Verdict

The Swan SI30150N steam iron is a simple but decent model with a wondrous steam shot.

Pros

• Powerful steam shot
• Smooth-glide soleplate
• Minimalist and easy to use

Cons

• No auto-shutoff

What is the Swan SI30150N 2500W?

The Swan SI30150N 2500W steam iron has a ceramic soleplate for a smoother, non-stick glide and is self-cleaning for hassle-free maintenance. With its dry, spray, steam and vertical steam functions, you can iron the way you want. Only the lack of an auto-shutoff feature holds this model back from getting full marks.

Swan SI30150N 2500W – Design and features

To fill the Swan 2500W, you open the water-tank filler cap at the front of the iron and add water to the “max” mark (300ml). Connect the iron and turn the variable temperature dial (on the main body of the iron) to the setting you want. The orange thermostat light at the back of the iron will come on.

Then make sure that the steam control lever at the front of the iron is in the dry position (it’s next to a no-steam symbol). Once the soleplate has reached the required temperature, the thermostat light will go off and you can then set the steam control lever to one of the two steam positions and begin ironing.

There’s no steam on the synthetic/silk setting, and the steam shot only works powerfully on the cotton/linen setting. The steam shot can be used in the vertical position to remove creases from hanging clothes and curtains, which is a nice touch.

The iron needs to be descaled regularly. To do this, fill the water tank with a mixture of lemon-juice diluted one part to ten parts with water, or a proprietary descaling solution. Switch the iron on and allow it to come to temperature, then press and hold the self-clean button until most of the solution has worked its way through. Empty the remaining solution from the tank, refill with clean water, and press and hold the self-clean button until all the clean water has gone through.

Swan SI30150N 2500W – Handling and performance

There’s a retro feel to the Swan SI30150N’s instruction leaflet, which explains that in 1933, when the brand began, most homes were still putting hot coals in their irons. This charmingly old-fashioned approach continues with the makers suggesting that you descale using lemon juice. You’re also advised to use bottled water in the tank, if you live in a hard-water area.

The Swan SI30150N took a fairly quick 36 seconds from cold to reach its hottest setting, and produced a satisfying amount of steam almost immediately. The spray was fairly heavy and the iron’s ceramic plate was pleasantly glidey. The Swan 2500W ironed a delicate polyester scarf well, and a wool skirt came up beautifully crisply.

On the hotter setting creases came out easily of a heavy cotton shirt, and the snub point moved well around buttons. The real joy, though, was in the steam shot, which is so strong it makes the iron levitate and produces a loud “phut” that scares cats. You have to wait a few seconds between presses to allow the pressure to build up.

On a sheet folded in four, the steam shot produced a smooth top surface and removed 50% of the wrinkles out of the bottom layer. When used vertically, the iron was powerful enough to move a suit jacket as though it were blowing in a puff of wind. It was good at tackling creases too, although the iron couldn’t shift deep wrinkles out of bone-dry linen.

On the hottest setting I managed 29 mins 30 secs of ironing out of a full tank. The steam disappeared at 28 minutes, and the spray stopped working at 29 minutes.

It’s hard to give a precise infra-red thermometer reading of the temperature of the soleplate, which has only 21 steam-holes, since there’s a huge variation across it – the tip always being hottest, and the heel coolest, and the centre somewhere in the middle. So on the lowest synthetic setting the soleplate varied from 90ºC to 122ºC (and even the hot tip wasn’t scorchy enough to burn a delicate polyester scarf). On the wool setting temperature varied from 105ºC to 152ºC; on the hottest cotton setting, it was between 128ºC and 210ºC.

During the self-clean cycle, the iron blasts out steam and water from the moment you press the button – although squeezing and filtering lemon juice to put in it is quite a demanding job. Being able to use the powerful steam blast almost makes up for the boredom of having to wash the tank out twice, once with the lemon-juice mix, and once with clean water. It took 8 minutes, and even then I didn’t wait until every drop of water had gone through each time.

Why buy the Swan SI30150N  2500W?

The Swan 2500W is a great, easy to use minimalist iron, with plenty of steam and a truly terrific steam shot. The Russell Hobbs Powersteam Ultra 3100w narrowly beats this model because of its auto-shutoff feature, but it’s a close-run thing.

You can check out other alternatives in our Best steam iron guide.

Verdict

If you want a powerful but easy to use steam iron, then the Swan SI30150N 2500W is a good choice.

Trusted Score