Having my own ironing business which I started when my daughter was born and I realised how expensive childcare was (!), I have developed a quite large collection of irons / ironing boards / clothes stands, you name it - anything ironing related that I now see I seem to have to buy! Most of it is kept in our shop, however I do have a small collection of my favourites at home for the rare occasion when I have to iron myself (I don't mean I iron myself, just other peoples clothes occasionally!).

The Polti Vaporella easy steam generator iron is for me, the favourite in a vast collection. I hadn't ever heard of Polti before until I started my business and started researching ironing products and realised that this brand is actually a bit of a god in the ironing world (yes there is such a thing!). The products are relatively cheap in comparison to what you can pay for irons (upwards of £300) but has an outstanding quality and is also pretty stylish too! The Poltis are made in Italy and are definitely styled in a way that makes you realise it is a little different from the rest. The cork handle is the main feature that stands out, and once you start to use the iron, you realise why they have used cork. The comfort is second to none, and when you are ironing for hours on end you really can get nasty sores on your hands from gripping the plastic handles of normal irons, so this is a little luxury that you definitely notice. The reason for using cork is that it actually prevents moisture excessively touching your hands, which causes the skin to dry.

I have used so many irons over the years, and they tend to blur into one, but this one definitely stands out for me. It is very effective on stubborn creases and has a steam output of 85g per minute which is a good output. It holds 900ml of water which again is a good amount and the 3 bar pressurised boiler system makes the tough creases that little less tougher!

The compact size of the iron means it is easy to handle and manoeuvre, particularly with fussy tops with lots of frills in which can be a pest at the best of times to get ironed perfectly. It's small size doesn't make it harder to iron larger items such as bedding as it is light enough and powerful enough (steam wise) to wiz over creases and get rid of them quickly.

The steam ready indicator is a handy little feature, as is the safety cap which stops the boiler from being opened when there is still pressure inside. The aluminium soleplate and adjustable thermostat are the more common features that you will find on most irons. The 5 metre cord is handy, as there is nothing worse than having an iron with a short cable. The holes in a triangular shape at the tip of the soleplate means the steam is concentrated at the tip giving powerful steam and perfectly ironed clothes! Comes with a 2 year guarantee.

Expect to pay around £90 for this Polti. There are more expensive models out there in the Polti range, but for me this one is the best value one as the others are over twice the price, but don't work twice as well so I would definitely recommend this one.

As someone who has probably used well over 20 irons in the last 5 years, trust me when I say this product is worth its money and is an excellent little iron (and it's stylish too!).