DW8080 ProMaster Steam Iron

TL:DR Summary -- I broke my Rowenta DZ5080 by dropping it. Loved that iron, wanted an exact or better (if even possible) replacement. Initially bought the more expensive Rowenta DW9080 because it was top of the line. Did not like it at all, returned it to Amazon and bought this Rowenta DW8080 instead and LOVE it, find that it performs just the same as the DZ5080 did. The DW9080 had inconsistent steam production, delay in producing steam, would not truly "auto" steam, and when the steam finally decided to start coming out it was not any more than the DZ5080 or DW8080. I would not recommend the DW9080 to anyone, but would recommend the DW8080 to everyone. If you have only ever used cheap irons, you'll honestly be blown away by what you're missing with an iron like the DW8080. It has awesome, immediately, consistent, plentiful steam production, and a great design to hold and use. Buy it!!Long version...A little background... I had always used the cheap walmart irons that everyone is used to. Never enough steam so constantly pressing the burst button, takes forever to iron things, might not get all the wrinkles out entirely, etc. Honestly, I didn't know what I was missing until we registered for and received a Rowenta Focus DZ5080 iron for our wedding. I was immediately blown away by how much steam came out effortlessly and how quickly and effectively it could iron. I actually enjoyed and looked forward to ironing, even a couple years after initially receiving it. It wasn't as annoying/daunting of a task.Fast foward to a few weeks ago, when I accidentally bumped the ironing board and knocked our DZ5080 onto our concrete laundry room floor and cracked the water tank, rendering it unusable. I was very upset because I loved that iron, and immediately went to Amazon to order the exact same model. What I learned is that that model was discontinued and replaced with the DW5080. It might sound silly, but I didn't like the color of the DW5080 (ugly brown instead of blue) so I didn't immediately order it and decided to see what other offerings Rowenta had. (If I had seen the DZ5080 still for sale I'd have ordered it immediately with zero extra research). After searching around, I ordered the DW9080 hoping it would be like our DZ5080 only even better, because after all it had 30% more steam. After the first day, I did not like the iron one bit and immediately ordered this DW8080 instead, which I absolutely love again, just like our DZ5080 (it performs very similarly to how the DZ5080 did, suppoedly has more "burst" of steam when you burst it, but I don't really use that function much and the eyeball test says the difference isn't dramatic). See my DW9080 review if you would like more information on why I did not like that iron.What I love about the DW8080 is that immediately after lowering the iron, by the time you touch it to your clothing, it is produces it's full amount of steam, which is honsetly a lot. The entire surface of the iron produces steam evenly, and it is enough to iron extremely quickly. What used to take 10 passes with a cheap walmart iron literally is done in one pass with this iron, no matter how wrinkled the clothing is. I've had some clothing that somehow dried all balled up and was a terrible wrinkled mess that, to be honest, would not have ironed out perfectly with my previous irons no matter how long I spent with it. But with the DZ5080 and now this DW8080, it not only irons it out perfectly, but in only a pass or two. It's amazing what this amount of steam does to set-in wrinkles. I never would have believed it or expected it if not for trying it myself. I think it warrants mention that I have never had an issue where it is leaking water either from the steam holes, the water fillup hole, or anywhere else.So, long story short, I absolutely love this iron and would recommend it to everyone without hesitation. That being said, there are a few annoyances I have with this model that I will mention here:-Probably the biggest one, and it's not THAT big of a deal, is that it is hard to see the level of the water because the back face is a dark plastic that is not very translucent. I have to really hold it up to the light to see where the water is at. With the DZ5080 before this, it was a lighter colored plastic that allowed me to see the water level from across the room. Not a dealbreaker, but it's annoying and there is no reason for it IMHO.-This happened with my DZ5080 also, but what happens is if you set the temp of the iron too high for your clothing, it would make the face of the iron instantly melt the fuzz on the surface of the clothing (VERY slightly, not NEARLY enough to ruin the clothes AT ALL, but) enough to have a few tiny fibers stick to the face of the iron. Before I go on, let me be clear that what seems to be happening is that that fuzz that sort of "sticks out" of the clothing, is what melts -- the clothing itself is not damaged in any way. Anyway, what this does when it happens is it makes the iron not glide as smoothly, making it more difficult to iron because the iron kind of feels "sticky" in a way, and wants to pull the clothing around instead of glide over it. To further emphasize that this isn't that big of a deal, the first time it happened I actually didn't even really notice and continued using it for a few months. Eventually I came to think it wasn't gliding as smoothly as it did and invesigated it a bit more. I see now that they make special sole plate cleaner which I may try with my DW8080, but with the DZ5080 all I did was keep a small piece of 0000 steel wool near the iron boarding and periodically would clean the sole plate with it if it happened. This worked great and would remove the melted on fibers quickly and easily and more importantly, could be done while the iron is hot (if you're careful), which allows uninterrupted ironing if you accidentally set the iron too hot and have this issue. It was only with very particular shirts of mine, so it must be the particular fabric they are made of, because 99% of items, I could set the iron above the recommended temp and use it on them even though you're not supposed to, but on this particular brand/fabric of shirt, it would have this issue if I set it too hot (where it melted the invisible fuzzies that are on the surface of the fabric). But ultimately, if you don't set your iron too hot for your clothing, and you won't have this issue.At the end of the day, I highly recommend this iron and believe anyone would be thrilled with it. There *might* be better irons out there somewhere, but I can't imagine in what ways they would be much better, and after taking a risk even within the same company to get a "better" iron and getting burned, I'm quite happy to stay with this tried and true iron.

After spending about 4-5 days (pathetic, I know.....but I'm very thorough) researching irons a few years back (and getting the Black & Decker D2020, which I was very satisfied with), I now needed a new one. Fortunately, my previous research narrowed the playing field to B&D's and Rowenta's, so I was able to conclude my research much quicker this time. After going through each model that each company makes, and reading all reviews on the Amazon site for each model at least twice, and looking at comments at several other sites as well, I concluded the following:1. The B&D D2020 was a very unique iron in that the percentage of positive reviews it received compared to negative ones were astonishing....and all it cost was $35. Unfortunately, they discontinued the model several years back, and none of the new models even come close to the D2020. The newer models, (the D6000 series in particular) are bulkier, don't work nearly as well, and have a strange water filling position where you need to hold the hot iron while you fill it. Still, if you need a good iron and are only willing to pay $40, this is the iron you want.2. The Rowenta DW8080 is the best iron on the market today for $100 or less.3. There are a couple of issues like a. a similarly strange water filling position....which ended up not bothering me nearly as much as I originally thought it would b. The handle is rather thick for an iron. It didn't bother me in the slightest, but it may bother someone with tiny hands c. The cord is short, as others have mentioned, but if you have an outlet relatively close to the ironing board (as I'm sure most people do), it's a non-issue d. The iron needs constant, and I mean constant, refilling of water. This is directly related to the amount of steam and water spray you use, and I use a ton of it. I end up having to refill the water tank every 2 shirts. If you use starch instead of spray, or don't like steam, it may last like 4-5 shirts before needing a refill. e. Durability. I have only had the iron for about a month so it's too early to tell how long it may last, but several people complained that it died or leaked terribly after about 12-18 months. However, bear in mind that if the iron works fine for a few years, virtually noone will come back to write a review saying that it's a good iron that lasted a long time. You will generally only hear long-term feedback/complaints from those whose irons died early f. The spray button is on the right of the steam surge button, which is a bit strange, but its not that hard to get used to. g. The iron is not digital, and the transition from a digital iron to this is a bit strange as you feel you are taking a "step-down", even though, in all likelihhod, it's a better iron than your previous one.4. If you want the best possible product after ironing and are not concerned with any of the above issues, this is the iron you want to get, hands down. The shirts look amazing, better than they would look after the dry cleaners, and as someone who frequently re-irons shirts after they come back from the cleaners, I would know. The ironing itself is very enjoyable with the DW8080 as the steam is so powerful that you see the burst coming through the other side of the ironing board, and it looks a bit like the Broadway shows where the floor is covered in steam or fog. It's a powerful machine and very enjoyable to operate. I thought the B&D D2020 had a lot of steam, but this has significantly more and the clothing come out much, much better than they did with the B&D.5. Unless the price of the DW9080 comes down, I don't think their claims of "30% more steam" justify the 30% increase in price. I am very happy with the DW8080 and believe that it produces as much steam as anyone could ever want. Similarly, there are many complaints with the cheaper Rowenta models made in China. I would avoid those and go with this model instead.Hope you enjoyed the review!