Quality criteria of the sole of the iron

Any model of iron, regardless of the material of the sliding surface, should provide high-quality ironing. If the sole meets certain requirements, it guarantees an excellent result. What are these requirements? Firstly, the sole material should be protected from damage, it should not scratch and get dirty. Secondly, the sole should slide easily over the fabric, affecting it gently. Thirdly, it should be warmed up evenly. Otherwise, scorch marks may remain on the fabric, and the thing will be spoiled.

Types of Iron surfaces

Currently, irons with soles made of stainless steel, aluminium, ceramics and cermets are on the market. Each of them has its advantages and disadvantages. Moreover, the cost of equipment depends on the material.

Stainless steel. Such a sole meets modern standards and is usually used in expensive models. Stainless steel soles slide easily on the fabric, clean quickly. To prevent their damage, some manufacturers cover steel with titanium coating or special enamel, chrome plating or apply sapphire powder on it. As a result, the surface becomes almost "bulletproof", which is used in advertising tricks by sales consultants of home appliance stores. They perform terrifying manipulations: they try to scratch the sole of the iron with a nail, they expose it to aggressive substances. And she doesn't care about anything! Therefore, in everyday life, no buttons, rivets and zippers can damage it.

Titanium coating, which Panasonic uses in the production of its equipment, protects irons from chips and cracks. Long years of operation are not terrible for such a device. But the main thing is that the titanium coating is easy to clean. So, if you hesitated and forgot to turn off the device, leaving it on the shirt, the coating (unlike clothes) will not suffer. And you don't have to scrape burnt fabric fibers from it. You just need to turn off the device from the network, wait for it to cool down and wipe its work surface with a cloth.

The next successful invention was a nickel-plated sole. It is durable, reliable and, importantly, is not subject to corrosion, abrasion and mechanical damage, as well as environmental influences.

The super-strong surface made of high-quality stainless steel with enameled coating is used in Siemens, Bosch and Tefal products. It is perfectly smooth, which allows you to use such an iron for ironing the most delicate fabrics, even natural silk.

 

As for sapphire spraying, specialists from Braun have succeeded in this field. By naming their coating Saphir, they were able to make it "omnivorous", resistant to impacts and polishing with an iron brush. Lightweight and durable, it perfectly smoothes even the toughest folds. Fabric will never stick to an iron with such a coating.

But even without a special coating, the stainless steel surface has its undeniable advantages, among which it is worth highlighting such:

  • practicality and durability;
  • low degree of damage susceptibility;
  • high heating and cooling speed;
  • the possibility of easy cleaning from textile particles and carbon deposits.

Among the disadvantages are the worst degree of sliding (compared to ceramic coatings) and the high cost of the iron. To reduce the price, some manufacturers took drastic measures: they used an aluminium base with a stainless steel coating in the models.

Aluminium soles, usually, are attributes of low-cost models. It is the low cost of the material that makes it possible to reduce the cost of equipment. In addition to the cheapness of aluminium, its advantages are fast heating and fast cooling, light weight. Among the disadvantages of the material are softness and susceptibility to damage. If a micro-scratch appears on such a surface, the fabric may cling to it. Also, the aluminium sole leaves shiny marks on the fabric. Although models with a special coating or heat treatment of the material (the so-called anodized aluminium) do not have this disadvantage. In addition, anodized aluminium is practical and glides easily over the fabric. To work with delicate textiles, it is better to use aluminium nozzles that warm up to a lower temperature than the main surface of the iron.

Ceramics and metal ceramics. Ceramic-coated models are usually inexpensive. They guarantee high quality ironing, which is due to the advantages of the surface, namely, ease of sliding and cleaning from carbon deposits. But such irons have a big drawback: they require extremely careful treatment. Ceramics are a very fragile material. It scratches easily, cracks. In order for a part of the sole to break off, one fall of the device is enough. When ironing with such an iron, pay attention to the metal elements of clothing: buttons, zippers, rivets. They can also damage the surface.