DH bought an iron last night! He was in Aldi, getting a few basics like bread rolls, and he saw that one of this week's special offers was a steam generator iron for £35! Now this is just over half what my Rowenta cost five years ago, and the chalk is killing that! Cheapest steam generator I've seen elsewhere was about £100 and had features I didn't like.
It's not a super-dooper one for that price, but it does have:
1 lt tank Stainless steel sole plate (Yippeeeee!) 3 bar pressure, gives up to 80g per minute of steam - quite fierce! Safety pressure cap for the tank Variable steam control (stepless, too! :) ) You can lock in on for continuous steaming or just use bursts It does good vertical steaming for things like curtains and velvet It's heavy enough that you don't have to press down hard on stubborn creases It gets good and hot!It comes with a one year guarantee, and is purple and white and a nice modern shape. The brand name is Detla, so for anyone looking for a budget steam generator iron, take a good look in Aldis! But be quick - their offers are good and they tend to vanish quickly. Made in? PRC. Cunning chaps, the Chinese! :)
DH gave it a thorough road test last night, and ironed half the ironing pile on just over a tank of water! I ironed a big and very rumpled bit of cotton I want to use for a quilt back. Did both types of ironing perfectly. The other nice thing is that while it's big enough for DH to use comfortably, and heavy enough to use without too much effort, it isn't so big and heavy that it's awkward for me to use.
Now how's that for an impulse buy in a supermarket! We need to find a place to store it now... Something will have to go, but I don't know what!