Verdict

The Russell Hobbs 25090 One Temperature Iron is ideal if you're not a fan of using the temperature setting on your iron – and don’t care about steam shots.

Pros

• One temperature setting
• Auto shut-off in three positions
• Smooth, gliding action

Cons

• Requires distilled water
• Weak horizontal steam shot

What is the Russell Hobbs 25090 One Temperature Iron ?

The Russell Hobbs 25090 One Temperature Iron is described by the company as “the future of ironing”. As its name suggests, this iron has one optimum heat that’s safe to use on all fabrics from denim to silk, making ironing easy and effortless – and cutting out the need for any pre-sorting.

The ceramic soleplate is infused with titanium and tourmaline, giving it a smoother glide, and the large 350ml water tank speeds up ironing since less time is spent refilling. There’s a 210g steam shot and the 2600W power means the iron heats up quickly.

The Russell Hobbs One temperature iron also comes with an automatic three-way shut-off for peace of mind. Only a slightly weak steam shot lets it down.

Related: Best irons 

Russell Hobbs 25090 One Temperature Iron – Design and features

To fill the Russell Hobbs 25090 One Temperature Iron, you open the water cover on the front and pour in water up to the “max” mark. Then you set the steam control lever (which sits directly above the water cover) to the setting you want.

There are four settings: no steam, steam, high steam and the self-cleaning button. When you turn on the Russell Hobbs One Temperature, the red light on the main body of the iron slowly pulses on and off as the iron heats. When it glows steadily, the iron is ready to use.

To use the water spray, you press the left-hand button on top of the handle. Spray comes out just above the point of the iron. To use the steam shot, you lift the horizontal iron a couple of centimetres from the fabric and press the right-hand button on the top of the handle.

You have to leave four seconds between shots to allow the temperature to build up. To steam vertically and remove wrinkles from hanging clothes and curtains, hold the iron close to the fabric (or a distance away, if the fabric is delicate) and press the steam-shot button.

If you want to dry iron, you have to empty the reservoir first to avoid spontaneous bursts of steam. If the iron is motionless, with the soleplate down or on its side for 30 seconds, it will automatically shut off. This happens after eight minutes if it’s upright on its heel. The iron beeps and flashes its light. You move it to return it to operating temperature.

To avoid scale build-up, the iron needs to be cleaned once a month. It will require cleaning more frequently in a hard-water area. You fill the tank to the “max” mark, set the steam control to “no steam”, stand the iron on its heel, and switch it on.

When the light stops flashing, you hold the iron over a bowl with the soleplate down and move the steam control to the self-clean setting. Then you gently move the iron to and fro as water and steam washes scale and dust through the soleplate. Once the tank is empty you switch off the self-clean button, stand the iron on its heel and leave to cool.

Russell Hobbs 25090 One Temperature Iron – Handling and performance

The Russel Hobbs 25090 One Temperature Iron needs distilled water if you live in a hard-water area. The iron took a super-fast 7.18 seconds to heat up, and was good and steamy. The spray was fine, but left a visible wet patch on fabric. (The manufacturer advises you to do a patch test when using it on delicates in case it stains.)

It seemed really magical, and completely counter-intuitive that an iron could successfully smooth both cottons and synthetics at the same temperature, but the mystery was solved when I used my infra-red thermometer. The iron is always at 100ºC, which is basically the normal (low) temperature for synthetics.

Since the Russell Hobbs One Temperature Iron uses plenty of steam, and has an unusual soleplate, it can get creases out of cottons at a lower temperature. It’s definitely a good iron. It gave a nice effect on polyester and on wool, and an excellent result on my heavy cotton shirt. The snub nose point manoeuvred well around buttons.

The ceramic soleplate, with its 138 steam holes, glided well over fabrics. The ceramic is infused with titanium and tourmaline – used in hair straighteners – and this gives a strange purplish-brown tint to the soleplate. The titanium is there to spread the heat and eliminate cold spots; the tourmaline emits infra-red heat and negative ions, making that heat gentler.

I managed 32 minutes of ironing with the Russell Hobbs One Temperature Iron on full steam. When I laid it flat, leaving it motionless on a cotton pillowcase, it automatically shut off after 29 seconds; quick enough to avoid leaving a scorch mark.

On its side it switched off after 28 seconds, and left upright on its heel it shut off after 7mins 50secs.

The 210g steam shot was good when you used it vertically to drop creases out of hanging fabrics, with a loud “poof” sound and a cloud of steam, but I was much less impressed when it was held horizontally above fabric. It didn’t really make much of a sound, or emit much steam, and it’s difficult to work out the reason for this without taking the iron apart.

The horizontal steam shot didn’t get all the creases out of dry linen, and wasn’t strong enough to penetrate four layers of sheet.

Why buy the Russell Hobbs 25090 One Temperature Iron?

If you have to cope with a lot of different fabrics – for instance, if you’re ironing for a family – it could be very useful not to have to pre-sort laundry, or keep checking labels. There’s no doubt that this iron gets a good result on a wide range of fabrics, and it’s pleasant to use and well-designed.

However, you’ll get more power from one of the other models in our Best irons list.

The shut-off feature makes the 25090 One Temperature Iron very safe, and it’s easy to clean. Nevertheless, it isn’t for me, though, as I like a more powerful steam shot.

Verdict

The Russell Hobbs 25090 One Temperature Iron is ideal if you’re not a fan of using the temperature setting on your iron – and don’t care about steam shots.

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