Rowenta DG5030 Pro Iron Steam Iron Station with Stainless Steel Soleplate, 1750-Watt, Gray

This is my 4th Rowenta iron - my 2nd pressure steam iron. I had the pro 050 for over 10 years. However, it hit the floor too many times and finally quit putting out steam. So I ordered this one. (Note that the price decreased from $149.99 to $132.57 between April 27th and May 3rd when I received it and Amazon has no price guarantee - which I think is wrong. You can return product and reorder, but that is a hassle. I think it is a poor policy and I don't intend to let up on my dislike of this policy). I have used the 5030 all afternoon and love it more than my 050 (and I loved it).Addressing some issues others have complained about - namely spitting and sputtering:You can't overfill the water tank or it will sputter. It needs a certain amount of air space to generate steam - and it will sputter until it gets that air space. If you use the provided funnel, it will fill to the proper height. You can't use distilled or soft water in it or it will sputter - and it won't stop until it gets some calcium and lime mixed in. I use a mixture of tap water and filtered water because my tap water is 26 grains hard. The filtered water is not hard enough. I just had to play with it to get a good mix. But it's not *that* fussy beyond not using distilled or soft water. I routinely overfill the tank, and I just run the steam until it stops sputtering.The iron provides continuous steam for up to 1 1/2 hours. You have to turn it off and let it cool for a while before you can refill the tank. Some people think they need to see a water level. The upgrade to a removable tank/see water level iron is well over $100. That to me represents a pretty significant difference in price AND tells me that the ability to view the water level is not trivial. It is also a point of failure. In 10 years I had the 050, the iron ran out of steam before I finished ironing maybe three times and that was mostly because I didn't fill it before I started. I either get tired of ironing or run out of ironing first. I refill the tank before I use it and rinse the tank a couple of times a year. Besides cleaning the soleplate, that's all the maintenance I've ever had to do with my pressure steam iron.This iron has some small holes at the tip, which is nice for getting steam into tight spaces. It's also slightly heavier than the 050 and can be used dry, which the 050 could not. The base provides a secure resting place for the iron, which is a huge improvement over the 050. There is also a place to wind the hose, also not present on the 050. These two features, which were lacking on the 050, probably shortened the life of my 050. The 050 was always getting knocked off because the hose was got caught on the dryer door in my laundry area.Overall, this is a great iron for the laundry room and the sewing room. It will shorten ironing time and it's a necessity if one wants to improve the look of one's sewing.

This Rowenta Steam Station performs perfectly. I have never paid this much for any steam appliance or iron. Over the past ten years, I have owned, enjoyed and, used extensively, a $50 Rowenta; the latter which took a half gainer off my ironing board (the iron was off) when I bumped into the ironing board. God bless that $50 Rowenta. Despite its fate, the iron still delivered the steam that I love...just not as much steam.Enter this Rowenta Steam Station which performs so very very well!1. perfect steam delivery (uses tap water....I read the entire owner's manual.....and heats up in 11 minutes....worth the wait)2. very safe to use because the iron has its own cradle atop the steam station; a high pressure boiler that creates ubiquitous but controlled quantities of steam with an easy press of its under-handle trigger3. cut my ironing time to a quarter of the time I normally would have to spend with the $50 Rowenta4. professional results....in fact, my results were superior to those of the high end and low end dry cleaners where my husband and I take our clothes!5. refreshes shirts and pants crisply and professionallyI'm a market analyst. My husband is in sales. Our daily pursuit: to look good. The clothes have to make us look good! lol!I'm always analyzing companies, products and services. As such, the leveraged fiscal estimate in dry cleaning savings because of this Rowenta Steam Station = $42. Four pairs of pants and six shirts. I based the price points per clothing piece on the average costs of the high end plus the low end dry cleaners / 2 = the averaged or leveraged price point per article of clothing.So, in just 24 hours of owning this awesome Steam Station, it has earned its keep at nearly 25% of my initial investment. How great is that?We live in hot humid Houston. We "go through" clothes readily. Fresh clothes are important for all of us. The investment in our clothes is more than just the purchase price. We all have to consider maintenance costs per piece of clothing.With this Steam Station, we won't be stockpiling clothes for the weekly trip to the cleaners; and, now, no return trip to the cleaners to pick up the clothes.And, the best part: the savings. Savings on dry cleaning, fuel, mileage.No matter how we spell it out to the dry cleaners, our clothes comes back with the same stains and rumpled from the low end cleaners inasmuch as from the high end cleaners? How does that work?And why does it cost more to process a women's shirt? Bullwinkle to that!The last upside: no half gainers off the ironing board any longer.This is a terrific investment from a global firm that was started well over 100 years ago. Great product.

I am a professional seamstress. I find this iron the best for my needs for durability and comfort. This is my second Rowenta and I have no plans to change brands