My iron was leaking water everywhere whenever I’d use it. Something about the process of heating up would create enough of an opening that water would drip out the bottom, creating a huge wet spot on my ironing board. Time to get a new one.
The Wirecutter recommends this Black + Decker—but I didn’t want to buy it because that is the iron that was leaking everywhere that I needed to replace. In its defense, it last maybe 2 or 3 years before the leaking started.
Frustrated by trying to parse online reviews, I threw up my hands and went to Target, and bought 5 irons and a bottle of distilled water.
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I tested all 5, ironing a handful of Proper Cloth shirts made in luxurious Thomas Mason fabric (use my code for a discount! MUSINGS10). The winner honestly surprised me. Read on to find out my opinion on each one.
The Winner: CHI Ceramic-Titanium Soleplate Steam Iron—$60
Pros: Powerful steam bursts. Soleplate glides smoothly across fabric, even cold. Lightweight and balanced in hand. Cord falls easily either way. Water almost never has leaked out of the steam holes on the sole plate. [I thought ceramic titanium was a marketing thing, but a friend of mine swore by his ceramic titanium waffle maker, so it turns out it’s a real thing and it does have benefits].
Cons: CHI is a Hamilton Beach brand that makes haircare products? I dunno, not a brand I’d pick first.
Conclusion: This was the winner, to my surprised despite its brand provenance. Hoping it survives.
Rowenta retractable cord—$60
Pros: Powerful steam bursts. Did not spit water out of the steam holes once. Smooth plate.
Cons: Cord comes out the right side. Retractable base for the cord adds bulk and weight, making it unbalanced in hand.
Conclusion: If it weren’t for the extra weight of the retractable cord base, I’d have chosen this one. But the extra weight and resulting bulkiness and lack of balance in hand made it a No.
Black + Decker P3300—$42
Pros: The steam burst is powerful. The weight and balance is good. The cord falls either way easily.
Cons: This one was the only one that didn’t glide smoothly across fabric, but actually clung and bunched up fabric before it was fully heated up. It leaked the water spittle out of the steam holes.
Conclusion: It’s a No on account of the steam spittle and sticking sole plate.
Rowenta Steam Iron Access—$38
This was the one I was assuming I’d love and keep. Rowenta has the brand name (though apparently it’s one of those “it used to be good but they haven’t made great products in a long time” situations).
Pros: Powerful steam burst. Unlike the more expensive model Rowenta, it was comfortable in hand, balanced. Sole plate glided smoothly across fabrics.
Cons: It spit water out of the steam holes worse than any of the others!
Conclusion: Water spittle out of the steam holes turned out to be the biggest factor for me among all these irons. And this one was the worst offender.
Sunbeam Retractable Cord Iron—$25
Pros: This is the only one of the bunch that came with a small cup with spout to make filling the water reservoir easier. That’s a nice thing to have! It had good powerful steam, too.
Cons: The bulk and weight of the retractable cord, like the expensive Rowenta, makes it less comfortable in hand. Also, suffered from water spittle out of the steam holes.
Conclusion: Honestly, this might have been a great choice if the feeling in hand weren’t so heavy and unbalanced due to the retractable cord. It heats up quick, the steam was powerful, and it’s less than 1/2 the price of the CHI—that water spittle could be tolerated. But all the cons were too much against its favor.
Conclusion and bonus recommendation
To my surprise, the CHI won out. However, when I posted this on Instagram, more than one of my followers let me know that the best option is actually just to get the cheapest industrial-grade iron, and ignore the consumer-grade stuff. “The worst $100 industrial iron is way better than the best $1,000 consumer iron!” said one. He recommended a Korean brand: Silver Star
Apart from the distinction between industrial and consumer grade is also the gravity-feed water tank. This was another point in its favor—because there’s no internal tank of water to crack or break, these things last much longer.
Conclusion: If you have the right space for an iron where hanging the water tank makes sense, this is the move—go industrial and avoid all the headaches of the consumer stuff.
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