Philips GC7420 Pressurised Steam Generator Iron, 800 Watt

 

 

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I've used steam generator irons fror several years and current own a Morphy Richards model which I've had for the past year and used to make comparisons with, and write this review for the GC7420.

Considering the price of the Morphy Richards was almost half that of the Philips, I was expecting bigger and better things when the GC7420 arrived, was unboxed and turned on. Unfortunately, things weren't to be.......

My first disappointment was the water tank wasn't detachable. This meant a pan of water would be needed to fill up the reservoir - or several trips to the tap to fill the filler cup supplied with the iron. To fill the reservoir with water took four fills of the cup. The Morphy Richards I'm comparing this too has a removable tank which you just put under the cold water tap to fill.

To the ironing itself then. I managed to get through 5 long sleeved man size shirts on the first tank of water before the steam 'ran-out' and a water refill was needed; not brilliant. The reason for this is that this model has no variable steam control which for its price I find unforgivable. You have two choices of steam - 'on-demand' which is obtained by depressing the steam button with your thumb which then activates a burst of steam for a long as the button is pressed, or there is permanently on. The problem with the steam being permanently on is that the steam comes out at full belt, the unit drinks like the proverbial fish and unless the room is well ventilated, it quickly turns your workspace into a sauna......

To conclude, for its faults the Philips GC7420 does ultimately provide an extremely speedy and effective iron and removes heavy creases with total ease, but for the cost I'd expect a variable steam control, as for 'lighter' items such as shirts and tops the steam output is simply far too excessive and wasteful of the water. My advice would be to browse Amazon for other steam generator irons as my own experience has proven there are far better models available for far less money.

In brief - I was honestly blown away by the performance, and I think I might be a little bit in love with it; but this is a tool for someone with a big family to iron for: I imagine if you do a job-lot on a Sunday afternoon, this would be a Godsend - If you only iron one or two bits every few days, its probably way more beast than you'll ever need.

Pro's;
1. Its extremely simple to use, despite looking quite intimidating when you get it out of the box, you literally plug it in, fill it with water and turn it on, wait 2 minutes - then off you go! Theres no fiddly bits and bobs other than the typical dial you get on any standard iron.
2. It has a built in decalcifier - so no scale flecks on your clothes
3. Sturdy and beautifully made: not a single part of it looks or feels cheap or "thats gonna break off"
4. The sole-plate glides perfectly, and has a narrowed tip which is fantastic for ironing details, between buttons etc
5. The steam is powerful enough to knock out some quite demonic creases: I have a thick canvas-like material jacket which Ive been unable to wear for nearly 6 months due to some horrible creasing (after washing) which hasnt come out regardless of what Ive tried - it now looks brand new.
6. I tried it also on a cotton shirt, thick denim jeans and some linen trousers - all came out beautifully flat (if thats the way to explain it!) - I was really impressed
7. The time it takes to iron a shirt is striking: literally less than a minute - I can see it being loved deeply when Im running late in a morning and find my shirt is creased.
8. It doesnt spot or pool water on your clothes or board
9. In the images it looks garish neon blue - it isnt, its parts are powder blue, white and the tank is a shade off navy - it looks really rather cool and, if an iron ever can be, cheerful!

Con's;
1. It DRINKS water - I only ironed 5 things the first go I used it, and I had to refill it twice
2. Very heavy - if you had an old or cheap'n'cheerful ironing board it would probably make the legs fold under! If the base fell off the board and landed on your foot, it would be a trip to casualty and a plaster cast I imagine.
3. Noisy - which it has to be due to the pump - I just wasnt expecting it to be quite THAT loud - if you iron while watching TV, you'll probably need to put the volume up quite a bit (the steam blasts out at quite a racket too)
4. It takes up a fair bit of room on the ironing board, so you have to work around it when ironing some items - not a problem for things like Tshirts, but long trousers etc you might have to do some laundry acrobatics to get the right angle
5. It gets hot - all of it. It does warn you of this on the box, but I wasnt expecting for instance the flex wire between iron and base to be so hot - Id be worried if I had children around
6. Its not TRICKY to fill, but its a bit of a pain - I did splash water everywhere because the inlet, though large, has a sort of grid over it which deflects water unless you trickle it in. More annoying because you have to do it quite a few times!
7. Its massive, so Im going to find it difficult to store between use
8. Expensive: Ive seen similar ones in Tesco for around £60
9. It seems to take a lot longer to cool down than my old iron. Again a concern if you have little ones or pets running around

Final note: it has NO extras - for instance it doesnt have the traditional spray function, which at first I thought "oh... what if I need to dampen the clothes to get deep creases out?", but you really wouldnt ever need it, it makes use simplicity in itself and the steam power is phenomenal - You could iron a knife edge crease in denim, then iron it out again just as easily. You could probably even strip wallpaper with it! (*Dont use it to strip wallpaper)

So yes, I cant recommend it enough for someone who has epic ironing tasks - but its definitely excessive for light users.

I'm sure there may be some people who don't mind ironing but, if you're anything like me chances are you'll I find it a tedious and slow process (resulting in me ironing separate items as and when required rather than doing a job lot in one go). Well, thanks to this impressive bit of kit ironing doesn't seem quite so arduous or boring any more.

To begin with the steam generator is well packaged and easy to set up. It seems quite robustly made and was up and running in no time thanks to the quick start guide and ease of operation. The water reservoir is generous enough to last a good couple of ironing sessions and is very easy to fill. You can station the unit either near to your ironing board or close to it; there's still enough 'reach' in the iron's cable to allow the second option. Once the water reservoir/base is plugged in and switched on it takes about a minute or so to heat up and once it does - man - there's steam aplenty! The amount of steam it produces is way in excess of a conventional steam iron and because the steam is fed directly to the iron via the water tank there is an almost constant supply. Even better is the fact that you can easily lock the steam-on option on the iron itself saving you the bother of having to 'blast' the item every few seconds. As the iron doesn't house a water reservoir it means it is very light to manoeuvre and the easy-glide soleplate really makes light work of the toughest and most creased-prone types of fabric (worth bearing in mind particularly if you suffer from arthritis etc).

Are there any downsides? Well, a few niggles that you should be aware of perhaps. Firstly I think the lead to the base unit could have been more generous (no problem if you're near a wall socket but otherwise you'll need an extension). Secondly, the provided reservoir refilling jug is totally inadequate (just dump it and use your own large jug). Thirdly I found it difficult at times to see how full the water-reservoir was depending on how sunny the room was: at times I was really having to squint to see the water line. And lastly the noise: as you might expect producing this volume of steam is never going to be whisper quiet - which is fine - however every minute or so the unit made a buzzing/grinding sound which I'm guessing is when the base unit is 'reloading' the iron. This doesn't affect its operation but it might become an unwelcome intrusion if you're bothered by the noise.

In conclusion I can thoroughly recommend this product. Despite a few niggles this is a quality product that is really very effective and it really does cut ironing time down considerably with the additional benefit of a superior result and finish. Despite the high initial outlay I still believe it represents fair value for money.

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4.0 out of 5 stars great buy
Really very pleased with this iron. have had other steam generator irons but this one is the best so far. light and easy to iron which produced great steam. Read more

Published 28 days ago by llittledarling

3.0 out of 5 stars PhilipsGC7420
The water chamber is easy to fill, the iron is light and runs over the clothes smoothly.However, there are certain aspects of this iron which are irritating. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Jane

5.0 out of 5 stars steaming hot
Very good buy. This steamer iron easy to fill ,easy to use,no filters to change. Its a steaming good product.

Published 1 month ago by zoro

5.0 out of 5 stars philips gc7420 steam gen iron
I am impressed with this iron so far. Have to say the rather weird sound it makes from the anti calc system takes some getting used to.
Over all glad I chose this one.

Published 3 months ago by J. Egan

5.0 out of 5 stars Steams through a pile of ironing
This item Makes short work of a big pile of ironing
The steam it produces with a good ironing board means you dont have to iron both sides. Read more

Published 4 months ago by S. D. Regan

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes ironing much quicker and easier.
I'm not a big fan of ironing, and one of the perks used to be that while I was ironing I could get some guilt-free television watching done. Read more

Published 4 months ago by N. Gratton

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Value
This is a brilliant Iron and great value.
The Steam is High powered and the iron glides easily across clothing.
I highly recommend this product.

Published 5 months ago by Digga

5.0 out of 5 stars "Best Iron Ever", according to my mum!
Bought this a couple of weeks ago. It is much better than my old one as the water can be topped up without waiting for the iron to cool. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Karen

5.0 out of 5 stars philips steam generator iron
philips GC7420 pressurised steam generator iron is excellent, I would recommend if you are looking for a steam generator iron to go for one of these products.

Published 6 months ago by Mrs. R. Y. Clasby

5.0 out of 5 stars pressurised iron
Bought this pressurised steam iron for our daughter, as we already have one. She was a bit sceptical at first, but now thinks it`s fantastic, and she gets her iroing done in half... Read more

Published 8 months ago by chris

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