Christmas Gift Ideas: Clothes Steamers

Have you run out of Christmas Gift Ideas?  Need some practical suggestions?

If you have a laundry lover on your Christmas List, stay tuned.  Most days between now and December 24th, I’ll feature an appliance, gadget, detergent, or product that can ease the laundry burden.

We’ll start with a…

Clothes Steamer:

Clothes Steamers are fabulous appliances.  For those of you don’t have a Steam dryer, it is difficult to easily refresh your clothes or knock the wrinkles out.

An old-fashioned iron just doesn’t really do the job.  And I wouldn’t say that it really refreshes clothes either.

Enter the Clothes Steamer.

You’ll often see these in clothing stores to make garments look newer after they’ve been tried on by customers.

How would this help you at home?

Let me count the ways:

– refreshing clothes after they’ve been worn once or twice – but aren’t really ‘dirty’

– can quickly smooth clothes that have been left in the dryer too long

– safely improves the appearance of garments that can’t be traditionally ironed (think velvet, sequins, etc)

– it’s faster than ironing

– works well on draperies and curtains

Like any appliance, there are several brands and price categories.  I pulled these from Amazon because I like having reviews to help guide my decision-making when purchasing an appliance.  Here are just a few to get you started.

Conair

Jiffy Steamer

McCulloch

If you’re in the market for a clothes steamer, there are several things you might want to review  before purchase:

• Will it take regular tap water?  Or does it need distilled/purified?
• How large is the water reservoir?  If it’s too small, you’ll have to fill often which is a pain.
• How long does it take to heat up?
• How large is it?  Do you have enough room for it?
• Does it roll so you can easily retrieve it from the closet/laundry room/mudroom?
• Do you have to drain the water when not in use? If so, how and is it easy to do so?

And there are even some fabulous travel versions!