Among all the household chores at home, ironing clothes seems to be the most boring chore to me. So normally I would buy clothes that are with non creased fabric; but it is not possible to buy all your clothes with non creased fabric. So when it comes to ironing my clothes, I would liked to get it done easily and as quickly as possible. Having a quality steam iron had helped me to reduce the time and effort in ironing my clothes. What do I go for when choosing a good steam iron? Besides looking at the budget in which I am willing to pay; there are a few features that I would looked for when buying a steam iron. Remember the more features there are, generally it means that the steam iron will also cost more.
a) a good steam iron must be easy to use, durable, anti slip and looks good in my home.
b) the soleplate of the steam iron must be non stick and scratch resistant.
c) the iron should be able to generate a strong steam so that creased fabric can be worked on very quickly.
d) the water tank should be large enough, preferably above 300ml in capacity.
f) the steam iron must have a long cord preferably having a 360 degrees swivel – this will make ironing easy.
g) the weight of the iron must not be too light nor too heavy. I think weight is rather subjective. So long as you are comfortable with it, that is all that matters.
.

.
h) auto off features. There may be times when you forget to turn off the iron, so the auto off features is a good safety feature to have; as it switch off the steam iron automatically after certain period of inactivity. The new version of steam iron even have a blink and beep indicator. The auto off feature will definitely gives you a peace of mind.
i) temperature dial for all kinds of fabric. I just simply select the fabric on the dial and the steam iron will automatically set the correct temperature.
j) anti drip and anti calc. The anti-drip function will prevent the water from dripping on the clothes when I am ironing the clothes. And the anti calc will clean the soleplate and prevent the mineral sticking inside the steam holes of the iron.
k) pilot light indicator and spray function. The spray function is useful when you are working on clothes that are heavily creased.
.

.
Recently I saw a number of cordless iron being introduced in the market. These steam iron need to be recharged periodically. Personally, I would still prefer using the corded steam iron. Because when I need to use the iron, I simply turn it on, wait for a while and then start working. And when I am done with it, I simply turn it off – it is that simple. Most steam iron will last a few years when we take good care of it. I would set a higher budget to buy a better quality steam iron as I know that it will serve me well and make this ironing chore more pleasant.
.