Customer Reviews

Rowenta DX8900 Professional Iron with No Auto Shut-Off

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

My mother and I have owned Rowenta irons for years and loved them. We are both crafters and love the professional job they have done and the fact they are available without the auto shut-off feature. When my last Rowenta started leaking from the base after only 3 years of use, I was disappointed, but immediately ordered the DX8900 to replace it. What a huge disappointment! The new base plate material does not glide smoothly compared to my last iron and the new tip is too rounded to iron into corners properly. I love the larger water reservoir, but the iron does not produce consistant steam and spits badly. The biggest disappointment is that after 6 monthes of use it has started leaking severely from the base when it is in the upright position just like my last one.

After researching the web, it appears that leaking from the base is a common problem with many Rowenta irons, so I am very leary of ordering another one. Unfortunately, there are very few professional quality irons available without auto shutoff, so I'm not sure what my next step is going to be.

I am a professional seamstress, handweaver and I iron fabric off and on all day, every day, five days a week.
I have bought many irons in my 30 years in business. And have paid large sums of money for some of them.
This iron is the best all around iron on the market today. I don't say that lightly either. It does pull more power with it's heavy duty electric cord, I expect my electric bill will go up slightly now that I use this exclusively on my fabrics..... But the finished product is so much nicer and I get the professional finish I want to have on my handwovens. The added cost is worth the finished product.

I quilt and sew daily and use this iron constantly. It is remarkable. Steam when and where I want it and in the quantity I need. I've had several expensive irons, but none came close to this one. And - no annoying "auto shut-off" when I don't want/expect it. The large size water tank is a benefit too.

This iron is the only one I'll use---my opinion hasn't changed in >15 years of dressmaking. As for the leaking, yes, it'll leak if you don't feed it the right water. The troubleshooting guide warns you of this and they aren't messing around. You can't use 100% distilled water with these irons. If you do, they leak. They're meant to be used with tap water, 50/50 tap and distilled or spring water. It'll also spew out brown water if your tap water is too hard, like mine is (the troubleshooting guide tells you about this, too). I switched to filtered tap water from the fridge and haven't had a problem since. That was years ago. If this is too much a hassle for you, you probably won't like this iron. For me, it's not that big of a deal. My Rowenta is worth it.

Maybe the auto shut-off imposed on us all has saved houses from going up in flames and other such mayhem, but if you sew, or if you just want to be the one in control of your appliance, this is the iron for you. I've used Rowenta irons and steam presses exclusively for almost 20 years, and I won't use anything else. There are two big improvements to this model:
1)the water tank is significantly larger
2)the steam button has been redesigned (it seems less likely to get stuck when you push it down)
I also like the extra-long cord.
One complaint: I wish the soleplate was the highly-polished steel that the last model was. It used to glide much smoother than this one, and was easier to clean.

Iron leaks badly from the heelplate after one use. Rowenta's phone line was also disappointing, they apparently know they are selling junk and are unapologetic. All they will say is "send it back at your expense and we'll take care of it in 30 days." After reading Nancy Long's comment here (her replacement iron leaked as badly as the first one) I am hesitant to go through the hassle and expense of shipping this piece of junk back to the service center.

Here is what I found about the leaking problem. Rowenta means it when they say empty the iron after use. If you leave water in the iron, it will leak out all over. If you put water in before the iron is hot, it will leak all over. (metal expands with heat?) If I empty the iron after use and don't refill it until the iron has heated up, I get the greatest steam I have ever had with an iron. It does not get as hot as the previous Black and Decker I had. There is no automatic shutoff which is great. Anyone who sews needs an iron to stay on for prolonged periods. It is heavy enough so I don't have to push down on the iron but not so heavy I get tired of using it when doing a lot of ironing. As I like cotton and linen garments, I do a lot of ironing. If I ever find the perfect iron.......

Had an opportunity to "test drive" a Rowenta Professional iron at a recent quilting retreat. I was very impressed with the iron so decided to order one for myself. Read all of the review on Amazon.com and felt they were overall negative, but my "test drive" was so successful I decided to go ahead and order the iron anyway. I read all the directions very, very carefully (per what I read in the previous reviews) and plugged it in. It is wonderful! I do love my iron! (Which please note is not the same as loving to iron.) Its larger plate covers a wider area than my old iron and those bursts of steam really set the more intricate seams in some quilting blocks. I do like this iron really, really well.

I've used Rowenta irons for years. In January 2009 it was time for a new iron, and I bought this DX8900 professional iron. I really wish I hadn't - and too bad I already disposed of my old iron.

This Rowenta iron leaks SEVERELY from the base in the upright position after just a few months of use. The last two times I've used it, it has been almost unbearable. I've had to let it lie flat on my board in order to get any kind of use out if at all without it inundating my clothes with water after tilting it from the base to the ironing position. From what I have seen in a few other reviews, this is happening to other people as well, and even after replacements and "repairs".

I will not be buying another Rowenta iron anytime soon.. and am now about to search Amazon for a quality iron from another vendor that doesn't leak all over everything! Seriously, it was leaking puddles! I never thought I would ever write a horrible review for a Rowenta iron, but this one is just plain HORRIBLE. And for the price and the 'professional' labeling and the Rowenta name, that is simply unacceptable.

I looked for an iron all over the different retail stores and found nothing impressive. I read a review about this one, and it totally checked out. This is a great product and you cant find it in regular stores.

Its heavy and shoots just the right amount of steam.

Buy it now.