For this week’s Works for Me Wednesday, I’m going to let you in on a little secret.
Promise not to tell?
Ok. Here it is…
I HATE IRONING!!!
(Shhhhhhhhhh)
Maybe I’m just lazy. I dunno. But getting out an ironing board, waiting for a metal iron to heat up, getting frustrated about water stains, trying to figure out the right setting, and standing there pressing garmet after garmet (and sometimes ruining the occassional piece!) just does not appeal to me. Mom even got me one of those nifty full-size, fold down “door” ironing boards with a pretty cover when I got married. Let’s just say that it makes for a nice decoration on the back of our bedroom closet door.
However, with that said, I love the ironed look and hate wrinkles almost as bad as I hate ironing! Needless to say, a hot dryer and a damp cloth was my best ironing friend for years before I was introduced to the miracle of steam ironing.
Most of you have probably seen the infomercial about the Tobi Steam Iron. I have. (Granted though, I love infomercials because they make me laugh – it’s a guilty pleasure my mom and I have although we never buy anything from TV directly). Well, the Tobi Steam Iron was one thing I did want though, but because of the price tag, I knew we couldn’t afford it.
FYI, for those of you wondering, a steam iron looks like a small canister vaccuum with a hose attatched. Water is heated up inside the tank, and then steam fumes out of the end of the hose (from a rectangle looking attatchment with holes). You then run the steam over a garmet that is hanging up on it’s hanger – and wrinkles easily fall out!
One day, in Walmart, I spotted the Conair Steam Iron for only $30. I’d wondered if it would work as well as they proclaimed the Tobi would (I’m very skeptical of TV products) – but being the steam hounds that I am and knowing how well steam does work, I decided to try the Conair.
And it worked (and still works) beautifully after owning it for well over a year now! I’ve successfully ironed Kevin’s thick work jeans, uniform shirts, delicate silks, tshirts, blouses, and more all in one sitting. There are no confusing “cotton here”, “silk here”, “wool here”, “steam / dry” buttons to worry about (regular iron buttons always annoy me). One quick button is all you use (the “on / off” button!!). And it makes everything so wonderfully fast!
The steam is a lot better for clothing as well as it doesn’t forcefully press down the fibers. And it never causes that ugly sheen that you get on some clothes after regular ironing! Silks are no problem either, and so I never worry about damaging a beloved silky night gown. YET, it’s strong enough to give a nice pressed look to Kev’s thick work uniform in less than 2 minutes.
As much as I love it, there are a few minor drawbacks I’ve found -
1.) The water tank on the Conair runs out pretty fast if you don’t pay attention. You’d probably have to refill if you’re doing more than 3 round baskets of adult laundry at one time.
2.) You must keep the hose extended and the top part hung up high (on the enclosed door rack) when on as steam will puddle in the hose if you lay it flat. Steam also sometimes puddles in the hose during ironing. To fix this, just stretch the hose high over your head, shake, and tug (like you would a vaccuum hose with something caught in the middle). A puddled hose will leave water spurts on your clothes. Thankfully, it’s easy to tell when steam is puddled inside because it will start gurgling loud and the steam won’t be spewing out like it should. Encountering this doesn’t really bother me, but my Aunt (who is in her 50s) didn’t like having to deal with the occassional puddles inside the hose when she borrowed mine.
3.) It takes as long (or sometimes longer) for the water to turn to steam when you first turn it on as it does for a regular iron to heat up to it’s hottest setting. In my perfect world, I’d be able to turn it on and steam would magically arise 10 seconds later. 
Once the steam gets going though, the speed at which you can iron clothes is MUCH faster than a regular iron! (Plus they’re already hung up on hangers before you even begin.)
4.) If you require an extremely crisp, starched, tailored look with creases in your pants, the Conair steam iron may not work for you. It does come with an attatchment that is supposed to let you make those creases in pants, but I never bothered with figuring out how it worked.
…and that’s all the drawbacks I can think of! Otherwise my little Conair Steam Iron is the perfect little thing to use for all of our ironing needs. The benefits, in my opinion, and time saved (and the fact that it handles silky delicates AND thick uniforms with super ease) far outweighs any drawback. I even use it to iron the curtains whilst they’re still hanging on the rods! I also like the fact that the attatchment you hang clothes on while ironing slips easily on top of any door – and that’s where you hang your steam hose too when in use. In comparison, the more expensive Tobi Steam Iron utilizes a separate rolling cart , which I think would have just gotten in my way and felt like clutter. Yay for Conair!
My dryer, who was oft used as a wrinkle remover, thanks me highly. His workload is forever lightened.
(For more awesome household and family tips, head over to Works for Me Wednesday, hosted by Rocks In My Dryer!)
I really appreciate your review. I despise ironing, and I have a massively-overflowing basket of clothes to be ironed to prove it. My husband says that basket is where good clothes go to die. I think I’m going to have to look into getting a steamer like this.
Thanks for the tip, I always wondered if those things really worked. I hate ironing too!
I actually like to iron – I also like to wash dishes by hand, so I’m not to be trusted LOL I bought one of those stand up steamers and I found it to be mahhhvelous. Our duvet cover would come out of the dryer so wrinkled I could hardly stand it – so I bought the steamer for that purpose. Now I steam the sheets for my guest bedroom, steam the duvet cover (after I put it on the bed – its flat that way) and I love it. I hang my clothes in the closet and steam them on the rod. Steamers are wonderful! Great Tip!!
Have a great day!
Kristin
I am so happy you posted this for people like myself that hate to iron, but hate wrinkles! I will be purchasing one next visit to Walmart, and the price is awesome, I bet you were skeptical with that price, but thanks again for I also wondered if they would come out with some thing cheap that works, Yeah!