Steam irons: Best Buys 

Has your iron run out of steam?

If your steam iron makes hard work of banishing creases from clothes, it’s probably time to buy a new one. A good iron will produce plenty of steam and glide over fabrics, helping you power through your laundry pile with ease. But a mediocre model will steam poorly and clog up with limescale, turning ironing into a bigger chore than it needs to be.

Which? tests how much steam an iron produces when it’s new and after the equivalent of three months’ ironing to find the most powerful steamers that will keep steaming each time you iron. We test all of the top-selling steam irons and generators, including supermarket-own models and those from big brands.

• Every year, our ironing expert steams through about 180 light summer skirts, crumpled cotton shirts and heavy linen trousers. So whatever’s in your laundry pile, you can be sure our Best Buy steam irons and generators will help you make light work of smoothing out stubborn creases.
• Our expert lab testers rate how noisy an iron is. So if you like to watch TV while you iron, you can pick a Best Buy that won’t hiss and splutter over the sound of your favourite programme.
• We reveal the poor-performing steam irons that don’t get rid of creases and will take you longer to work through your ironing pile.

The worst steam irons have low steam levels, drag across fabrics and quickly clog up. Make sure you pick a Best Buy model with a trial to Which?

What makes a Which? Best Buy?

We test thousands of products each year at Which? in a controlled environment that enables us to accurately repeat each test on each product - meaning our reviews are directly comparable. We buy the products we test ourselves, and go through great lengths to shape our test programmes to match the way you use the products.

Find out more about how we test products and how we find the models that deserve to be Best Buys in the video below.

Steam iron reviews you can trust

We’ve tested steam irons and generators from the biggest brands in our labs, including models from Bosch, Breville, Morphy Richards, Philips, Rowenta, Russell Hobbs and Tefal. We’ve found top-scoring and poor-performing models from all of these big names.

Which? is independent - we work for you, the consumer, so you can be sure that our product recommendations are influenced only by our test results. We don't take advertising and we buy all the products that we test ourselves, so our advice helps you to make the right choice first time and avoid costly mistakes.

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