Customer Reviews

Black & Decker D5500 Digital Evolution 1500-Watt Steam Iron with Ceramic Soleplate

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Pros:
- Flattens clothes in one pass.
- Excellent temperature control
- Sturdy construction.
- Smooth gliding ceramic sole plate.
- Nice rubber grip.

Cons:
- Awkward water filling.
- Must reset temp after unplugging.
- Not as stable in the upright position as the old T-Fal.
- No built in A/C unit to cool the user.

After a week of use my wife and I are very impressed with this iron as it seems to press clothing in just one pass compared to our 2 year old T-Fal.
As this is the first review I will explain a little about how this almost totally electronic iron works. After you plug it in you press the rubberized button to the left of the head until you reach your desired temperature. The temperature number, 1- 7, along with the type of fabric it is for appears in the window at the top of the head. Pressing the button to the right of the head lowers the temperature. The iron heats quickly and gives a soft beep when it is at the correct temperature. The steam feature is activated by pressing the rubberized button just below the window and an indicator flashes in the window. The steam works very well and of course there is a burst of steam button and a spray button on the top. The burst of steam button is on the right and the spray on the left which is backwards to me but I got used to it pretty quickly. The ceramic sole plate glides over clothing but if you have your temperature set too high for the material it will begin to stick, unlike the Teflon sole plate on the T-Fal which glided over everything at any temperature. This is probably a good thing as it keeps you from scorching your clothes. The rubberized grip is very positive and you have good control over the iron.
The only thing that keeps me from giving it 5 stars is the water fill system. The iron must be filled in the horizontal position which means that you can't set it down to fill it without burning something. Also, the gray color of the water tank is very aesthetically pleasing but it makes it hard to see the water level in the tank and the full mark is meant to be read with the iron in the horizontal position instead of sitting on its tail. Unplugging it and taking it to the sink is the easiest way to fill it but when you plug it back in you must reset your temperature and steam settings again which is another annoyance that makes me knock it a bit.
Overall it is a good and sturdy iron which has already taken a fall to the floor and is no worse for the wear. Perhaps the 2030 with its mechanical settings and digital readout, as well as a vertical fill water tank, might have been a less annoying alternative but I think that we will be happy with this for years to come.

This iron performs well; however, there are some minor annoyances. The ceramic surface drags much more than the polished stainless steel surface of our former Rowenta iron. More annoyingly, the soft rubber buttons that control heat and steam are extremely difficult to operate. The tiny steam on/off button, for example, requires a hard push with a fingernail. Nailbiters would be out of luck!

I got this product after returning a sunbeam iron which was dripping. This one is nice to use although I have to agree with the person who said it has an awkward water filling system. Anything else is great. It`s worth the price.

This is a very nice piece of equipment. My wife and I decided to buy a new, nicer, heavier duty iron due to fact previous irons kept leaking water and shorting out at the electric cord.

This iron has a nice swivel ball joint where the electric cord connects to the iron, with a sturdy, well designed support sleeve at the base of the cord. The steam is either a very powerful burst, (accessed by a push of the thumb), or nice high volume continuous busts of steam. The iron glides over the material smoothly and effortlessly. It only takes one or two strokes and your shirt or pants are ironed. The end result is a nice, smooth garment. It has cut ironing time in one half.

I would definitely recommend and I would purchase again.

I bought this iron back in March 09. It worked great for about 3-4 months then the digital display just died. Sent it back under warranty and paid $7.50 for shipping and handling for a replacement. Now the replacement display is malfunctioning. It won't go above level 1. Seems to be a serious quality control issue at B&D.

I thought I'd write a review since I am back at Amazon looking for a new clothing iron after my Black & Decker died this week. I had this item for just over a year and it was always an awful iron. For starters, it has a really awkward water spout that must be filled by means of a narrow plastic cup. If you lose the cup while you own the iron it will be nearly impossible to fill. Secondly, my iron started malfunctioning almost immediately. For the year that I had the iron, the digital display would fluctuate between heat settings on its own. Every time it would change settings, sometimes 7 times in a minute, you would hear a high-pitched beep, which as you can imagine went from funny to obnoxious really quickly. As if that wasn't enough, it was sometimes too hot or not hot enough at the highest setting, which lead to me burning a few things. Now, as another reviewer has also experienced, the display on the iron died and after that (within two days) the iron would no longer heat up. Just buy something else and save yourself the trouble.

We replaced a Rowenta iron that had great steam but leaked like a sieve and had electrical cord issues after only a couple of years of use. This iron works well, good steam, good heft and really fast warm up times. The snub nosed end is not as pointy as I'm used to to get in small areas or around buttons but not a big issue. Works great for the price, especially after what we spent on the Rowenta. Some of the electronic symbols are cryptic and we went a couple weeks not realizing the steam wasn't on because the button and the symbol really didn't tell you much.

I am very disappointed in this iron. It only steams when you press the steam button. It makes your clothes shine. It is no where as good as the Black and Decker 2030. I had to order another 2030 that one again as I was duped by the reviews I read. I would not recomment this iron to anyone. The 2030 is the iron of choice, in my opinion.

This iron is digital, with easily understandable controls and icon.
It heats quickly, and beeps to advise you when it is at the proper temperature for the current setting.
The water reservoir appears at first to be small, but it seems to use steam efficiently, so the water does last through a few bouts of ironing.
The ceramic sole plate does not appear to be as slick as teflon sole plate, but it runs smoothly over fabrics, and after two months has yet to scorch or pick up residue.
If you like a lot of steam, this may not be the iron for you. Steam is not available on the lower settings
The iron is lightweight and easy to maneuver.
The slight difference in price between this and an "entry level" iron makes this a good choice for casual ironers as well as for many crafters and occasional seamstresses.

Good iron, and easy to use. I don't think the water fill is the best design.