Pros:
Heats up quickly; easy to assemble; handy on/off switch
Cons:
Doesn't do a complete job; hassle to empty water
The Bottom Line:
I think I'll stick to the old fashioned iron.
Overall Rating:
Author's Review
I require the use of an iron often as I iron my own work dress shirts. My wife bought me a steamer for Xmas and I must say I was pretty excited to receive such a thoughtful gift. I was excited to try it out as I had a backlog of workshirts so after setting up the unit with ease I plugged in and went to work on my shirts.
Let's start with what I liked. The water container was easy to fill and steam was produced much quicker than the 90 seconds promised. The steam was even and consistent and I never expereinced any slowdowns while steaming the garments.
For me I found that it took forever to get the wrinkles out of each shirt. As well I noticed that I would need to iron my shirts anyway as I like a more "pressed" looking garment. Which is what I wouldn't want to do if I had the use of a steamer. For the 9 dress shirts I had to steam I only ended up doing 5 of them and it took me a very long time. I also found that there were some areas on the shirt that were difficult to get at. I ended up getting a little too close to the steam a few times trying to get all the wrinkles out.
After the first few shirts I wanted to make sure I wasn't wrong about the steamer so I invited my wife in to steam a few shirts. After 20 seconds she stated to me that she thought the steamer was a piece of junk. Always best to get an "expert" opinion before insulting the person that bought the gift in the first place....
Don't get me wrong. I think this unit would make a great gift for those who just detest ironing. For me though I made sure my mom taught me to iron before I moved out on my own. So maybe I'm a little old fashioned in that sense but I think I'll stick with what I know works best for me.