Black & Decker All-Temp Steam Iron with Stainless-Steel Soleplate (White/Grey)

First impressions and setup

I spent two weeks pressing everything from button-downs to drapes with the D6000 to see if its all-temp steam promise makes day-to-day ironing easier. Out of the box, the iron looks clean and straightforward in white and grey, with a stainless-steel soleplate and a familiar layout of steam and spray controls on the handle. It’s a mid-weight tool—substantial enough to feel stable on the board but not so heavy that your forearm complains after a long session.

Filling the water tank is simple, and the pivoting cord helps the appliance sit naturally in the hand whether you’re right- or left-handed. The comfort grip is well shaped and didn’t cause hotspots for me. One early nitpick: the dial markings are light and not especially durable. After a handful of uses, they started losing contrast, and I found myself double-checking the setting more often than I’d like.

Design and build quality

The stainless soleplate is reasonably smooth with a decent spread of steam ports. It glides adequately on cotton and linen but doesn’t have that glassy, ultra-low-friction feel you get from higher-end ceramic or premium stainless plates. On delicate synthetics, I noticed a slight drag if the fabric had any texture, especially when steam was active.

Fit and finish are average for a budget iron. The controls have a little wobble, and the click of the temperature dial is muted—fine for quiet operation, but it also means it’s easy to overshoot a setting without realizing it. The 360-degree cord swivel is genuinely useful and never kinked or fought me.

Heating and temperature accuracy

The D6000 heats fast, reaching a working range within a couple of minutes. The bigger question is how accurately it holds that temperature. In day-to-day use, I saw inconsistent behavior:

• On cotton and linen, the iron sometimes overshot its target on the way up, producing a brief window where the plate felt hotter than the dial indicated. On two occasions, I singed cotton at the lower edge of the “cotton” range.
• Other times, especially after the auto shutoff kicked in, the recovery brought the iron back under temperature and it took longer than expected to return to a truly effective heat.

These swings were not constant, but they were frequent enough to change my workflow. I started relying on test passes at the edge of the garment or on an ironing cloth before committing to the full panel, which cost time.

Steam performance

The headline feature here is the “all-temp” steam system, which is designed to give you steam at any dial setting rather than locking it out at lower temperatures. In theory, that’s convenient for delicate fabrics. In practice, it’s hit-or-miss:

• At high temperatures with Smart Steam engaged, output was adequate for flattening mid-weight cotton and light denim. The steam-surge button adds a short burst, but it’s more of a nudge than a gut punch—useful for stubborn pleats, not transformative.
• At mid to low temperatures, the iron frequently spit and sputtered. I tried both clean tap water and distilled water on separate sessions. The spitting was most noticeable after the iron had been at rest for a minute or two or if I dialed the temperature down quickly. An anti-drip system is supposed to prevent this, but in my unit it didn’t do so reliably.
• Vertical steaming is serviceable for touch-ups on a hanging shirt, but the steam volume is modest and the trigger feels tuned for short bursts rather than continuous output. I also experienced an occasional water spot on a cuff when steaming vertically—harmless after drying, but not ideal before heading out the door.

The spray-mist function works as intended and is the most predictable way to add moisture precisely where you need it.

Safety and ease of use

I appreciate the three-way auto shutoff. If you get distracted, it’s quick to cut heat whether the iron is face down, on its side, or upright. That said, the shutoff is sensitive enough that if you pause to fold a stack of dress shirts, you’ll likely have to wait for the plate to reheat when you resume. The reheat is reasonably fast, but combined with the temperature fluctuations, it can interrupt your rhythm.

The user experience is generally friendly: controls are clearly laid out, the handle is comfortable, and the pivot cord keeps the iron from tugging at odd angles. If the temperature markings were clearer and more durable, I’d be happier with the day-to-day ergonomics.

Real-world results across fabrics

• Cotton oxford shirts: With steam on at a medium-high setting, I could get crisp panels, but I needed extra passes when the temperature sagged after auto-shutoff. On one shirt, a brief overshoot left a faint shine on a collar tip—avoidable with a pressing cloth, but worth noting.
• Linen napkins: Plenty of steam at the high end made short work of wrinkles, though the soleplate’s glide wasn’t as slick as I’d prefer on starch-heavy fabric.
• Polyester blends: The all-temp steam promise is appealing here, but spitting at lower settings means I turned steam off and relied on light spray instead. That approach worked fine and kept water spots at bay.
• Silk blouse: I used no steam, low heat, and a pressing cloth. Results were good, but that’s more a credit to the technique; I wouldn’t trust low-temp steam on this unit for delicate fabrics.

Leaks and maintenance

This is the category where the D6000 let me down the most. The anti-drip system didn’t consistently prevent water from escaping, and I noticed moisture beads near the steam ports a few times when the iron was coming up to temperature. More annoyingly, if I left water in the tank and stored the iron upright, I found a small puddle under the heel the next morning. Emptying the reservoir after each session eliminated that issue, but it shouldn’t be necessary to avoid overnight leaks.

Maintenance tips that helped minimize hiccups:
- Empty the tank after use and leave the iron upright with the dial at minimum while it cools.
- If your tap water is hard, consider a 50/50 mix of distilled and tap water to reduce mineral buildup without starving the steam system.
- Purge the steam lines: let the iron heat fully on high, trigger a few steam bursts over a sink, then start ironing.

These steps improved consistency but didn’t eliminate spitting at low temps.

Comfort and control

The D6000 is comfortable to hold, and the weight provides decent pressing power without constantly relying on steam. The pivoting cord is genuinely helpful when ironing around buttons and pockets, and the tip shape is fine for maneuvering into tight spots. I just wish the temperature feedback—both visually on the dial and behaviorally in the thermostat—were more confidence-inspiring.

Who it’s for (and who should skip it)

If you iron infrequently, mostly work on casual cottons, and are disciplined about emptying the tank after every use, you can get by with this tool. Occasional spitting won’t ruin a weekend chore session, and the price point will be appealing for a spare-room or dorm setup.

If you press garments weekly, value precise temperature control, or need reliable low-temp steaming for synthetics and delicates, this model will likely frustrate you. The inconsistent thermostat behavior and water management issues add friction to a task that’s already about achieving smooth, predictable results.

The bottom line

The D6000 gets a few fundamentals right: quick heat, a comfortable handle, a helpful pivoting cord, and a solid safety shutoff. But the core promises—steam at any temperature and an anti-drip design—don’t consistently hold up in practice. Between temperature swings that occasionally run hot and a tendency to spit or leak, I had to adopt workarounds (pressing cloths, frequent tank emptying, avoiding low-temp steam) to protect fabrics and the ironing board.

Recommendation: I don’t recommend this iron for most users. While it’s serviceable for light, occasional tasks, the inconsistent temperature control and water management issues overshadow its conveniences. If you’re shopping in this price range, you’ll be better served by an iron with more predictable thermostat behavior and a strictly temperature-gated steam system that prioritizes dry plates at low settings.