When it comes to the noble art of ironing, I'm the first to admit that I have little experience. In fact, it was only during the last decade that I invested in my first iron - the 'Tesco Value IR06'. Being a male I don't need a wealth of extravagant features on my device - I just want it to heat up and be able to press my clothes flat. To be honest, I wasn't even too bothered that it's a steam iron - but then the majority of new irons are these days.

Price & Appearance
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Costing only £5, the 1110 watt IR06 it actually not the newest of Tesco's Value irons - it has recently been superseded by the equally non-imaginatively titled IR08 which is available for a similar price. Appearance wise, the iron is pleasant enough with a transparent blue upper section that allows you to see how much water is inside. The trim is white around the iron's base and across the top of the handle - to be honest, it doesn't look especially like a Value product. A large and easy to turn dial sits under the handle, whilst the top of the handle sports two buttons - one for releasing steam, and the other for a squirting out a nice jet of water. Speaking of water, it's added to the iron via a small hole at the front - the capacity isn't shown on the device, although the documentation informs me that it's 130ml.

Settings & Performance
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Once you've set the dial (options available are acrylic, nylon, silk, wool, cotton or linen), the iron takes a *fairly* long time to reach the selected temperature - perhaps four or five minutes to get the hottest setting. I personally feel that it's not an unreasonable time to have to wait - besides, I'm never in any rush to do the ironing! You'll know when it's ready to roll when the red LED on the iron's side goes out. In terms of the iron's performance, i've found that it works very well, although as I mentioned in my opening paragraph, I don't have a lot of experience with other irons so my comparative skills may be lacking - It's certainly good enough for my shirts and trousers, and the stainless steel non-stick plate seems to glide across fabric with relative ease.

The Downsides & Final Analysis
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The iron is comfortable to hold, and isn't especially heavy - although this could potentially be classed as a minus point, as there are those out there who swear that the weightier ones are more effective. Other downsides include the fact that the cord is fairly short, making the use of the iron difficult if you don't have easily accessible plug sockets. Finally, a couple of times during use i've noticed that the base has slightly leaked - not a lot, but a definite dribble on my clothing. Overall, despite it's couple of annoyances, I would still recommend the IR06 due to it's general performance and very small price tag - if you simply want something to get the creases out of your clothes, you won't go too far wrong here.