When it comes to keeping a tidy living space, there isn’t much I won’t do. Taking out the garbage? Washing the dishes? Vacuuming? All fine by me. But ironing? Now there’s a wrinkle in my psyche that just can’t ever get pressed out. The tedium, the constant steaming, the ever-challenging cordplay as you navigate your rumpled garments. You pull out an iron, and I run.
That is, until I laid my wrinkle-wary hands on Panasonic’s NI-WL600, a cordless model that not only provides better, faster ironing than my years-old $20 Target purchase, but also the freedom of 360-degree motion that has me reconsidering my longtime aversion to the sight of a standup ironing board.
The NI-WL600 relies on a docking station that leaves a minimal footprint, even if you prefer to leave it sitting on the far end of your board. Three heat levels and three steam preferences are easily accessible atop the iron and provide for quick preference-changing for moving between cottons (high), wools (medium) and acrylics (low). And carrying the operation from your closet to the board is easy, thanks to the handled, snap-top lid that hooks to the underside of the docking station.
Aside from the accessibility that it allows, the NI-WL600 is excellent for all your basic, ironing needs. Straightening my cotton shirts was never easier. Denim jeans were a dream. The way the football-shaped head of the iron moves around and into the tiniest corners made removing wrinkles from a load of shirts — dare I say? — fun. That I could plow through my batch faster and without needing the kind of slight-of-hand skills that’d make Ricky Jay blush was a joy.
Still, these results don’t come that easy. I had to liberally and constantly press the steam button in order to get the kind of vaporization that smooths out the most stubborn of wrinkles.
This, in turn, means I had to refill (several times) the diminutive water tank, which requires a forceful snap-on in order to reconnect to the iron. If you want to change the heat setting, you have to reconnect it back to the dock first, but you won’t go too long without doing that anyway, since wireless connectivity means heat immediately starts lowering from the moment you remove the iron from its plugged-in base.
The water tank also has a few shortcomings. First, it’s got a tiny hole on top that makes refilling from the faucet nearly impossible, lest you prefer soaking the entire tank in the process. And since you’re focusing entirely on pouring into the water-bottle straw-size hole, you can’t keep your eye on the tank itself to know if you’ve filled it past the maximum level.
But these are relatively small quibbles compared to the freedom I experienced without having to play cat’s cradle with my old model’s always-in-the-way cord. And for only $100, it’s worth it to pony up for this rather than plunk down a lone Andrew Jackson for some rinky-dink brand. Once I got myself past the minor hindrances and imperfections, I had a wrinkle-free wardrobe of pristine pressed shirts and pants.
Never did I think ironing could be more than a boring chore, but the NI-WL600 has sure set me straight.
WIRED 360-degree functionality allows for increased range of motion. Steaming and wrinkle removal is top-notch.
TIRED Steam button needs to be constantly pressed during operation. Water tank is small and needs frequent refilling.
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