If you own wool clothing, you know that special care is needed to keep them looking new. They really need to be dry cleaned, but that gets expensive. Washing by hand is risky, even in cold water. However, I found the perfect product to help me care for my wool clothing – the Conair Compact Fabric Steamer!
Description
This steamer is compact, with a small footprint of only one square foot. This makes it easy to use and easy to store. It has a power switch and heats the water to boiling in around three minutes. A hose runs from the water basin to the handle, where steam jets through the T-nozzle.
The steamer has a generous 6 foot power cord, and it wraps securely (with clips) under the base of the steamer which makes the cords completely hidden when not in use. The machine has a 1200 watt heater, and when you replace the handle onto the steamer base, the auto shut-off kicks into action.
There is a handy door hook for hanging up garments for steaming. It is also comes with a crease attachment and a lint brush.
Unlike Conairs hand held steamer model, this holds a generous amount of water, and you can use tap water instead of distilled. Unfortunately, there are only two water lines indicating when it’s full, but Conair does not say how much water this holds. I added approximately 1 quart of water and I didn’t fill it up.
Thoughts
This is a great little steamer! I can’t believe I purchased this for under $35.00! A few weeks ago I washed a wool sweater in cold water and put it on my air/fluff dryer setting. Most of the sweater came out fine, but the decorative stitching across the arms and the bodice did shrink. I used this steamer on those areas and stretched the wool fibers back into shape. I let it sit on a towel until dry, and although the sweater is not 100%, it certainly did help and it is no longer uncomfortable to wear.
Cool weather is here, and some of my other wool sweaters were wrinkled when I took them out of my cedar chest. I laid them flat on my bed, again on a towel, and ran the steamer nozzle across the fibers. The steam loosens the wool fibers and removes the wrinkles. The results were amazing, and it took, literally, just seconds to do! This is SO much faster than ironing. And many wool garments can’t be ironed anyway, it flatens and burns the fibers.
I knit scarves to sell at holiday bazaars, and a few of my designs look so much nicer after they have been blocked and steamed. This Conair unit did a great job on my scarves as well.
The manual says that you can use this machine on curtains, draperies, towels, linens and napkins. I haven’t used it for draperies yet, but it works great on curtains! It also does a great job removing wrinkles from a tablecloth. No more spending 30 minutes ironing my table linens! I simply put a large towel under my tablecloth (to protect my table from the steam), and steam the tablecloth right on my table.
A big reason I wanted this machine was for steaming my blocked knitting projects. I lay them flat on a bed and pin them down. The picture on the front of the Conair Fabric Steamer box shows a lady using it horizontally, as you would an iron. However, the manual says that you should always steam with the hose in an upright (vertical) position, so condensation flows back into the steamer. Why they pictured someone using it in a manner they suggest against is a mystery to me. If you steam in a “low” position, you will hear some gurgling – and you will need to lift the hose upward and extend it to it’s full height to let condensation run back through the hose. I do this and the machine works fine.
The over the door hanger allows me to hang wool garments for easy steaming, and the T-nozzle also rests on the hook at the end of the hanger.
We have soft water, but if you have hard water you may have problems with calcification. The manual gives clear directions on how to decalcify the machine. Use a solution of 1/3 white vinegar and 2/3 water, then run it through the steamer.
This is a very versatile machine, and is well worth the minimal cost! If you have the need for a steamer, I highly recommend this Conair Fabric Steamer, model GS5RWR.
