What is the Polti Vaporella Forever 670 Eco?
The Polti Vaporella Forever 670 Eco is an affordable steam generator iron that has a modest set of features on paper. But in practice it does an impressive job, speeding through everyday ironing even on its eco setting. It's not the most powerful steam generator you can buy, but for the price it's surprisingly effective.
Polti Vaporella Forever 670 Eco – Design and Features
The Polti looks old-fashioned and functional in white. Its controls are nice and simple. You control steam levels with a couple of buttons on the base. Iron temperature is selected with a traditional dial on the iron itself. And, unusually, it has a slider switch under your thumb that lets you trigger constant steam (just press the finger trigger if you only want steam for a moment).
But it has a couple of annoying design touches. The first is that the steam hose and power cord are both on the left-hand side, which is a pain if you're planning, like most right-handed ironers, to put it at the right-hand end of your ironing board. And the 1.8m power cord is a bit short, considering it's on the left.
If you're left-handed, the opposite is true: the cord is on a good side for you to plug in… but the hose is on the left, so you'll get less useable hose length as you iron.
Storage is also a bit annoying: there are clips on both sides of the steam generator base, but it's hard to decide whether to stow the hose on one side and the power cord on the other or wrap both around and secure them with both clips.
And one final design quibble: the iron isn't very stable sat on its heel when you want to put it down for a second while adjusting a garment.
The Polti has an anti calc collector, but this is tucked out of sight under the steam generator base. This is probably a good idea. The product looks neater and it's safer because you're far less likely to unscrew the cap without thinking while the boiler's still hot. There's also an auto off function – it turns itself off after 10 minutes of inactivity.
Polti Vaporella Forever 670 Eco – What's it like to use?
Features-wise, the Vaporella Forever 670 Eco's 4.5 bar pressure and 110g per minute continuous steam are nothing to write home about. And its water tank (officially 0.7 litres but we measured it as 0.8 litres) is half the size of most. But sometimes it's what you do with it that counts and the Polti's actual performance impressed.
Steam felt more powerful than the numbers suggest, so powerful it that can competently iron both sides of a shirt at the same time.
It supplies a good and steady steam that doesn't run out of puff, even after a few minutes. It's easily enough steam iron a garment, at which point the 0.5 litre boiler can catch its breath while you get your next garment laid out.
The slider switch under your thumb is a godsend for big jobs because it saves you constantly squeezing your index finger on a steam trigger button. That said, there's no additional steam shot – it's either steam or no steam.
Steam levels are controlled with buttons on the base. We found that the "eco" mode, which offers a medium amount of steam, was powerful enough for most everyday ironing.
Filling is easy – the water tank slides out to go to the sink, or you can pull down the spout and fill it from a jug. And packing away is equally straightforward. The water tank is easy to empty if you wish. And the iron locks safely to the steam generator base, so you can carry it using the iron handle.
The only caveat, as discussed, is the storage. There is enough space to store the hose and power cord, it's just arguable whether to stow one on each side or loop both around the appliances. In the end, we plumped for one on each side.
Should I buy the Polti Vaporella Forever 670 Eco?
Yes, if you're on a budget. It's great value for money and performs far better than expected. Despite a few design niggles, we'd have no hesitation in recommending the Polti as a good bet for powering through your ironing pile. But if money's no object, you'll get even more steam and an even better performance from the pricier Bosch Ultimate Steam Generator.
Verdict
A great value steam generator iron that performs far better than anticipated. Well worth a look.
