I've been a bit of a walking disaster area recently. One of the older victims of my rampage was our last iron which I decided to set fire to. (don't ask, I haven't a clue how!)

Anyway, after struggling for a little while with something that looked and claimed to be an iron but in reality I could have done it's job better with a rolling pin! I gave in and decided it was about time that I bought a new one. After seeing this Russell Hobbs iron for a reasonable price I picked it up and left with it.


Features
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* Water tank capacity 250ml
* Anti-drip
* 2m power cord
* Weight 1.1kg
* Non-stick sole plate
* Soft-grip handle
* Variable steam
* Vertical steam
* Self-clean button
* Rubber foot plate


Out The Box
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In the box you get the water jug with markers to show the minimum and maximum fill, an instruction manual (why is it things fairly simple such as irons come with manuals, yet the new relatively complex smart phones rarely do?) and a rather securely fitted iron.

I did have a bit of a problem detaching the iron from the box but with a bit of patience this shouldn't cause a problem, even for those with poor mobility.

Aside from this there were no problems here and the box is only just big enough to fit the contents meaning no wastage.


Using The Iron
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Now I know the most important factor to consider when using an iron is whether or not it works but I actually quite like the look of this iron. It's attractively coloured in white, pink and black without appearing overly feminine.

On the top of the handle are the steam and water spray buttons, just to the left underneath the handle is the self-clean button and at the top of the handle is the temperature control.

The temperature is shown by three dots. According to the instructions these indicate:

*One dot for those materials that should have a cool iron such as nylon, acrylics and polyester.

* Two dots for a warm iron such as wool and polyester mixes.

* Three dots for a hot iron for materials such as cotton and linen.

Steam is only produced in the hottest setting and there are three steam settings within this; indicated with pictures of small to large steam shots.

The first thing I noticed when I removed the iron from the box is just how light it is. At 1.1KG it's not exactly the heaviest thing around but once water is added this increased the weight to a degree that it's heavy enough to iron the clothes without being too heavy to comfortably use.

Adding water is also very easy. The water jug has markers which are easy to see even without my contacts in and these tell me the minimum and maximum amount of water to add. On the iron there is a plastic flap which lifts up to reveal the filling hole, the spout of the jug easily fits over this hole and the hole is large enough so that little to no water is spilt when filling. The flap can be slightly stiff to open but I actually prefer it like this as it means it's less likely to flip open itself when ironing (this has actually happened to me with a previous iron!)

The power cord, being two metres long, is more then long enough for me as I tend to sit down and iron. However if you stand up then the cord will be on the short side and will probably either need a plug at waist height or an extension lead. The first time I plugged this in it smoked, a lot. I have to admit this did worry me as this is exactly what happened when I set fire to the other one but the instructions do say this may happen but will stop as the element cures and it did in fact stop after a couple of minutes so don't be concerned if this happens to you!

The rubber handle makes the iron easy to grip and keep a hold of the rubber footplate designed to stop the iron slipping is a little hard for me to confirm the claims as I rarely leave the iron on its end anyway and I've never had problems with my previous irons slipping anyway; however I can confirm that the iron has never slipped or fallen over when I have left it on the end. The non-stick sole plate however does seem to work - the iron glides effortlessly over the clothes no matter what material it is and has never stuck. When moving the iron over the clothes it does appear very light, even when full with water, I'm not sure if this is due to the sole plate or the soft-grip handle but either way it makes for an easy ironing experience and it shouldn't cause a problem even for those with arthritis or poor mobility/muscle problems in their arms. The indent for buttons is also perfectly placed making ironing cuffs or between buttons on shirts extremely easy.

As for the anti-drip feature this does appear to work well assuming you do the ironing starting with the clothes that need a cool iron and ending with those that need a hot iron - done like this I have never experienced any water dripping but if you start with a hot iron then turn the temperature down it will drip for approximately the next two clothes as the iron cools. This isn't a fault with the iron though more a problem with my organisation!

The self-clean button is extremely useful and makes keeping the iron clean and scale free extremely easy. You simply need to fill up the water tank to the top and then turn the heat up to maximum then hold the iron over a bowl and press the self-clean button - the iron will then clean itself and work the water through its system into the bowl underneath. I do this about once a month and have so far not experienced any problems or scale build-up in the iron.

I won't insult your intelligence by listing all the safety information given in the manual as it's pretty much self explanatory but I did find one part amusing "Do not iron clothes while they're being worn as you will burn or scald the wearer (this is not a joke - I actually saw someone doing this!)"


Price, Availability And Recommendation
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I bought this iron from Dunelm for £19.95, it's also available from Amazon and other online stores for around the same price.

I'm happy to give this iron the full 5 out of 5 stars and I have no problem in recommending this. It does the job it's supposed to and does it well. When I need to replace this iron I will be more then happy to replace it with the same make again.