Iron glossary
- — 19 August, 2011 12:03
A Philips steam iron.
Anyone who's ever bought an iron knows there are a lot of features to choose from. Take a read through and educate yourself.
Auto shut off: A feature that shuts off the iron when it has been inactive for a preset amount of time. Basically it turns off the iron when you have forgotten to turn it off.
Boiler: A tank where water is heated and passed through to the iron to be used as steam. A storage tank for hot water.
Drip-stop: This is a feature that stops water from dripping onto the article of clothing when steam is in use.
Easy fill: Irons can be difficult to refill, most irons these days have a larger water inlet to increase your chance of actually getting the water into the tank rather than around it.
Self-clean: Some irons have the feature of self-cleaning where a burst of steam is ejected through the soleplate to clear the holes.
Soleplate: This is the metal plate at the bottom of the iron that is heated to make it possible for you to iron your clothes. The underside of the iron.
Starch: A substance used to stiffen up a material while ironing and preventing it from getting wrinkled.
Steam shot: A powerful burst of steam emitted from the soleplate to blast wrinkles away.
Teflon coating: A non-stick coating that allows the iron to glide more smoothly over clothing.
Water reservoir/tank: The part of the iron that holds the water. An iron has a water tank to make steam or to be used as a spray.
Wattage: The maximum power an iron is capable of, in other words how fast it can heat up and maintain a constant temperature.
Comments
markuspaul
1
I'm not recommending that people use Teflon, but I also believe that there are far greater health risks in the average household than Teflon.How long do we have to use something before it's universally agreed that it's dangerous, and how bad does it have to get before the decision to stop using it is made?