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When wrinkles get you steamed, these clothing steamers can smooth things out.
Credit:Southern Living / Henry Wortock
Karalyn Wysocki is an expert seamstress, textile designer, and patternmaker based in Canton, North Carolina.
When choosing a steamer, its important to think about how youll be using it and how often.
A steamer doesnt have to be just reserved for clothes, says Wysocki.
Credit: Southern Living / Henry Wortock
We appreciated its fabric brush attachment, which not all steamers include.
This was especially successful at removing wrinkles onlinen fabrics.
This steamer includes two modes.
The CHI Steamer worked well on linen, smoothing pants in just 3.5 minutes.Credit: Southern Living
While this steamer works quickly and efficiently, we did notice that it sputters initially during our first tests.
The sputtering decreased as we used it, but it was noticeable on thesilk fabricwe tested.
We appreciated that when it does sputter, the water spots go away quickly.
This travel-friendly steamer is designed with a handle and head that fold together for easy storage in small spaces.
It also includes a fabric brush for stubborn wrinkles.
We also used it on thick, double-lined polyester curtains and were impressed with the wrinkle-free results.
We noticed that this model sputtered a bit when first steaming the cotton shirt.
During testing, it took just over four minutes to remove wrinkles on the silk shirt.
It features two different prefs, low and high, for different types of fabrics.
After two months of testing, we found that this steamer works very well and fast on light wrinkles.
We appreciated its comfortable grip and lockable steam button that allowed us to use it without any hand cramping.
After six months of use, we still recommend this steamer.
To perform our tests, we unboxed and set up each steamer before measuring its nozzle and cord.
For standing steamers, we considered how well each option rolled back and forth for user-friendly movement.
For folding steamers, we evaluated the folding process and size once folded.
During every test, we recorded the total time it took to remove wrinkles from each garment.
We also recorded how long each steamer took to heat up to its highest temperature on the first use.
[Id choose] full-sized all the way unless space is an issue, Wysocki says.
Credit: Amazon
Water Tank Capacity
Upright clothing steamers usually have a much larger water tank capacity than handheld steamers.
However, the run time on any given steamer varies when using different options.
Others, like theBeautural Foldable Hand Steamer, only feature one setting that cant be adjusted.
Credit: Southern Living
I recommend having a heat-protective glove or pressing mitt to prevent burning yourself, says Wysocki.
This can also help with steaming and finger-pressing as you go, and moving fabric as needed.
Common safety features to look for in a clothing steamer include accessible on/off button controls and leak-proof water reservoirs.
The Pure Enrichment has an adjustable temperature control, but there’s no indicator for when it’s ready.Credit: Southern Living/Henry Wortock
Wysocki also notes that indicators are important to let you know when the heat is ready.
For this article, we tested 48 clothing steamers both in the lab and at home for six months.
Credit: Southern Living / Henry Wortock
The Conair Turbo Extreme Steam removed wrinkles from cotton, linen, denim, silk, and more.Credit: Southern Living
Credit: Southern Living / Henry Wortock
The Electrolux Garment Steamer heated almost instantly and steamed a cotton dress shirt in 7.5 minutes.Credit: Southern Living
The Jiffy J-2000 removed wrinkles well and glided smoothly, but with only one steam setting, it felt limited compared to more versatile models.Credit:Southern Living
