• Iron handles
The handles of your iron has to fit for your hands.

• Weight
Most people prefer light weighted irons. According to some people irons that have more weight offers high quality ironing. Choose as you wish. Normally a full size iron weighs about 3 lbs. Light weight units have come with the weight about 1.5 lbs.

• Steam Power
Steaming feature has to be availed in your iron, to remove the wrinkles easily while you iron your fabrics. Steam power becomes essential when you iron cotton fabrics. Some manufacturer offers burst of steam feature which easily eliminates tough wrinkles.

• Controls
There are various ironing controls featured with the unit for appropriate ironing.

• Cords
High end models of irons have come without cords. Corded irons are gradually being outdated.

• Safety
An ideal iron has to come with safety features. It is better to choose an ironing unit with automatic shut off option.

• Heat settings
It is important to set various heat settings according to the ironing needs. Therefore go for irons with flexible heat settings.

• Availability of non-stick sole plate
This feature includes a unique coating under the unit to clean it easily.

• Self clean
It is a feature introduced to clear the dust in the holes of sole plate of irons.

• Water tank size
If you choose large size water tanker, there is no need to refill it often. If needed, you may choose detachable water tanks. Some ironing machines have come with a clear gauger that helps you to view the water level.

• Anti-calcium filter
It is a new feature equipped with recently manufactured ironing units, which prevents the mineral dumping. If the mineral builds up, the steam vents may get clogged.

• Steam settings
You are suggested to choose an iron with variable steam setting so that you can easily modify the steam level as you need.

The iron is manufactured with sole plate made of molten aluminium. Heated metal is placed into a mould under force, cooled, and released. Sole plate is polished and coated with PTFE material and enclosed with an additional metal. An automated spray painting machine applies non-stick coating.

The iron unit consists of a spring mounted onto the metal post and this spring is a bimetallic switch with divergent linear thermal coefficients bonded together which controls iron’s temperature.

Heated plastic is inserted to make upper and lower sections of the water tank in the iron with several openings on tank which creates as part of mould. When mould is put under pressure and is released as one-part of tank and other part of tank creates injection moulding processes.

The iron is assembled on an automated assembly line. Thermostat is screwed onto the sole plate by a robot. Then water tank is assembled with the subassembly of sole plate and thermostat. Then the handle and the body are attached over the subassembly and fixed by screws. Lastly electrical cord is added. Testing process for automated, it is inspected by hand. When all attachment are fixed well it is packed into individual boxes.

Before the built-up, the unprocessed supplies are checked for reliability. After the manufacture the pieces are checked for its correct functionality. As the manufacturers assemble the part of the unit iron is removed from production line and taken apart to look for error. If any mistake is found the whole batch of iron is checked and corrected. Also the worker checks the iron for electrical functionality and water reliability. If excess of metal or plastic is left from the moulding process, then it is recycled, in case it cannot be reused.

An iron is a heating tool used to remove wrinkles from clothes and initially it was made of iron, so the name. But now iron is available in stainless steel or aluminium. It is controlled by a thermostat which switches off and on maintaining the selected temperature.

• Various types
You can find variable irons devices such as steam irons which releases steams, dry irons which does not need water, cordless irons, travel irons and steamers, robotic Dress-man robot dries and press shirts. The robotic iron is able to remove even the creases. The device comes with built-in heater box with number of resistance elements. As this device is very new device, it is costlier than the other iron devices.

• Recent Developments
Though there are various types of iron we find, there are lots of changes made in this device for better usages. Recently we have iron with burst of steam feature in which just by pushing a button the steam comes out. Indicator light to show of the power is on or off. Temperature controlling feature is also available with automatic shutoff for security. If you push water reservoirs button water is sprayed on the clothes. Transparent chambers are there which are brightly coloured to make it easy to see the water level. It is developed with self-cleaning feature to flush from vents.

The iron comes with retractable cord to make ironing easier. It has a fabric guide which is provided with a list of settings for common fabrics. While using iron you may leave the device without switching off but as it has developed with energy saving control it will shut off it self and saves energy and prevent fires, after left undisturbed for several minutes. It has come with dial control to control the amount of steam to emit as a constant steam.

Dry
Dry irons are exactly that. They provide heat that can be used to smooth out wrinkles.
They are most useful on clothes wet from the washer, fabrics that require delicate
care or should not be steamed, and home craft projects in which moisture is not
desired.

Steam/Spray
Steam irons have a water reservoir. When they heat up they put off moisture which,
combined with heat, helps the fabric let go off wrinkles. Steam irons can come
with a spray feature which applies an extra large shot of steam to difficult creases.

• Water reservoir: This tank holds the water for the steam. They range in
size from a few hundred milli – litres to a litre and a half in size. The smaller
the tank, the more often you will need to refill it. The larger the tank, the
heavier the iron will be to lift and push. Water level indicators let you know
how much water is left.

• Anti-scale: Anti-scale features are designed to minimize the impact of
hard water, specifically calcium residues that cause scales on the iron. Irons
with anti scale features can require that only certain water, such as tap water
or purified water, be used. This requirement is individual to each iron.

• Anti-drip: Anti-drip features are to minimize or prevent water from dripping
onto garments from the iron surface. Properly controlling temperatures on irons
without anti-drip can also prevent water from dropping onto garments

• Spray: Steam/spray irons have a button, knob, or lever that allows you
to apply an extra burst of steam to a difficult wrinkle. Spray burst rates are
larger than the normal steam rate. Typical spray bursts will be between 50 g/min
and 100 g/min

• Steam Speeds: Steam speeds usually fall into these ranges:
o *Less than 20 g/min
o *20 – 30 g/min
o *30 – 50 g/min
o *More than 50 g/min

Variable speed adjustment allows you to control how much steam is applied to a
garment and is useful for adjusting between different fabrics. Some irons with
this feature can also serve as a dry iron.

Irons known as steam generators are meant to process large volumes of steam. They
will usually fall into the "more than 50 g/m category", having steam
speeds that range from 70 g/m-100 g/m. (Though speeds can go higher).

• Vertical Steam
Vertical steam is the option to steam garments hanging upright. Many handheld
irons come with a vertical option, or offer adaptors for that purpose

• Steam Generators
Steam generators are irons attached to a water tank via a cord that allows for
higher volumes of steam to be applied to garments. Be sure to consider the length
of the cord from the base to the iron to be sure to have the room you need.

Tank size, weight and steam speeds will all be bigger than standard steam iron
specifications. Steam generators also come in a format called an ironing station
which has an area to iron the garment in question incorporated into the design.

Some steam irons also have indicators or controls that allow you to control or
monitor the pressure.

Presses
Presses remove wrinkles by heating the garment between two heating plates. Different
brands will provide their heat through electric means or a pilot light. These
heat up elements which then heat the portions that iron the garment. The presses
will work in cycles, typically ranging from 25-45 minutes. Models will come as
two types: vertical presses called trouser presses or horizontal ones called steam
presses. Horizontal presses either have the clothes placed between press plates
or pressed through rollers. The wattage on the presses will be significantly higher
than on manual irons.

Extra features that are possible on presses are dishes for keys or other items
in the trousers, light indicators, reservoir capacity, and steam duration per
reservoir.

Travel Irons
Travel Irons are smaller – 1000 watts in power or less, typically 700-800 watts
and have less than 100 millilitre tank capacity. Most travel irons are corded,
but built to fold or pack easily.

Sole Material
There are several options for the metal of the sole of the iron: aluminium, careeza,
ceralon, ceramic, non stick, optinox, stainless steel and ultra glide. Careeza,
ceralon, ceramic, non stick, optinox, and ultra glide are composites, alloys or
materials that minimize the possibility of the iron surface sticking to the fabric.
They are generally easy to clean, smooth and found on steam irons including spray
and steam generators. Aluminium and steel can be found on all iron types.

Maximum Power
The maximum power output of irons tends to fall into these ranges:
• *Less than 1000 W
• *1000 W – 1500W
• *1500 W – 2000 W
• *2000 W – 2500 W
• *More than 2500 W
The smaller the iron the lower the power tends to be. Presses tend to be 2500
Watts or more. Travel irons tend to be 1000 Watts or less. Everyday irons are
usually 1200-2500 Watts.

Temperature
Most irons have variable temperature settings and are marked as low/medium/high,
a graded colour scale, or cool/warm/hot. This is often close to a range of 100-250
degrees Celsius. They should also have a light or some other display to let you
know the iron is on or hot.

Cordless/Corded/Rechargeable
Irons can come as a cordless rechargeable, or a corded/cordless rechargeable combo
in which the iron can be either. Cord length will vary, usually between 1 and
3 meters.

Other features available in irons are automatic turnoff to prevent fires if you
accidentally leave it on, and self cleaning to deal with hard water deposits.