"All I have to do is steam, steam, steam..."
Written: Oct 12 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: No iron/ironing board! Easier for large, flat items, if you can hang them
Cons: Expensive, takes up space, steam is HOT
The Bottom Line: If you hate to iron, or to set up to iron, or to bend over the ironing board, this is a good alternative.
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| cathyb53's Full Review: Conair Fabric Steamer Deluxe |
I bought the Conair Fabric Steamer Deluxe in a great panic of fussing around in preparation for my daughter's wedding; she was bringing her wedding dress here by plane, scrunched up in a little cardboard box (the dress, not my daughter), confident that Mom would transform it into a wrinkle-free cloud of beauty. I've never dealt with a real wedding dress before, but I knew one thing for sure: I wasn't going to go anywhere near the thing with my iron.
I've never owned a fabric steamer before, or used one, or known anyone who has (guess my usual circles don't run too heavily into garment maintenance!). So, being a good Epinionator, I checked reviews here, decided that this sounded like a good one, and started clicking around the internet to find the best price. I was incredibly fortunate to find that Drugstore.com carried it, at an "everyday" price of $69.99 but on sale the day I happened to look for under $40. (just enough under that I had to buy some other stuff to get my so-called free shipping!). Sold! It arrived speedily, and I set out to try it.
Assembling it wasn't too difficult, although I did have some trouble figuring out exactly what was supposed to go where - the directions seemed clear, but they didn't seem right. But I'll blame that on my imperfect direction-deciphering skills, not the machine or even the instructions. The water reservoir was easily filled, I turned the thing on (there's a lighted on-off rocker switch on the base, easy to see at a glance and easy to turn on with a toe if, as in my case, a bad back makes bending over difficult), and within minutes steam was chugging out.
My first thought was that I could use it to steam out a bunch of tablecloths & curtains that were a pain in the neck to iron; I thought I would be able to lay the cloths out flat on a towel-covered worktable and steam them that way. Here's where I hit my first snag: from what I can figure, the nozzle that the steam comes out of has to be held pretty high up, at, say, shoulder height (in my case - I'm not very tall) or above, and vertically - otherwise the hose loops down enough that the steam can't get out. So using it essentially as a steam-producing "iron" doesn't work. I found this aggravating, but I can see why it is so and adjust my expectations of what it can & can't do accordingly.
So how does it work on steaming wrinkles out of clothing? Well, on my steamer at least, the upright pole on which you're supposed to hang the garment has a tendency to slide downward with the weight of the garment. I consider this a pretty big drawback - but again, there might be some better way to tighten that mechanism so it doesn't telescope so easily. I have found that the way to make this work for me is to use it in the bathroom, with whatever I'm steaming hanging from the shower rod.
I would term the results I've been getting a "modest success". Wrinkles definitely do fall out of the garment, but you never get that crisp pressed look; for my purposes that's OK, since I'm not a sharp-crease kind of girl, but if my husband, for instance, required sharply pressed dress shirts or pants with creases down the front, I wouldn't say that the Conair Steamer is the tool for the job. Given my needs and the setup of my household, I prefer the steamer to using the iron, mainly because I don't have to wrestle out & set up the ironing board & iron; I leave the steamer behind the bathroom door, and wheel it out (it rolls very easily) to use it with my garments hung on the shower bar, and it does a good enough job. Here's a little steaming tip for you, though: don't think that if you just tug at the hem to pull it straight while you're steaming, you'll get a better job - au contraire, all you will do is burn yourself quite nastily! Steam is hot!
The directions suggest starting at the bottom of the item you're steaming & working your way up. This seems counter-intuitive to me, but I don't think it really matters. I find it easiest to start at the top on the left and work my way left-to-right, top-to-bottom, in vertical "stripes". The thing chugs & gurgles away, occasionally belching if the hose makes too much of a loop down, but once you get in the swing of things it just works right along
So all things considered, I would say I am modestly satisfied with this steamer. The drawbacks: it doesn't give a sharp look, it's rather slow compared to ironing (well, if your iron & ironing board were all set up & free of junk & clutter - not the case at my house!), it takes up a bit of space, and it is a hot process. The advantages: no ironing board involved, can be used on a wider range of fabrics, and is very useful for big things like curtains.
A third alternative is actually the one I prefer most days, for ordinary use: I use a spray-on wrinkle releaser (I use Downy brand, but there are others) - you hang your clothes up (again, from the shower rod, in my case), spray them lightly with the stuff, tug the wrinkles out, and let them hang there till fully dry. No hot steam, no burns, and a nice fresh smell besides.
Oh - and how did it work on the wedding dress, you may ask? Never needed to try it - the packing wrinkles just hung themselves out beautifully, no fussing required!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
cathyb53
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Cathy B.
Location: beautiful Ithaca NY
Reviews written: 133
Trusted by: 40 members
About Me:
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now"...Bob Dylan
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