Rowenta DW5080 Focus Steam Iron with 400-Hole Stainless Steel Review

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List Price: $100.00
Sale Price: $81.95
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I researched carefully before buying another iron. E-How provided insights, and I read reviews of the best irons. A good steam iron should have at least 300 steam holes, my sources told me, and 1700 watts of power. This Rowenta has 400 steam holes, a smooth gliding sole plate with specially designed tip to get around buttons. This is an update of the Focus DZ 5080, but probably pretty much the same. It seems that irons have gotten more expensive over the years, but cheaper in manufacturing and quality. I was so tired of my Black & Decker spitting brownish liquid onto my clothes, dripping, cooling instead of steaming. I actually like ironing, but need a tool that works. The Rowenta Dw5080 is great -what a real steam iron should be. The first time I filled it it really gave off steam, has a nice feel, good weight, and glides easily. Heavy cotton fabric, which used to take several passes, now takes one and looks perfectly smooth. All of the functions are easy to see and use and it has a large water tank. It does use up water, but so did my old B&D. The difference is, this one really gives off steam. One note on filling it: if you get little white flakes, your water is too hard, so add 50/50 with spring water (not distilled), and be faithful about using the self-clean feature once a month. So far, I just love this iron and look forward to ironing with new delight.

I hope it lasts a long time. I am tired of buying poor quality products that end up in landfills.

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I work at a huge corporate facility and have to use an iron often, sometimes daily. Having freshly pressed clothes is something I take pride in and ironing is so much cheaper then taking your clothes to the dry cleaner (plus the chemicals they use....blech). Back when I was living with roommates one of them had a nice Rowenta iron. That iron was such a work horse it put my old B&D iron to shame. I was sad when we all parted ways and got places of our own because I had to give up use of such a great iron. So here we are a year and change later and boom my old B&D iron I started using again began to leak which was the final blow to the problems I started having with that iron. I was actually happy about this because I was eager to finally get a Rowenta of my own.

The reason I chose this iron is because of the look and size. I'm a 6'5" male with pretty big hands so I like the fact that the handle has a nice sturdy feel to it and the steam and squirt buttons are big. The weight of the iron is good; makes you feel like you have something sturdy in your hands, something that will last you a while if taken care of.

Performance is astounding. The iron glides across your clothes and the bursts of steam are even on every pass. As soon as I got home I followed the first use instructions and went to work on a basket of dress shirts and slacks I had just washed. What I noticed immediately is that my ironing time was cut in half. With my old iron it would take more then a few minutes to get warmed up and when finally warm I would have to make several passes to get that nice ironed shirt look I enjoy. With the Rowenta, it takes about a minute or two to warm up then the magic that can only be found using a Rowenta happens. This iron ate through a whole basket of dress clothes in less then half the time it would have taken with my old iron. With my old iron ironing a full basket of clothes was more like a project that I had to set aside time for but now that I have this Rowenta in my stable ironing that same basket of clothes has been reduced back down to a simple chore that only takes a few minutes to complete.

Take it from someone who irons on a regular basis...you can't miss with this purchase. Save yourself a whole lot of time and frustration. When it comes to buying an iron, don't buy cheap, buy Rowenta.

EDIT: Been almost a year now and this baby is still going strong. If you haven't bought one already and you're looking for a great iron trust me, it's worth the extra coin.

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I have my shirts done and use my iron every morning to touch them up. I also iron khakis, denim, cotton moleskin, and wool flannel trousers, as well as sport jackets and suits. I mention this because I have years of experience ironing and I need a high quality iron that puts out lots of steam.

My previous iron was a Rowenta DE-871 "Professional." The old DE-871, (no longer available) lasted over ten years, put out lots of steam, and never leaked or spit water out of the steam vents. I purchased my first Focus model DW-5080 slightly over a year ago and it worked very well for about one year until it quit altogether. (would not power up when plugged in) After several calls, including to Rowenta North America, I determined that it was the plug itself that was likely broken or defective. I contacted the Rowenta service center in Seattle, WA. to learn that a new plug costs $39.95 plus $20.00 to install the part. (plus shipping of about $20.00 for a total of($79.95) I informed the individual at the Rowenta service center that I am fairly handy with electronics and asked if, in his opinion, he thought I could install the part myself,....He replied with one word, no.

So I went back to Bed, Bath & Beyond and told the story to the Manager who could not have been more understanding. He gave me a brand new Rowenta Focus model DW-5080. To my surprise Rowenta has changed the design of this iron enough so that it should no longer carry the designation "Focus," or the model designation DW-5080.

The new Focus DW-5080 spit out large quantities of water from the steam vents every time I used it. Wanting to give it some break in time I varied the amount of water I put in the tank, tried to use a lower or higher heat setting, and it continued to spit large amounts of water from the steam vents. I called Rowneta North America and from my conversation with them I have no doubt that Rowenta is well aware of this issue as well as leaking water tanks and faulty electronics that cause their irons to shut off intermittently. (Overall poor quality control with their products.)

After two weeks I took this model back and spent extra to try the next model up, a DW-8080 "Pro Master." Looking over the reviews I can see that others have experienced the same issue(s) I've experienced with my Focus, (DW-5080) as well as with the Pro master,(DW-8080) (most of their product line of irons)

Bottom line: DO NOT purchase a Rowenta iron unless it's from a retailer like Bed, Bath & Beyond who will allow you to return the product back to the store you purchased it from. If I had purchased this product over the internet I would not have had the resolve to spend the time and money to try to return Rowneta's defective products.

Rowenta spent years establishing a reputation for quality, if expensive, products. The newer Rowenta products are simply hit or miss in terms of quality. BEWARE!

Honest reviews on Rowenta DW5080 Focus Steam Iron with 400-Hole Stainless Steel

This is my third Rowenta Iron and I love it. It has plenty of well dispersed steam holes and I really like the shape of the sole plate headgreat for around button holes and small areas. Produces plenty of steam even for terribly wrinkled linen. Use bottled spring water and you won't have any problem with the iron spitting. It's not a light iron, but a good iron must have some weight to it. I do wish the Rowentas had an on/off switch but I'm guessing this is a safety issue. Once you go Rowenta, you won't go back. I've passed my older Rowentas to my college age children and they're still working. The cleaning kit is also a good purchasethe cream cleaner works well.

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I have had this model since June 7th. It was incredible for two weeks. Then it started shutting off while I was using it. I could not iron one of my dress shirts completely without it shutting off. I began to unplug it, wait and then plug it back in and let it heat up and start over. This got old really quick. I am currently dealing with customer service. I was really very excited about this purchase and I am very disappointed in the performance. I should note that I did see a few negative reviews but I thought that those people were just being really picky or hard to please. I am not sure if I will try another Rowenta or not. We will see how customer service handles this problem. I hope there is an easy solution. PS. I do not think I am using to high of a setting for the fabric type.