Put down that iron!

I decided to buy my Rowenta Garment Steamer because I abhor ironing and had been using a cheap, little travel steamer for some time with pretty good success, but with great inconvenience as it only holds a couple of tablespoons of water and needs constant refilling. My friend told me she had a Rowenta Steamer and that it worked pretty well, so I decided to try it. The biggest draw for me was that it held enough water to steam for up to an hour-and-a-half without refilling (heaven forbid I'd actually want to use it for that amount of time!) Anyway, the unit is about 5 feet tall, which makes it difficult to store, but includes a removable plastic water tank, a garment hanging pole, a 4-foot hose, a comb attachment for heavy drapes and fabrics, a foot switch to turn the unit off and on, and a fairly long electrical cord. It's also on wheels for easier mobility.

The steamer is supposed to heat up in about two minutes, but I actually find that it typically doesn't take more than about one minute to really get going. The steam output is excellent and, except for the most stubbornly wrinkled linen fabric, it works on just about everything I've tried. Although the steamer cuts down on the amount of time you would have spent ironing with many knit fabrics, natural fiber garments take just as long, but without all the heavy pressing required with ironing. Also, there's no chance of pressing in wrinkles that weren't there to start with. The risk of burning delicate fabrics is pretty much eliminated, as well. (Although, if not careful, burning yourself with the steam isn't out of the question.) Perhaps best of all, I don't have to lug out the ironing board all the time! Overall, I find that steaming isn't as tedious as ironing, and this steamer does a great job for most needs. If only it were smaller and easier to store when not in use, it would be close to perfect.