Hand held steamer

[designerlb]

Can someone tell me the best hand held steamer, i have been reading reviews and most are not worth purchasing, so I was counting on someone that has a really good one to reveal the brand and where to purchase. Thanks

[mohavemommy]

no help needed here........

[designerlb]

I know all about downey, that is not what I am asking for, thank you.

[threeofus]

Check out the reviews for ESTEAM. It really does a great job. The only thing is be careful. I was holding the garment with one hand and steaming with the other and I got a nasty burn on my forearm.

Not sure how I did it - but be very careful.

[waterbugohio]

I would also like to find a nice steamer. I would like to use it for the cruise and for other vacations also.

[Ron27]

I did a little research on Amazon and found 1 highly rated model. Do a search for "Samsonite Dual Voltage Garment Steamer", it's the $30 one.

[designerlb]

thank you both for those recommendations, I really appreciate your feedback, I will review them both

[waterbugohio]

Ron,

 

The samsonite looks like a nice steamer. The reviews also sound pretty good.

 

As for the Esteam, it looks pretty similar, but the price is double.

[FL_Cruiser64]

We bought a Joy Mangano 850W at E-Bay. $17.95 with free shipping.

We love it. Slightly bigger than a travel iron.

[CLQ]

But we've had ours for years. Maybe about 12-15 years. In that time, that brand apparently got absorbed by Conair. On the Conair web site, I couldn't find a travel steamer currently. Not sure when the Franzus name changed, so I'm not sure how hard it is to find out there in stores nowadays.

 

Ours heats up fairly quickly and we think does a great job. We take it just about anywhere we go.

 

E-bay might come in handy on this, too.

[Duffys wife 1957]

Samsonite is the one we use. I have had it for years and it works great. Its compact and very it has a very reasonable price tag..

[scotandtamcruzn4fun]

I have the Conair steamer. I would NOT recommended it. It does not get hot.

[waterbugohio]

I found a couple on ebay.

The Mangato one is on there. I couldn't find the Franzus.

 

I also saw the one from As seen on TV, and wondered if anyone had this. I know when you buy the large at home model, you get the travel one free. Not sure if they are any good??

[SpeedEng]

I bought the "tobi" (as seen on tv stuff :D lol) it came with a hand held steamer thet my dw loves

[lulybellsea]

We bought a Joy Mangano 850W at E-Bay. $17.95 with free shipping.

We love it. Slightly bigger than a travel iron.

Maybe I bought the wrong Joy Mangano steamer or perhaps she's come out with a smaller version. The one I have is probably 10" long, bulky and has to be hand held with clothes on a hanger. That's the problem. You almost have to have a rack like department stores to use it as you have to hold the garment with one hand and the steamer in the other. I bet I've bought at least 6 or 7 steamers none of which worked. (This is going to sound like a commercial ... ). I found the EURO SUPER STEAM LIGHT TRAVEL STEAM IRON in a kiosk in the mall. I was extremely skeptical but it was hard to dispute the demonstrations right in front of my eyes. I think the trick is adding a bit of salt to the water. You can use this one in the upright handheld position or use it as an iron. It's little and I've packed it when taking only a carry-on and a 22" rollerboard for a 7 day cruise. The steamer was in the $20 to $30 price range. It's a jewel and actually does what it's supposed to do. If you can't find one in your local mall, they do pop up on eBay from time to time.

[FL_Cruiser64]

Maybe I bought the wrong Joy Mangano steamer or perhaps she's come out with a smaller version. The one I have is probably 10" long, bulky and has to be hand held with clothes on a hanger. That's the problem. You almost have to have a rack like department stores to use it as you have to hold the garment with one hand and the steamer in the other. I bet I've bought at least 6 or 7 steamers none of which worked. (This is going to sound like a commercial ... ). I found the EURO SUPER STEAM LIGHT TRAVEL STEAM IRON in a kiosk in the mall. I was extremely skeptical but it was hard to dispute the demonstrations right in front of my eyes. I think the trick is adding a bit of salt to the water. You can use this one in the upright handheld position or use it as an iron. It's little and I've packed it when taking only a carry-on and a 22" rollerboard for a 7 day cruise. The steamer was in the $20 to $30 price range. It's a jewel and actually does what it's supposed to do. If you can't find one in your local mall, they do pop up on eBay from time to time.

 

This is funny. I saw the same one and I kicked myself for not buying it. The demo was awesome. It was quite compact. The draw back at that time was that it is an italian product and has a 220V outlet which requires and adapter. Usually when you go from 200V to 110V you can do with an adapter. A transformer is not required. But because of the lesser voltage used here some items take longer to charge or don't even work. I was trying to peek where it was plugged in to see if they have a transformer which boosts the voltage but I couldn't see anything.

 

But I agree, it was a beautiful product. I really wonder why we can't produce something like that. It would be a hit under the cruising population.

 

The Mangano is a little bigger and bulkier than our travel iron, not much though. When I researched and looked at travel steamers they all came back with positive and negative reviews. They are all set up the same way basically: a plastic tube with a heater plate. That's why you have to hold them all upright. Otherwise you spill water. They are basically glorified water boiler pots. Same technology. Water gets heated up, steam travels to top. You turn the thing water spills out.

 

That was the neat thing on the Euro-thingy you and I saw. It was set up like an iron and you could even use it downwards. I assume the water had its own compartment much like a steam iron.

 

I bought the Mangano for one reason: price. All others I saw had positive and negative reviews and were similar in size. The smaller ones tend to work less. You need a plate which does heat the water up enough so the steam is pressed out of the unit. 400W and 600W are not enough.

 

At 17 bucks incl shipping I could not go wrong. I tested the Mangano at home on totally unironed clothes and within 5 minutes they almost looked ironed. That was good enough for me. We usually do pre-iron and just need to get small wrinkles out. We had it on two cruises now and I am happy. It takes less than 2 minutes for a shirt to get the wrinkles out and I just hang them on the hanger while doing it.

 

Most people think that you have to stretch the cloths or hold them. But a good travel steamer does not need that.

 

Just my 2 cents.....

 

I still look for that euro thing though.....:D

[lulybellsea]

Can you believe we're having in-depth conversations about steamers - ha! My little Euro plugs right in and has the adapter for Europe. I made 3 trips before buying it as I was certain there was a "trick." At the moment my friend has borrowed my Joy Mangano steamer

to steam off wallpaper. After reading your comments, I'll give it another shot. I simply could not make the darn thing work. My friend couldn't either but we both tried to hold the clothes rather than letting them "hang loose" as they'd say in Hawaii. It didn't make sense to me that Joy Mangano went from rags to riches and is living in the Hamptons from

money she made on a steamer that doesn't work. If you find a Euro Steamer, let me know if you find it as amazing as I do.

[tbear2762]

Maybe I bought the wrong Joy Mangano steamer or perhaps she's come out with a smaller version. The one I have is probably 10" long, bulky and has to be hand held with clothes on a hanger. That's the problem. You almost have to have a rack like department stores to use it as you have to hold the garment with one hand and the steamer in the other. I bet I've bought at least 6 or 7 steamers none of which worked. (This is going to sound like a commercial ... ). I found the EURO SUPER STEAM LIGHT TRAVEL STEAM IRON in a kiosk in the mall. I was extremely skeptical but it was hard to dispute the demonstrations right in front of my eyes. I think the trick is adding a bit of salt to the water. You can use this one in the upright handheld position or use it as an iron. It's little and I've packed it when taking only a carry-on and a 22" rollerboard for a 7 day cruise. The steamer was in the $20 to $30 price range. It's a jewel and actually does what it's supposed to do. If you can't find one in your local mall, they do pop up on eBay from time to time.

 

I hang decorations in the center of my doorways with hooks. I used to use cup hooks but now I use the kind by 3M that you can remove and no one knows it was ever there. My daughter uses these to hang her garments on while she steams them. It works great. I plan to take a 3M hook or two for use in our cabin.