Russell Hobbs 24420 Power 90 Station, Series 1 Steam Generator, 2400 W, 1.3 L, Black/White

Works great

Early days with this relatively cheap steam generator, which from our experience of using them suggests that even the models costing upwards of £300 do not last as long as a decent steam iron. It does work quite well and presses clothes as well as this type of item does. Steam output is good and the whole unit feels as though it is robustly made and should be durable. It is easy to use, has decent power and steam cords and all around seems a good item.

Very simple, straighforward steam iron. I had a more expensive Russell Hobbs model costing over twice the price and so here's the difference between them: 1. The cheaper 24420 model shown here requires replacement anti-scale cartridges, costing around £7. Our more expensive model didn't need these. The cartridges are available on Amazon. 2. The cheaper model doesn't lock the iron into the base. The more expensive model did this, allowing you to carry the whole iron and base using just the handle of the iron. It means you need to wait for the iron to cool down before lifting it by the base. 3. A permanently illuminated blue light strip in the handle cannot be disabled. During use, it quickly becomes visually irritating due to the constant motion of the iron. I’ve covered it with black electrical tape to solve the problem. It appears to serve no useful purpose.

Absolutely 💯% brilliant

I bought this to replace the Phillips PerfectCare Compact steam generator iron that I got in 2018, which they are apparently still selling. On my Amazon it comes top of the search when you type in "Steam Generator iron" Phillips give you a 2 year warranty which I used twice in that time and now after 4 years has broken again and obviously won't be covered. They have a good customer service centre but I was told that a 4 year old iron is considered "old"! The cost of them fixing it is the same as this whole Russell Hobbs iron cost! So now I've had both Phillips and Russell Hobbs I can send a thorough comparitive review. I'll start with the pros why this iron is better than the Phillips one. - Firstly, The water chamber is removable, which makes it very easy to top up. The Phillips one you have to carry the whole thing to the sink and try and balance it under the tap under your arm. It's not very easy. This one is much easier to fill up. The capacity and general size however is the same. - Secondly, this has many more functions. You can adjust the temperature and you can use the iron dry if you wanted to. The Phillips one is very basic for the fact you're paying twice as much. You just get steam - and one temperature at that. - Thirdly, you can do vertical steaming, so you can steam things like curtains. With the Phillips one, you can't. - Fourthly, this iron is half the price of the Phillips one. When you consider they they class a 4 year old machine "old", the price seems expensive. I remember when appliances were expected to last 10+ years. My previous iron to that was in excess of 10 years. - Lastly, there's a nice little storage slot for the actual plug, which means it doesn't hang down. Many times I've had it whack on my knee/ankle when moving the machine and it drops down. Now onto the things that are the same: - Firstly, both have a self-cleaning function built in. - Secondly, the time it takes to start up is the same - 2 minutes. It flashes until it's ready then shows a steady light when it's ready. - Thirdly, they both have a storage compartment for cables. Now onto the things where this is not as good as the Phillips one: - Firstly, in the self cleaning function, you have to replace the cartridges every 100 uses (which if you use weekly, works out as being approximately every 2 years). Not a big deal, but the Phillips one has a built in system to de-clog it, which doesn't require an ongoing expense. - Secondly, the steam hose gets very hot! It's perhaps not as well insulated as the Phillips one, so be aware of the hose when using. - Lastly, the Phillips one had a nice clip that locked the iron onto the base plate. This Russell Hobbs one you just sit it on the 4 spongey nozzles, which can be a bit fiddly to get it properly slotted on. In summary, I think this iron is better than the Phillips one. Firstly the initial outlay is half the cost, and there are more things better than worse when compared to the Phillips one.