Sunbeam Steam Master Iron with SecureCord Retraction (Model #4234) Review

Let me first go on record to state that this isn't the Steam Master Iron that others have been reviewing.  For whatever the differences are; mine is model number 4234 while the others were model 4222.  Also, I would still be loving and using my iron if I didn't break it!

I got my Sunbeam Steam Master with Securecord Retraction about two or three years ago.  I'm one of those people that changes the color of a small appliance when she changes decor.  I also try to keep at least two irons in my laundry room for instances just like this.  I plugged the iron in and walked away to get some of my clothes together for work.  I came back and slid the ironing board aside and the cord got stuck on the leg and the iron came crashing down to the floor and the little dials broke.

I love to iron most anything that I wear and if I can apply steam to it then I am beside myself.  For me, the more steam the better.  I guess that comes from the summer I worked at a dry cleaning business.  This iron has adjustable steam; which in this day and time most do.  You could go from dry ironing to steam ironing.  I don't know that I ever took the temp low enough to do dry ironing.  I pushed the envelope and like a car with turbo I turned it up to the max.  I scorched a few rayon formal dresses and a velour party dress but other than that I didn't have a problem with the intensity of the steam.

The Steam Master also has a built in safety feature: It would shut off automatically if not in use for more than 30 seconds while in horizontal mode or 15 minutes when vertical (upright).  There's an on/off light and if the iron shut off you could hear it click; look at the light and it would be off.

The ironing surface was made of a stainless steel, non-stick coating and was supposed to be nonstick.  Well, it is unless you have the steam turned up too high or you try to iron over something with an applique.  Yeah, that souvenir t-shirt got messed up too!  Really; I do know how to iron!

What I didn't like about the Steam Master: The retractable cord wasn't always user friendly.  Sometimes it would self-retract right after you unplugged it and other times you had to play with it to get it to retract.  There were many times when I just gave up on getting the cord back into the base and I would just wrap the cord.

Another thing I didn't like: It wasn't that easy to fill the water reservoir and upon filling some of the water would leak out on your garment once you tilted the iron horizontally.  So I had to iron longer to remove the water spots.  Also, I don't think the self-cleaning feature worked all that well.  I believe that feature was basically designed to get rid of all the water in the reservoir but I would do that after ironing just a few garments.

This iron is still being sold in places like Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart, Target, etc.  When I went shopping for another iron at BB&B I saw the Steam Master for $29.99.  I thought that was expensive until I got the daddy of all Cadillacs...stay tuned for that review because it's coming!