Should I buy an iron or a steam generator?

The two are not different grades of the same appliance. A steam iron holds a small tank of water in its body and drips it onto a hot plate. A steam generator has a separate base unit containing a pressurised boiler that produces steam continuously and delivers it through a hose to a lighter iron. That changes the physics of ironing — the steam relaxes the fibres ahead of the plate, so much less pressure is needed — and it changes the practicalities in ways that suit some households and not others.

What you'll need

• An honest estimate of how much you iron in one session
• Storage and board space for a base unit (optional)
• Your area's water hardness (optional)

Step by step

1. Count how you iron rather than how much.A basket once a week is a generator household. Two shirts on a Tuesday morning is an iron household. The generator's advantage is entirely in sustained output, and a five-minute job is over before it has paid for its warm-up.
2. Compare steam output honestly.A steam iron delivers steam intermittently in bursts. A generator delivers continuous pressurised steam, typically several times the rate, without the plate temperature dropping. On heavy cotton and linen the difference is dramatic.
3. Note the weight difference in the hand.A generator's iron is lighter than a standard steam iron because the water and the boiler are in the base. Over an hour of ironing that matters considerably, particularly for anyone with wrist or shoulder problems.
4. Weigh the warm-up time against your habits.A steam iron is ready in under a minute. A generator boiler typically takes two to several minutes to come up to pressure. That is trivial for a session and irritating for a single garment.
5. Look at the space it needs.A generator base is a substantial box that has to sit on the board's shelf or beside it, and it needs storing. A standard iron slides into a cupboard. This is a common reason people regret the purchase.
6. Check the tank arrangement.Some generators have a removable tank you can refill mid-session; others must be depressurised and cooled before opening. If you iron long sessions, a refillable tank matters a great deal.
7. Check the descaling arrangement before buying.Boilers concentrate scale because they boil water continuously. Every generator has a specified descaling routine — a flush valve, a rinse cycle or a replaceable cartridge — and models differ a lot in how easy it is. In a hard water area this is a genuine buying criterion.
8. Consider the vertical steaming ability.Both can steam a hanging garment, but a generator's continuous output makes it genuinely useful on curtains, jackets and anything you cannot lay flat, which a standard iron only manages in bursts.
9. Factor in cost, purchase and running.A generator costs several times a mid-range steam iron and draws more power while working, though for a shorter time. If it halves your ironing time it may still be the better deal in the sense that matters.
10. Consider whether a steamer covers your case instead.If most of what you own is knitwear, jersey and hanging garments rather than shirts and cotton, a garment steamer may serve better than either — although it cannot produce a sharp collar or a trouser crease.

Tips

• Steam generators reward a good ironing board. A flimsy board with a thin cover wastes much of the steam advantage, because the steam needs to pass through the fabric and be absorbed rather than bouncing back.
• The continuous steam means you can often press with the plate barely touching, which is why generators are gentler on delicate finishes despite their power.
• If you buy one, keep to whatever water the manual specifies. Boilers are much less tolerant of scale than a simple steam iron's chamber.
• Take the base unit's noise into account. Some pumps are noticeably loud and cycle throughout the session.

Common mistakes

• Buying a generator for occasional ironing — The warm-up, the space and the descaling routine are fixed overheads. They are paid back by long sessions and not at all by a single shirt.
• Not checking the descaling method before buying — In hard water a boiler scales quickly. Models with an awkward or expensive descaling routine become annoying within a year, and neglecting it kills the machine.
• Putting a generator on a lightweight board — The steam needs somewhere to go. A thin cover on a flimsy frame reflects steam back into the garment and leaves it damp instead of pressed.

Questions people ask