Talk to me about clothes steamers

[HaveYouHadYourBreak]

I am reluctantly admitting that ironing does make a difference. We dont have an tumble drier so I flick and shake everything and hang it carefully and it's fine.

Is a steamer a good alternative to ironing? My concern is that it will make my already damp house worse and not give that "sharpness" that ironing does anyway.

If so, what steamer would people recommend? As small as possible please!

I do iron but find a steamer great for freshening something up that’s become creased with hanging in the wardrobe. Mine is the Morphy Richard’s one. I don’t see it as an alternative to ironing, and as it’s quite small it needs refilled frequently which would be a pest if you had a load of garments to do,

I only steam ,it's great and I can still put creases in shirts. Mine is one from Amazon and performs well and has a big water tank.

https://amzn.eu/d/09RL4Ogv

I used to iron but stopped doing it when school shirts were no longer needed .
Bought a hand held steamer on a Amazon deal but have hardly used it and still don't iron .

I can't seem to get on with the steamers. I think I need to get a tailor's dummy or something first 😊

I hang the item in a clothes hanger and then hang it on a door or kitchen cupboard and give it a blast .

That’s exactly what I do.

My DB used to use one when he was a fashion photographer. I don’t think I have the room for one though they’re very good.

This is super interesting. Anyone using a bigger steamer? I did not think the hand held were really good but maybe I am wrong!

I rarely iron and use a small steamer when needed. It’s usually if things have creased hanging in the wardrobe. It’s a handy thing to have.

I loathe ironing. I have a hand held steamer downstairs, that I got from Amazon. A smaller one upstairs, for clothes refresh, before wearing or worn items that don’t need a wash & to be put back in wardrobe. I take on holiday with me as well, as things get creased in case. I find they don’t last longer than a year or so, but I buy cheap maybe that’s why.

Steamer isn’t great on dh’s shirts so he irons those himself.

Hmm. Maybe a steamer wont do what I want it to do anyway then. Most of our stuff is fine with flicking and careful hanging. But there are some things that would look mych sharper if it was ironed and then there are always things like collars or the fabric belts that are attached to clothes that are never perfect no matter how careful I am.

We do have an iron. It's one of those monsters with a huge tank. We have nowhere for it so it has lived in the attic for 15years. We dont have room to store an ironing board but I have seen ones that hook over doors.

I had a cheap steamer a friend gave me and never got on with it - I didn't find things looked crisp like with an iron.

I don't have room downstairs for an ironing board, so my stays upstairs and is slotted down the side of the wardrobe. You can also get tabletop ironing mats, if that helped?

I’d use a towel on the floor with the iron for something like a fabric belt or a colllar if I couldn’t be arsed to set up the whole ironing board - ours is a massive thing and I hate it. I’ve even used my GHDs in a push!

I’d never use the steamer for eg DP’s work shirts (in fairness he generally does those himself anyway) to me it’s an also ran to the iron rather than an alternative.