Breville VIN068

...that.

Breville have been making kitchen appliances since the 1930's, and are now widely known for their quality products which are available from shops that sell such products. I haven't used any Breville products myself before so I didn't know what to make of it but I was hoping it was going to be good. The product was originally selling for £50, which immediately told me it was a really good product, and for the brilliant price ...
...that was all I paid for my last rubbish iron from Argos. This particular iron is the VIN068 model.

Now, an iron is an iron really. They all have a hotplate which helps to press out any creases in your clothes, but its the other gadgets which really get us all interested. What caught my eye about this iron was the fact it was colour changing and had a digital display, neither of which I have had or particularly wished for in an iron ... more

I never thought there would come a time in my life when I would get excited about using a new iron, but alas, at just 22 years of age that time has indeed come. I was browsing in Sainsburys one fateful afternoon, and my beady eyes spotted this bargain in the Electrical sale. Being a sucker for new gadgets AND a real bargain, I quickly bought one and took it home. The saddest thing is that within 15 minutes of getting it home, I'd unboxed it, ironed 3 shirts with it, and was eager to tackle another big pile of ironing. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Well, it was a very good iron, I can't deny it that.

Breville have been making kitchen appliances since the 1930's, and are now widely known for their quality products which are available from shops that sell such products. I haven't used any Breville products myself before so I didn't know what to make of it but I was hoping it was going to be good. The product was originally selling for £50, which immediately told me it was a really good product, and for the brilliant price of £12.49, I decided it was worth a go as that was all I paid for my last rubbish iron from Argos. This particular iron is the VIN068 model.

Now, an iron is an iron really. They all have a hotplate which helps to press out any creases in your clothes, but its the other gadgets which really get us all interested. What caught my eye about this iron was the fact it was colour changing and had a digital display, neither of which I have had or particularly wished for in an iron before. The iron is aesthetically okay, with a white plastic frame and opaque middle section. It doesn't look anything special when it's switched off, in fact its pretty ordinary but that all changes when you plug it into the mains using its 3 metre long power cord.

The clear plastic section suddenly bursts into colour, a lovely red which indicates that the iron is in standby/off mode. You are also told this on the small square digital display on the handle. In order to change the temperature, there's no cumbersome dials to fiddle with here - oh no, it's all digital and fancy. You just press the + or - buttons just underneath the digital display to increase or decrease the heat at the stainless steel plate. There are 4 heat levels here - silk, wool, cotton and linen. Each level is indicated by a colour change in the LCD in the iron; Standby - Red, Silk - Purple, Wool - Dark Blue, Cotton - Blue, and Linen - Pink. When you press the buttons to change the heat, they make an audible beep as well so you can be sure you've changed the heat correctly. I was concerned at the placement of the buttons, the fact that they are on the handle, but I've never accidentally touched them or changed the setting so it's not been a problem at all.

So once it's set, you just wait for the lights in the centre to stop flashing which means its at the right temperature. It will also beep, but it isn't that loud, so the lights are a much easier to spot indicator. You shouldn't use it until then because it won't work at its optimum level. When you are ironing, you can set the steam using a rolling button at the top of the handle. There are 2 steam levels, and I always set mine to the highest so just push the button forward as far as it goes. The minimum steamoutput is 30 grams, but this is much higher when you use it on the'Linen' setting. There is also a Steam Shot button just above the steam button, which delivers a minimum of 80 grams of steam, and you can feel the iron jolt with the force of the steam at times which is great!

I like the fact the iron has an auto-switch off as well, which is great for peace of mind. If the iron is standing up for 8 minutes when it's plugged in and it's not used, it will automatically turn to red/standby and flash continually to indicate this. To start it again, you just need to press the buttons or start to use it again. I found about this feature by accident when the phone interrupted my ironing, but I think its a great safety feature and should be on all irons. It also features an self-clean button but I've pressed it a few times and it doesn't seem to outwardly do much so I presume it's all internal and very clever.

I have found ironing to be really easy and stress free with this iron. I don't need to worry about setting it to the wrong temperature because I just adjust the buttons accordingly and its not done me wrong so far. If I'm not sure about whether its right or wrong, I go for the lower heat and see how that goes and up it if necessary. With the higher heats, it delivers plenty of steam to push those creases out easily and without too much force on my part. Obviously because it uses a lot of steam, particularly on Cotton and Linen settings, you do have to top up the 300ml water tank a few times but this isn't too annoying, and I don't think its too frequent for the amount of usage either.

For the mere £12.49 I paid for this iron, I am completely convinced I got a fantastic bargain, and I really am chuffed with my new iron. The coloured lights make it a little bit more fun, and just add something a bit different to a boring household chore but also makes it easy for temperature selection. The steam it delivers is very powerful and makes getting out tough creases that bit easier and the steam shot is really useful when you come across a crease that won't shift. It is a well designed iron, which is very comfortable to use, not too heavy (1.4kg), clean and functional looking and even has cord storage under the plate too to keep it neat and tidy. I haven't had any problems with leakage or scaling after 3 months of use, so I'm more than happy with this, and I'd definitely recommend it.

Summary of features:
22000 watts of power
30g/min steam output.
80g/min shot of steam.
300ml water tank capacity.
Anti-scale.
Anti-drip.
3m power cord.
Weight 1.4kg.

RRP: £49.99. Available on Amazon for £30.34 / Argos: £48.99.

Thank you for reading.
 

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