T-Fal Avantis 100 replaces my Rowenta

This is my quest to find the “never leaking” iron to replace my “always leaking” Rowenta. The Rowenta dribbled for the last time on some silk so it was time to get a new iron.
I planned on replacing the Rowenta with new newer Rowenta Ultra Professional (DM-991) iron. The words “Ultra” and “Professional” surely must be better. Unfortunately, the salesgirl at Mervyn’s managed to get me wet along with the counter and floor in her demo of the leak-proof ability of the iron. She said, “I suppose this means you don’t want this iron, huh?” Too bad. It leaked badly. It was their demo model and it had water in it that leaked out the fill area – or somewhere.
So back to Sears I went to check out the intriguing T-Fal Avantis 100 with the slide cover to seal in the water. This model has far more steam holes in the bottom and a non-stick base plate formulated after their cookware. So I bought it. Oh, it was on sale too for $59.95, about half than the Rowenta I was looking at.
This thing is one serious steam machine. It cannot hold a candle to my old Rowenta for steam. It puts out so much steam that I can only get maybe two or three cotton long-sleeve shirts out of it before I need to add more water. Luckily it fill rapidly with their little plastic filler bucket.
I also can iron silk with steam. It has a separate steam control slider and I used it about mid-setting with the thermostat set on silk. It supplied sufficient steam for the job. Of course you can leave it in the Auto-Steam setting or shut it off entirely. Maybe all irons should have dual controls?
Unfortunately, while in the mid-setting, I discovered the worst fault of this otherwise beautiful iron. Steam can escape from the slider notch and burn your knuckles. I did not notice this problem with the steam set to Auto-Steam since most goes out the bottom. This annoying trait kept me from giving it five stars. I can position my hand away from it.
Someone else mentioned a problem with their Rowenta that I too have noticed. On cotton fabrics, I always seem to get wrinkles back in after the cloth has set a while. I also needed to apply more pressure to iron cotton. With the T-Fal the cotton ironed out much flatter and seemed to keep wrinkles from re-forming. The creases seemed razor sharp too. I believe this is from the iron being hotter than the Rowenta. Second day shirts ironed with the T-Fal iron did not need a touch-up as with the Rowenta. Odd.
This iron will take almost any water you feed it. The iron has a removable cleaning element. To clean, remove and set it in vinegar or lemon juice overnight. Re-insert it and go. They recommend doing this every two months or so if your water is bad.
Pressing the Steam Button will put out a blast of steam. I wasn’t expecting such a blast since I was used to the Rowenta. Stand clear. You have been warned!
The non-stick base plate on the T-Fal Avantis 100 seems to have more drag than the all stainless steel base plate on my Rowenta when used on mixed blends of fabrics, especially cotton-poly blends. On cottons they feel the same.
Oddly, my ironing seems to go much faster with this iron. Maybe because it’s a hotter iron or better at knocking down the wrinkles. So far I am happy with this iron and it is a keeper.