The best clothes steamers you can buy

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The Insider Pick:

• Ironing is a real hassle, but you can get the wrinkles out of your clothes much easier with a great steamer. All of our research points to the PurSteam PS-910 Fabric Steamer as the best clothes steamer you can buy to keep your clothing wrinkle free.

Unwrinkled clothes simply improve your look, whether you’re trying to attract someone or score a job, but getting perfectly pressed clothes takes time and effort. By most standards of thinking, your options for fresh pressed clothes are to A) send your clothes out and have a laundromat or dry cleaner make them wrinkle-free, which can weigh down on your wallet quickly, or to B) bring out the ironing board and iron your clothes each day, which requires time as well as some level of skill. Luckily there’s a third, often-overlooked option: steaming.

Steaming clothes is a less complicated process than ironing that achieves equally wrinkle-free results. Steaming is the go-to choice in various professional industries such as fashion and broadcast where items may need to be packed up and moved often.

There are various types of garment steamers, but they all generally function the same way. Water is placed in a base or reservoir, heated to produce steam, and that steam is released through a wide nozzle which you hover over whatever it is you’re looking to de-wrinkle. Usually, pressure or direct contact with the wrinkled fabrics is not required as the high heat of the steam is what removes the wrinkles.

Steaming saves time, reduces wear and tear, is safe for nearly any fabric, sanitizes your clothes, helps you avoid chemicals, and best of all, steaming your clothes saves you money. That's why we've picked out the best clothes steamers you can buy. Before we get into our top picks, here are some things to consider when choosing the steamer that's best for you.

How to pick a clothes steamer

Standing garment steamers are the most traditional type and keep water in some type of base on the floor, while a long tube with a nozzle at the end shoots out steam. Handheld garment steamers typically look like an oversized tea brewer with a wide end rather than a spout and come with a cord. With handheld steamers, the water basin is generally smaller but attached to the nozzle portion of the product and there is no long tube so they’re easier to maneuver and move around. Travel garment steamers come in a variety of shapes and designs, but most function the same way as handheld garment steamer, just out of a more compact body.

When shopping for a garment steamer you want to consider a few factors:

• Performance: The best steamers heat up quickly, although a larger water reservoir can take longer to heat. Of course, the larger the water reservoir, the more steam time you’ll get in-between refills. Standing garment steamers almost always provide the largest water reservoirs, and thus longest continuous steam time, and travel ones provide the least. Beyond water capacity, the best steamers will not spit water at you or your clothes, but rather produce uniform steam.
• Ease of Use: If you're just steaming clothes that can easily hang on a clothes hanger, you may not need a long tube or power cord for your steamer. Other fabrics like drapes that may be harder to reach are easier to steam when you have a long tube and cord that can reach far. Some steamers have attachments to make it easier to steam hard-to-reach fabrics or awkwardly shaped clothing.
• Easy to clean: Removable tanks are preferred as they are easier to fill and clean. If the garment cleaner base you go with that isn’t removable, make sure the product comes with clear cleaning instructions, as improper cleaning can all too easily damage the steamer.
• Accessories: Some steamers have unique features or come with add-ons that make steaming easier, such as an automatic shut off feature, wheels, built-in hangers, steam boards, and more.
• Price: Garment steamers vary in price from around $30 to upwards of $200 and are usually more expensive than irons. Price depends on features, brand, and more often than not, the amount of water the steamer can hold and the steam time it can provide. By this logic, travel steamers will be the lowest priced option, followed by handheld and then standing garment steamers.

We evaluated each of the following garment cleaning models by looking at the steam production, heat-up time, wrinkle removal efficacy, and durability. We referenced online recommendations from industry leaders, and sites that specialize in the cleaning of household industries, as well as Amazon rankings and customer reviews, and personal experience. Read on to find out which clothes steamer is best for your needs and budget.

Although the PurSteam PS-910 Heavy Duty Powerful Fabric Steamer is our top pick, for various reasons laid out in the slides below, you should also consider the URPOWER Garment Steamer, the OXA Portable Travel Steamer, the J-2000 Jiffy Garment Steamer, and the Conair ExtremeSteam Hand Held Fabric Steamer. 

The best clothes steamer overall

PurSteam

Why you'll love it: The PurSteam PS-910 Fabric Steamer produces perfect steam for 60 minutes to remove wrinkles from all your clothes.

The PurSteam PS-910 Heavy Duty Powerful Fabric Steamer accomplishes two vital tasks with perfection: It removes wrinkles and makes steaming easier. It’s Amazon's number one best-seller, plus it comes with a money-back guarantee and five-year warranty, so you know it’s made to last. While it's not a professional unit, it can handle a family’s worth of clothes with the 61 ounce tank that heats up in just under a minute and provides 60 minutes of stable steam.

The design is part of what makes this steamer so appealing. It has a handy adjustable hanger that is expandable from 15 to 17 or 19 inches. That means no more holding up your clothes or searching for a hook just to steam. It also has clips to help hold other fabrics, such as small children’s clothing, pillowcases, and more in place. The hanger is collapsible and the top hanger part can be replaced with a brush hook which makes for easy storage.

It comes with a convenient handheld steam board to de-wrinkle collars, pockets, and sleeves, that also doubles as a crease attachment to provide a more polished, or what one might call dry-cleaned look that gives structure to collars, sleeves, plackets, hems, and other clothing areas where a completely steamed, flat finish would just appear odd. 

It can handle delicate to heavy materials, as it provides steam up to 248 degrees Fahrenheit that penetrates deep and relaxes fibers. The high temperature means it works faster than ironing and allows it to freshens clothes killing up to 99.9% of germs. Finally, the cost is actually reasonable, especially compared to other standing steam steamers.

The PurSteam PS-910 Heavy Duty Powerful Fabric Steamer is featured in Parents Need, where the author notes it can even disinfect your carpet. It’s listed in Smart Home Guide and Best Advisor, too.

The PurSteam PS-910 Heavy Duty Powerful Fabric Steamer has a 4 out of 5 star average rating based on over 2,000 customer reviews. Many reviewers comment on the quality of the product, and its many uses, such as this reviewer. Others like all the features it comes with such as this reviewer who enjoys the steam board and this reviewer who says that the accessories are "wonderful.” 

The critical reviews mostly center around the product not having a consistent flow stream, but it’s worth noting that on every critical review, there’s a response from Amazon or the manufacturer extending help information and offers to resolve the issue stated.  

Pros: Reasonable price, quality customer service/guarantee, handy built-in hanger, steams for 60 consecutive minutes, convenient add-ons and accessories, sanitizing features   

Cons: May not provide a consistent steam flow

Buy the PurSteam PS-910 Heavy Duty Powerful Fabric Steamer on Amazon for $69.99 (originally $134.99) 

The best handheld clothes steamer

URPOWER

Why you'll love it: More powerful than a travel steamer but still mobile enough to carry, the URPOWER Garment Steamer eliminates wrinkles faster than your average iron.

The URPOWER Garment Steamer makes steaming anywhere a quick and easy process. The 1.2-pound device heats up and provides steam in only two minutes, yet with a 130-milliliter tank, it provides a constant steam for 7 to 10 minutes. This upgraded model has a new nozzle design that distributes steam more powerfully and consistently, making it easier to remove stubborn wrinkles. Whether you don’t have room for a heavy-duty steamer or simply prefer a lighter, portable design, this handheld steamer can remove wrinkles from clothes, as well as from cushions, beds, and other fabrics around the house.

Even if you’re new to steaming, you won’t have much trouble learning how to use this steamer. It conveniently features an automatic shut-off function when the unit gets too hot or the water level is too low, which protects your clothing, as well as the longevity of the unit, which already comes with a two-year warranty.

Because it measures 3.7-by-8.8-by-6.2 inches, it’s smaller than an iPad 2, so you could carry it around without much of a hassle in case your steaming needs take you out of your house. It comes with a handy travel pouch, too.

The URPOWER Garment Steamer is the number one best-seller on Amazon in both the Travel Garment Steamers and Garment Steamer categories. The steamer has a 4 out of 5-star rating in the Parents Need, is listed in BestSeekers, and is ranked number one in an AOL article.

On Amazon, the steamer has a 4.2 out of 5-star average rating based on 2,321 reviews, which include a handful of helpful video reviews. The majority of reviewers are impressed with the product, such as this one who states that the steamer pays for itself. Multiple reviewers comment that the steamer is smaller than expected. The critical reviews mainly state that the steamer doesn’t completely replace their iron as they hoped, or that it stopped working sooner than it should have.

Pros: Price, built-in safety features, easy to use, small enough it’s portable, upgraded nozzle design

Cons: May spit water occasionally, questionable longevity of the unit

Buy the URPOWER Garment Steamer on Amazon for $21.99 (originally $69.99)

The best clothes steamer for travel

OXA

Why you'll love it: With a unique compact design, the OXA Portable Travel Steamer is a versatile steamer that does the job on the go.

While handheld steamers can often be used as travel steamers as well, the OXA Portable Travel Steamer is designed specifically with travel in mind. It’s portable and lightweight, weighing only 850 grams. Even if you’re not looking for a travel steamer, this model could serve you best, because of its light weight and ergonomic design with a steady grip that it allows you to handle it effortlessly without tiring your arms.

We love that it’s really a versatile steamer as well. It can remove wrinkles from all kinds of fabrics, including organic fabric, silk, cotton, nylon blend, wool, linen, polyester blend, embroidery, and other materials. It also has sanitizing features to remove odors, disinfect, and kill germs.

It comes with two brushes: One is a fabric brush with six outlets for steaming and the other a lint brush so you can make sure your clothes look pristine. The nozzle is purposely designed to not spit out water, and it comes with an auto shut-off feature to protect against overheating. Best of all, it heats up in a mere 20 seconds. Thanks to the 1,000 watts of power, it delivers a large amount of steam continuously for up to seven minutes.

The space-saving 16.2-by-5.9-by-5.6 inch OXA Portable Travel Steamer is listed in Top Best Products and Gist Gear. On Amazon, the steamer holds a 4.6 out of 5 star average rating based on 74 reviews, which, although a low number due to it being a new product, are rather thorough reviews that consist of 10 customer videos and more than 120 customer photos.

Amazon reviewers are generally pretty impressed with the small steamer, many highlighting that it works well on a variety of fabrics and, as advertised, heats up in only 20 seconds. This reviewer uploaded a video along with a handful of photos that conveniently give you a better idea of how it would actually fit in your hand. As to be expected, many buyers enjoy that it’s so lightweight and easy to travel with. The five critical reviews primarily state that the steamer doesn’t provide strong enough steam to get out tough wrinkles.

Pros: Travel-friendly, sanitizing features, works on a variety of materials, quick heat up time, lightweight

Cons: Steam may not be strong enough to get out tough wrinkles

Buy the OXA Portable Travel Steamer on Amazon for $49.99

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