Every household should have a garment steamer. My Jiffy J-200 garment steamer is one of the best things that I have ever bought. It has more than paid for itself by eliminating many costly dry cleaning trips. If you hate ironing, you’ll love steaming the wrinkles out of your clothes with a garment steamer.
Garment steamers are far quicker than ironing and much easier to use. Garment steamers won’t burn, scorch, or leave the dreaded “shine” marks on your clothes and are safe for all materials. I have safely used my Jiffy garment steamer on everything from cotton to silk and cashmere. Even prolonged contact with the garment steamer won’t burn or harm most fabrics. I have never had any dye run or color bleed on any garment from using a garment steamer.
Jiffy garment steamers also can be used on household items such as drapes. A garment steamer can also be used in place of dry cleaning for some items. There are also some household uses for garment steamers such as stripping wallpaper and steam cleaning tile or other hard surfaces.
I don’t know about you, but I hate ironing. I am incredibly bad at it and end up accidentally ironing in more wrinkles than I get out. I actually gave up on ironing. I ended up sending clothing to the dry cleaners to be pressed. I used the old trick of putting clothes in the clothes dryer with a damp washcloth for ten to fifteen minutes to get the wrinkles out. I even quit buying clothes in fabrics that wrinkled excessively.
One day I was in my favorite clothing store and a sales lady was using a steam machine to get the wrinkles out of the clothes on the sale racks. I watched as wrinkles seemed to magically disappear before my eyes as she simply swept the steamer nozzle head over the clothing.
I asked the sales lady some questions about the steamer and in a few minutes I knew that I simply had to find one for myself. I copied down the name of her steamer, made by Jiffy, and started searching the Internet to find a bargain on a garment steamer.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. You are probably used to the hand held garment steamers of the past that required you to add salt to the steamer water. These didn’t work very well, since they didn’t produce enough steam. Also, having to put just the right amount of salt in the steamer to even get any steam was difficult.
Forget about your bad experiences with these garment steamers. The kind of garment steamer I’m referring to by Jiffy is nothing like these. It really works and it doesn’t require the addition of salt, or any other additive, to the steamer water.
SAFETY NOTES:
Before I give you a virtual lesson and tips on steaming clothes using a Jiffy Steamer, it’s time to make some safety notes. First of all, be sure to completely read the owner’s manual and follow all the guidelines it gives for proper use. A garment steamer should never be used by children.
Like irons, garment steamers can cause burns. It actually may be easier to get burnt with a garment steamer than with a traditional clothing iron. The steam put out by a garment steamer is very hot. Never, ever put your hand in front of the garment steamer to test the steam.
Most burns from a garment steamer are very minor, more of a warning to move your hand quickly. But it would absolutely be possible to get a severe burn with a garment steamer. In seven years, even with much practice at keeping my hands away from the steam, I still occasionally get burnt. But again, it’s generally more of a warning burn that only hurts for a few seconds.
There are certain areas of the clothing that you are more likely to burn yourself on such as cuffs and hems. This is because sometimes you have to grasp the cuff of hem and pull downward on it as you steam with some fabrics, carefully avoiding getting steam near your fingers.
Another area of caution, is to be sure that when you place the steamer head in the clothing hanger rack that you make sure it is facing away from you so steam does not come back upon your face. I have never come even close to having this happen, but it must be mentioned for the sake of safety.
Also, never leave a garment steamer unattended. I have walked away from mine, to take clothes to a clothesline, for up to three minutes or so. But I would not advise leaving it unattended for more than a moment or two, if at all. It is also probably best not to use an extension cord with your garment steamer, since they do draw quite a bit of power.
HOW TO USE A GARMENT STEAMER:
Now that we’ve learned our safety lesson, let’s learn how to use a garment steamer. Most garment steamers work very similarly to the Jiffy brand steamers. There is a base that heats up, and is often on wheels. Into the base fits an upside down water container with a special lid. These water containers often look much like a large gallon bottle. You simply lift up the container, unscrew the lid and fill the container with water.
Most garment water steamers containers have two lines. One line indicates the maximum amount of water to fill the water container with. The other line indicates the level that you should never let the water level fall below. It is important not to let the water level get below this line, or you could damage the steamer or even cause a fire.
Always be sure that the special lid is always properly and tightly on the water container. It is a good idea to empty the container between uses, letting it air dry. I personally made the mistake of leaving the water in the water container, and it caused a musty smell in the bottle that was very difficult to completely remove. I should note, that as long as the old water is removed and fresh water put in, the clothes themselves will surprisingly not smell musty even if your bottle does.
I alway tell people to never leave the water sitting in the steamer for more than a few days at most. Someone suggested using bleach or the additive that they make for humidifiers to clean the bottle. But I think this would be best avoided because the bleach would get in the steamer and bleach your clothing.
After you fill your garment steamer’s water container with water, have properly replaced it’s cap and have properly placed it on the base- it’s time to get steaming. Be sure that you locate your garment steamer in an appropriate location. Do not use your garment steamer near a smoke alarm, since the steam can set it off.
Do not use your garment steamer near wallpaper, paintings, art prints, wooden furniture or anything that could be damaged by the steam or moisture it produces. Remember that anything within a few feet of the steamer could get some of the moisture of the steam. A bathroom with a vent is probably your best choice.
Now that you know your garment steamer is properly filled and placed in a safe location, plug in your garment steamer and turn it on. You have to wait about two minutes before the proper level of steam is produced. Most garment steamers have a clothing rack on which to hang your clothing on a regular closet hanger. An ironing board is not needed to steam clothing using a garment steamer.
It is important to properly place your item of clothing on the hanger. Shirts should have at least one button properly buttoned. Skirts, shorts and pants should be hung either by safety pins or on a hanger that lets them hang naturally, as you would wear them. Pants can not be properly steamed, folded on a hanger. Dresses and coats should be hung normally and probably have at least one button buttoned. The whole goal is to have your clothes hang naturally as they would when worn.
Place your garment on a hanger in the garment steamer’s hanger rack. Be sure the rack is properly fastened. You can usually tighten it if needed by simply turning it clockwise. Take the garment steamer nozzle handle off of the holder, which is usually above or part of the hanger rack. Do not grasp the steamer by anywhere other than it’s proper handle or you will be burned. Also take care to not allow the steamer’s hose to burn you by brushing up against you.
When you start steaming a garment, it is best to start with the front of the garment and at the very top of it. I start with the waistband or collar respectively, then move down to the sleeves and then the rest of the garment. After finishing steaming the front of your garment, steam the back in the same manner. Occasionally, on some extremely wrinkled garments it may be necessary to touch up the front of the garment just briefly in a spot or two after steaming the back of the garment.
There is a slight learning curve in using your garment steamer properly. On some garments, just running the steamer head directly over the fabric (touching the fabric) is all that is needed. But on many garments, you need to figure out which direction to start in.
There are two ways of steaming the garment-horizontally or vertically, always starting at the top. Horizontally usually works best working your way down from top to bottom by going across. Steaming vertically works better on other garments. To steam vertically, start at the top working your way down the length of the garment, repeating this across the garment.
Again, you may need to use your hands and fingers, safely away from the steam, to smooth the garment or hold up edges of it to flatten it a bit. But be sure that your hands and fingers are very far away from the steam or the garment steamer head. You shouldn’t allow the garment steamer head or the steam to come any closer than 4-6 inches from your hand.
Remember that it is okay to leave the steamer on a particular spot for a few seconds, because the steamer will not scorch your clothing. I have left it on badly wrinkled spots on cotton chino pants for up to fifteen seconds. It simply saturates the area with gentle heat and moisture.
You may never iron again after buying a clothes steamer. But there are a few items that still do better ironed, because you can add starch. Some cotton shirts and pants may be better ironed. But these same garments are still perfectly wearable after being steamed with a garment steamer, they are just not starched.
After steaming your clothes, be sure that you allow sufficient time for them to dry completely before wearing them or placing them in closets or dresser drawers. The steamer saturates different fabrics differently. Some fabrics may not even feel the least bit damp after steaming, others may feel only slightly damp, some fabrics may feel quite damp after steaming.
A good rule of thumb is to not wear or put away most steamed garments for about an hour or so. If you wear or put away a garment that is still wet, it will wrinkle very badly-often worse than before it was steamed. Once a garment is dry, it is not prone to excessive wrinkling like it is when damp. It is not that the steamer makes things wrinkle more, it’s simply a matter of letting the garment dry properly.
HOW TO CHOSE A GARMENT STEAMER AND WHERE TO BUY ONE:
Now that you know you want to buy a garment steamer it’s time to choose one. The biggest difference between models intended for home use and those intended for commercial use is the amount of water they hold. Commercial steamers don’t produce more steam necessarily, but require less frequent filling.
Amazon.com sells Jiffy brand steamers starting at $129.00 http://www.amazon.com/Originial-Jiffy-Steamer-Model-J-200/dp/B000I01IJ4/ref=pd_bbs_sr_12/104-8593815-7635160?ie=UTF8&s;=hpc&qid;=1175715783&sr;=8-12
This model, the J-200, is the one I bought a few years ago. Jiffy offers many other models that are more expensive that are equally good. I personally don’t think that spending more money gets you a better garment steamer. This is one of their earlier models, and I can’t imagine how they could possibly improve on this one in the later models. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the perfect steamer.
Cheaper Jiffy Brand steamers, and other brands of steamers, can be found on sale. But be sure to compare their wattage to a standard Jiffy brand steamer. If the wattage is lower than 1300 watts, it may not produce enough steam.
Product reviews from sites like www.Amazon.com and www.Epinions.com can help you narrow down your specific choices. Be sure to use www.google.com to price search for a bargain. And don’t forget to go to sites like www.fatwallet.com or www.slickdeals.com to find coupons for on-line stores. Also you can use www.fatwallet.com or www.ebates.com to get a portion of your purchase price back as a rebate later.
Happy Steaming!
