Tefal GV 9150 Protect Turbo > Reviews > Tefal Protect

Author's product rating:   

Performance	Good
Ease of use	Very easy
Durability	Satisfactory
Cleaning & Maintenance	Easy
Value for money	Fair

Advantages:	Reduced ironing time
Disadvantages:	Very Expensive

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Tefal GV 9150 Protect Turbo

Out of all the household tasks ironing is the one I hate and the one I am useless at. So when my iron died a death a couple of months ago I thought I would invest in a steam generator iron. Whilst they are expensive they all claimed to cut your ironing time down by half, which sounded good to me. I opted for the Tefal Protect Turbo as I liked the idea that you could cover it with a hood and put it away still hot, without fear of scorching anything. And also with a small child in the house I also liked the protect function. Having said that I always wait to iron until he is in bed to avoid accidents.
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Ok so what's the iron Tefal Protect like?
Well there is no picture on Ciao so I will try and describe the iron too you. All steam generator irons are much bulkier than your standard iron this is because of the large water reservoir where the steam is generated and the Tefal Protect is no different.
The actual iron which you hold is very light weight and easy to maneuvere it sits on a white base unit which generates all the steam and has a see through plastic purple hood that fits over the iron when on the base unit. It has a handle on the top for easy carrying. The base unit also has a see through plastic piece at the front of the base unit that flips open to allow you to fill with water.

Functions and how it works:
As I mentioned above before you start using the iron you need to fill the base unit with water. It has a max level that is clearly marked. I always use a jug to fill the base unit with water as it is too large and heavy to hold and fill under a tap. The area where you pour the water in is a good size hole so water does not go everywhere like some other irons I have had. It holds a fair amount of water (850ml) which lasts for quite a while. I have found that one tank of water gets me through half of me ironing normally. I expected to have to keep filling it up but was pleasantly surprised when I didn't. Obviously the amount of ironing you have will depend on how often you fill but I found that I could iron all my two year old sons clothes (approx 5 pair trousers and 8 tops) as well as 5 or 6 of my partners shirts before it needed refilling.
Once you have filled the base unit with water you put it on your ironing board and plug in and let it heat up. I use an ordinary ironing board still, the iron will sit on it OK although I have recently seen that you can buy ironing boards specially designed for steam generator irons, they have a larger area for the base unit to sit on (saw them in Tescos by Minky at a cost of £29.99) and look more stable. The plug on the base unit is hidden in the side, pull on it and it pulls out the cord ready for plugging in. There is a button at the side of where the plug sits that is marked automatic. If you press this it will automatically wind in the wire and plug. I like this feature as it stops all the cord flexing, kinking and getting knotted. The criticism I do have is that the cable could do with being a little longer.
Once you have plugged in the unit you can then switch it on. The unit will not switch on whilst the protective hood id over it. It must be put down. To put the hood down you press the silver buttons at the base and push down. Once the hood is down you can switch on. A red light will flash on the base unit, this indicates that it is heating up once this light stops flashing the ironing is ready to go. The product spec states it takes two minutes to heat up before it is ready to go, I have found it takes less time than this. The unit can be noisy as it heats up, my partner complained he couldn't hear the TV because of it. It isn't noise all the time just has little burst as it obviously is heating up.
You are almost ready to go. There is also a light that comes on when the water is empty, this is orange. You can easily refill , you fill the protect cover over pour in water, flip the cover back off and wait until red lights stops flashing again. The iron has settings on it, like and ordinary iron, for the different fabric types. It's a sliding setting rather than a dial. I did wonder the first time I used my new iron how the steam got to the actually iron as there is only one cord from the iron to the steam generator. Then I noticed that there were two sections in the one cord connecting the base unit to the iron. One section for power to heat the iron and one that obviously carries the steam.

Actually Ironing with it:
Once ironing the iron is lightweight and glides very well over the fabric. There is a button on the iron which you press as ironing to boost out the steam. This is much stronger and effective than a standard iron. Before I bought this iron the reviews I read said that you would only need to iron one side and both sides would be crease free. This is pretty much true, sometimes on badly creased items you may need a quick whiz over the other side as well. The disadvantages to the iron for me, are that as it is so good and I am not the best at ironing I some times end up ironing creases in and because it is powerful they are very difficult to get out again. I have also found you need to watch your fingers it is easy to burn them with the steam as lots come out when you hit the boost. I have been ironing and straightening the item with my left hand, and have hit the steam and almost fried my left hand. No burns yet but I'm getting fast at moving my hand out of the way.
What I have also found as a disadvantage to this iron is that when I have finished there is often a small water puddle under the ironing board, which doesn't bother me as I have wooden floors but it may cause a damp patch if you have carpet where you iron.

Technical Information

• 2200W Protect Turbo Generator
• Great ironing performance with additonal protective features
• 150g Turbo steam
• Bar pressure 5
• 850ml removable tank with water level indicator
• 100g/min Continuous steam
• Unlimited ironing time
• Corrosion free boiler
• Variable steam
• Cord rewind
• Comfort handle
• Store away when hot with the protective cover, featuring auto shut off when closed
• 2 minute heat up and refill anytime
• Easy carry handle built into the cover for

Price

As I said earlier they are very expense and they vary greatly in price depending on where you purchase it from. I purchased mine from a store on ebay they were very efficient and I paid £159.99 (incl delivery). The cheapest I have seen them for on the internet is at Amazon for £179.99. Argos have them for £249.99 so you can see there is quite a lot of difference. Also just beware if you are buying from the internet it looks like a good price until they add the delivery cost.

Other info and My Opinion:
It is an excellent iron and does make it quicker to do the ironing. The clothes also seem much crisper and neater when ironed with this as opposed to a conventional iron.
I haven't as yet tried the vertical steam function of the iron so can't comment on how good that is but once I do I will update my review. The iron also comes with some flexible pipes for cleaning and descaling I haven't tried this out as yet. The iron does come with good instructions on how to this so I'll update when I've tried it.
Storage of the iron, it will require more space as it considerably bulkier than an ordinary iron.
Would I recommend you buy one? Yes and no. They are a superior iron, but I am not sure they are worth the large difference in price to a standard iron. My advice would be wait until the price drops which I'm sure it will.