Six Sigma Blogs

The majority of people will consider ironing to be a dull and boring household chore. Listening to music or watching television whilst you iron can help to reduce the tedium (a little) - but it’s still a task that most people would prefer to avoid. Any way of reducing the amount of time spent ironing would be gratefully received in the large majority of households.

Of course, you could send your clothes to the dry cleaners - or even employ a maid. There are even professional ironers who will pick up your freshly washed clothes and return them crisply pressed should you wish. However, these are all rather expensive options.

Thankfully, there is a way to make use of modern technology to cut the amount of time that you spend ironing - simply by using a different type of iron. A steam generator iron looks quite similar to a conventional steam iron at first glance - but it has a different construction, which offers a number of benefits.

Unlike a conventional steam iron, a steam generator iron has no water in the iron itself. Instead it uses a base unit which acts as both a water reservoir and heater. This produces a good deal more steam than a standard iron - and the steam is at a higher pressure.

High pressure steam is fed into the iron from the base unit which penetrates deep into the garment being ironed.This makes it easier and faster to iron. As no water is contained in the iron it is considerably lighter than a standard iron which makes it easier to handle. Finished garments have a higher quality and the amount of time required to iron is cut in half (on average).

When deciding upon which steam generator iron to choose, be certain to pick one with a high steam pressure. Between 4.5 and 5.0 bar is ideal. Sometimes you will see the iron capacity stated in “grams of steam per minute” (gpm), in which case you would be well advised to pick one with a value between 70 and 120 gpm.

The size of the water reservoir is another important consideration. Make sure that you pick one with a suitably sized tank so that you don’t need to stop too often to top up the water level. A tank of at least 1.4 litres is desirable.

Other factors that should be taken into consideration include the material of the soleplate, the ease of use, the inclusion of some type of anti-scale system and the length of the connecting hose between the iron and the base unit.

It’s true that steam generator irons tend to cost a little bit more than conventional steam irons. However, bearing in mind the fact that they can halve the amount of time that you need to spend ironing - as well as giving you better finished garments - you may well think that they are excellent value for money.

Learn how you can cut your ironing time in half by using a Tefal steam generator iron - it’s a lot faster and the end result is better as well