Customer Reviews

T-Fal 18301 New Avantis Ultra Turbo Iron

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had read the reviews. I noticed the comment that Consumer Reports had rated the Rowenta number one, at half again as much money. That had me concerned. Since this was a new model, I decided to give it a shot. I looked up the Consumer Reports review, and they had compared it to the T-Fal 90, which is a different-earlier model. This unit has 130 as the model number on the side. The Consumer Reports review was done in 2001. The complaints from Consumer Reports about the T-Fal 90 was that it was difficult to read how much water is in the unit. With this new 130 model, you won't need your glasses to see the water level. They almost went overboard in the ability to see it clearly. It's got to be the easiest to see.
Consumer Reports also mentioned that the Rowenta had the best steam. This T-Fal puts out generous amounts of steam. Consumer reports mentioned that the enamel slip surfaces were easier to clean than the stainless that comes with the Rowenta.
Another thing, I know this sounds silly, but I like the aesthetics of the T-Fal better than the Rowenta. The T-Fal is a more attractive design. Both irons have the same safety shut off features, and both models have 4 steam spray options as well.
T-Fal is the inventor of the non slip cooking surface. Their material is different than some of the other non slip surfaces. It resists scratching. My friend has a Rowenta, and he mentioned the stainless steel surface gets scratched on metal buttons. Careful ironing will prevent that. Scratches are prone to trap starch. This iron is smooth, and does not snag on anything. All settings are easy to use and see. Water levels are very simple to see as well. The filler opening has a little door on it, to prevent spills. The cord is a ball and socket, giving you a 360 degree spin capability. Helps it to stay out of the way. The spray nozzle gives you a nice spray, that is easily directable. Great for the little touch ups. If you were planning to dampen a pile of clothing, a fuller size spray bottle would be advisable.
All in all I give this iron 5 stars. If you are fortunate enough to be able to take advantage of the T-Fal 20 dollar gift certificate, it makes this unit a no brainer. I bought the T-Fal fast water heater, that boils one cup of water in 60 seconds to bring the purchase up to the 99 dollar requirement for the gift certificate. That too is a great unit. It is shocking to have a rolling boil in only 60 seconds.
I guess over time I will be able to tell whether this iron holds up or not. After all, I got the iron, and the fast water boiler for the same price as the Rowenta iron alone. On top of that they added a 20 dollar T-Fal gift certificate.
Normally I consider quality first, and price second. With this unit, I am more than happy with the quality and the price.

I ordered three irons: A Rowenta Precision, Luxe Professional, and the Tfal 18301 (Avantis 130). The Rowentas certainly seem to be well built units, but they fail to get hot enough to remove the fine wrinkles. The Tfal gets plenty hot (same power rating as the Precision) which is far hotter than either Rowenta and the steam is plentiful. At the price, you simply can't beat this unit. The only downside is the feel of the sliders, they feel very cheap, but this is a minor quibble. In addition, the iron is purple (what were they thinking?). Great unit overall. I got a kick out of the person who rated it inadequately due to the lack of a power switch (none of the Rowentas including the top of the line at twice the price have a power switch), yet they stated it ironed well (isn't that why you bought it?).

This iron is worth every cent I paid for it and more. It's easy and comfortable to use. This iron has a sole plate that just glides across any fabric without catching on it and making more wrinkles. Since it has more holes in the soleplate you get more steam and they don't get clogged with hard water and starch. The sleek design is easy on the hand and the weight of the iron isn't too heavy or too light. I would highly recommend this iron to anyone.

My new T-Fal iron arrived in two days. I tried it out immediately on my husband's twill work shirts. It is wonderful; the steam is perfect. It cut the usual time it takes me in half. I also tried it on a knit top with a lower temperature and the wrinkles fell right out. I had a Rowenta previously - no comparisom in my mind. Go for this one.

Sherry Hileman, Lafayette, Indiana

As an experienced sewer ...I bought this TFAL iron - the ultra turbo. I really love it - it never leaks water on you like [an other iron] , is lighter, has a very efficient center of gravity and irons very quickly, has a really nice burst of steam. For those with hands that aren't as nimble as they used to be: Rowentas have those hard to turn dials under the handle. This has toggle type switches - nothing to grab and turn - just slide them. MUCH easier on your hands. I do use the burst of steam a lot, so I fill this iron a lot. The burst of steam is as good as any iron I've used. The water line is a little hard to see but once you get used to it no problems. The chord is long. It has a flashing red light if you leave it plugged into the wall which is nice, even after automatic shutoff. The soleplate is ultra fast, and hasn't stuck to anything yet. As a seamstress I like this iron even more than my [other] iron which I really loved. Even filled with water it is significantly lighter than the top of the line [other] but I believe gives great performance. One of the best things is the auto drip feature where it doesn't drip water on you when the temperature is below steam level - to me that is sooo annoying and an expensive iron like [other] shouldn't do that.

Ironing, I admit, is one of my least favorite chores. Who needs to just stand or sit and mindlessly push a metal object across material?

No more pushing with this iron - thanks to a slick soleplate even the most difficult of materials are pressed with a minimum of effort. Flannel shirts used to be a problem - no more!

And the generous steam holes enable me to give corduroy a professional finish which I've never been able to do in the past.

The automatic turn-off features are a great safety assurance, and the iron itself is ergonomically friendly.

No more blye Monday wash and iron days at our house!

When I opened the box, I knew I bought the best iron. It has considerable weight to it, which I knew I had to have. It is comfortable to hold and fill. I don't care that there wasn't an "ON/OFF" switch because I always unplug my iron when finsihed. What I like is the fact that it will shut off if ignored. THAT is the best safety feature in my opinion. The steam and heat are incredible. If you are like me, finally replacing the $.. cheap irons and a little nervous about shelling out the money, rest assured that this is the iron to get. The non-stick surface is amazing, as T-Fal is in other products.

From a guy that does most of the ironing around the house, this is a great iron!

My previous iron was a $100+ iron made by Rowenta. That iron lasted about 3 years before it began making clicking sounds and would stop heating. I decided to purchase this iron based on the high reviews here.

Bottom line is that ironing is made much easier with this iron.

Plus
This iron spews out lots of steam and makes removing wrinkles easy. It has a steam burst button which works well because I can press it up to 3 times in succession and still get a decent burst. The Rowenta was able to send out one strong burst of steam, but the 2nd one was pitifully weak.

The water spray button and the steam burst buttons are easy to press. After a couple of hours of ironing with the Rowenta, my thumb would cramp up. I have a pretty strong grip, so it takes a lot of work for my hand to cramp up.

The long power cord is a big plus. This means I don't have to work near an outlet.

Minus

The iron could hold more water. Because it produces a lot of steam, the iron tends to use up its water fairly quickly. This is not a problem since the filler cup that comes with the iron makes adding water a breeze.

It is a little difficult to see the water level at the filled position. However, when the water level is low, I have no problem seeing it.

Iron worked great at first but now will not stay on or make steam just a waste of money, all this after only 5 months.

For a failry expensive product, it fails to live up. To start with, it doesn't have an "On/Off" button, which means that you have to pull the plug out of the outlet everytime you're finished. The water level is extremely hard to see when filling, which invariably leads to one filling more than the required limit. On Auto steam, water gets depleted in around 10 mins of ironing. The power steam burst is quite weak as well. To be fair, I do have to say that the iron does a good job.