Bad at Ironing? Give up and Get a Steamer Instead.

There’s a joke in here somewhere that it’s not that hard to iron decently. I can do all the other big people things that necessitate running a household. Never thought laundry was all that hard to figure out, and I’m even pretty damn good at baking bread from scratch.

Ironing was just always a pain in the ass, though. You iron out one side and then accidentally iron in other wrinkles on the other side, and then whatever iron you’re using spits water when you hit the steam button, and yeah. I’m just not having it.

I gave up on it a long time ago. Steam works just as well, with less setup and takedown, and I’ve never accidentally scorched a delicate fabric or rubbed a stain into even delicate clothing with a steamer. Here are the two I’ve been using.

easier and faster

Let’s not pretend this is on a sale. Despite what Amazon is saying, it sells for about this same price all the time. This is one of those fake, “always on sale” sales. Nonetheless, the Conair Turbo ExtremeSteam is worth the $50 admission fee.

Not only did Conair give it a name more suitable for a steampunk motorcycle than a household appliance, but its aluminum steamer plate works like a mini-iron if you have to bear down on a garment, and the adjustable power makes dialing in the right about of steam a breeze.

The Urpower, being quite a bit smaller, is easier to pack in a bag for travel. The water tank is large enough for steaming the wrinkles out of two garments before needing to be refilled, or one garment if it’s an absolute mess that needs serious de-wrinkling.

It lacks some of the Conair’s fancy features, but mine has been cruising along without issue for six years now. It’s a durable little champ, considering it costs a mere $18.

Word of wisdom if you decide to take any steamer traveling: Know the voltage of the country to which you’re traveling. These steamers, if you buy them here in the US, are set to use the US’ 110V electrical system.

Most of Europe, for example, is 220-240V. To the hotel owner in Cairo, Egypt, which I found out also uses the European standard, sorry for the Three Stooges-esque steam fountain that erupted from the Urpower when I plugged it in.

It was a mess, sure, but it was awfully funny.