more storage space and so some people may not be able to store it where they normal store their smaller ironing boards. My experience however it that it fits snuggly in my airing cupboard and I haven't had a problem.

There is a retracting iron rest with silicone pad. Both the plastic rest and silicone pad can be wiped clean and the silicone pad can also be easily removed and replaced (there are little holes in the iron rest which the silicone pad slot into).

The cover on the board is very secure and doesn't not move around. This is because there is a piece of elastic that goes around the inside edge of the cover which can be secured and tightened using the plastic toggle attached to it (the toggle is located at the pointed end of the board).

I have not had this board long and so haven't needed to wash the cover yet. I have looked on the cover but can not see any label advising if and how it can be washed. However if you did wash it you would be able to use the elastic/toggle system to refit it securely to the board which is probably what I will do when the time comes. Replacement covers are available and these can be washed.

This ironing board comes with a manufacturer's 10 year guarantee, against complete frame failure due to rust.

Other features of the ironing board:
Suitable for irons and steam generators.
Leg locking device for safe and easy storage.
Moulded foot caps for extra stability.

* Summary *

Although this is one of the more expensive ironing boards available on the general market; the quality of the board and frame along with the stability
and work surface available in my opinion justifies the price I paid for it. I am very happy with it and hopefully won't need to buy a new ironing board for quite some time!

* Availability *

Ironing Board available from:

www.argos.co.uk £44.79 collected or an extra £4.95 delivered

www.homebase.co.uk £44.79 free delivery

Ironing Board Covers - Vileda Flexi Fit Covers (this cover fits the caprice board)

http://www.homewareheaven.com/memberproduct.asp?i d=13&p=866 £4.99 plus delivery costs (This site takes most cards & paypal)

Summary: A good quality ironing board with lots of space for ironing, admittedly on the expensive side.