Mar 06, 2014 03:19 PM
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An Iron. Seemingly a simple small appliance with a simple task: remove the creases from your clothes and make them sharp looking.
Some of us continue to give out clothes to the dhobi, but I find having an iron to be more economical and at times, convenient as well. Granted, it does take effort, compared to giving your clothes to the dhobi, but on a rainy day when your dhobi suddenly disappears and your shirts are not ready for office, you suddenly realize that an iron is not a luxury, but a necessity.
Philips has been a long time player in the Ironing business, with good quality and stylish products. Sure, they may not be as flashy as Morphy Richards or as inexpensive as Bajaj, but you do pay for quality.
This particular model, the Philips CG 1115 is a wired steam iron. It comes in a blue and white colour scheme and costs around Rs. 1, 900 MRP, but you can find it for Rs. 1, 400 at most stores or online retailers.
Let us go through the various aspects of the CG 1115 and how it performs on the daily grind:
1. Looks and Build Quality:
There are many flashier irons these days, and it its rather plain blue and white colours the Philips does not reallt stand out. But you know what, I like it's understated appeal. It is an iron, and it makes no bones about it.
Quality is top notch. It feels a bit light when you hold it, but once you fill it with the 150ml of water it is designed to hold, it has a nice weight, not too heavy and be cumbersome, but heavy enough to put a firm press on the clothes.
The plastics used are also good, and the iron curves nicely and fits most sized hands well. It is a wired iron, and the cable is quite strong and about 1.5 metres long. It does not swivel in all directions, i.e. not a 360 degree swivel, but it does do a 180 degree single sided swivel which is good enough for ironing all clothes without difficulty. With over one year of usage, the cable has not shown any signs of wear and tear, and it is well insulated.
2. Features:
While the Philips GC1010 is similar in features and available for Rs. 400 less, I particularly chose thie GC1115 for its one standout feature: its 'Golden American Heritage Soleplate'. Unlike most irons which have a plain aluminium heating plate, which can easily stick to clothing if kept too warm, the Golden Coloured Heating Plate of the GC1115 acts like a sort of non-stick coating, enabling you to easily glide the iron over the surface of the clothes, while still providing sufficient friction to ensure a proper ironing experience. It really is worth the extra price, and has saved a couple of shirts when I accidentally kept the temperature of the iron too high. Within one year, the coating has slightly worn off from the edges, around 0.3 cm from the edge, but it mostly is still intact. Another benefit of the coating is that it prevents scratches which come from buttons etc.
3. Steam Iron Feature:
You can save a few hundred rupees and get a good normal dry iron below Rs. 1, 000, but after the using the steam feature of the GC1115, I am never going back to a conventional iron. The steam mode allows you to uniformly distribute steam over the surface of the cloth, thereby making it much, much easier to remove wrinkles and creases from your clothes.
You can fill 150ml of water in the iron, which normally provides for steaming around 4-5 medium sized pieces of clothing, or 2 sarees.
There are two steaming modes: Regular and Heavy. The regular mode in my estimation is good enough for 99% of all the clothes you will ever need to iron. For particularly stubborn creases, the Heavy steaming mode might be required.
There is also a Steam Burst feature whereby you press a button and you get an extra burst of steam. Think of it as a temporary Heavy steam mode when you find one or two stubborn creases on your dress.
4. Drawbacks:
No product is perfect, and there are a couple of very minor drawbacks to the CG1115.
Firstly, I wish the water capacity was more than 150ml. Even when I fill the iron to full capacity, it lasts fors max 6-7 clothes. Granted, it is not a major annoyance, but I wish it could do steaming for around 10 clothes before needing a refill.
Secondly, when you start the iron in steam mode, you need to wait for around 30 seconds to one minute before you can use it. Else, the heating plate has not got hoe enough to vaporize the water into steam, the the water drips out into the clothes. Again, not a big problem, and you get used to it.
Conclusion:There are many similar products to the Philips GC1115, which currently retails for Rs.1, 400 approx.
You could also look at: Philips GC1905, which comes with a Non-Stick coated heeating plate and larger 180ml water capacity for Rs. 1, 400
Philips GC1920, which is sort of an updated version of the GC1115, for Rs. 1, 600(also Recommended)
Bajaj Majesty MX22: with a large 360ml water capacity, but no info on what type of coating for the heating plate, for Rs. 1, 400
Bajaj Majesty MX12: Similar to the GC1115, with a Non-Stick Coated Heating Plate, for Rs. 1, 400.
Personally, I feel you cannot go wrong with any of the products listed above, but for me, since I have used it over a year, I will wholeheartedly recommend the Philips models.
