Useful at home as well as on the road
Written: Dec 31 '06 (Updated Jul 04 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Powerful, simple, small, effective... in many ways perfect.
Cons: No on/off switch, water droplets starting out. No serious flaws.
The Bottom Line: This is a great solution for those that need a portable steamer. After four years of regular use, it's still going strong.
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| bgnoz's Full Review: Jiffy Esteam Personal HandHeld Garment/Travel Stea... |
I've owned this steamer for over a year now, and have used it regularly (3-4 times per week). I travel a great deal, and need to remove the folds and wrinkles that packing leaves in my clothes. I don't like a hard-pressed look, however, so this steamer is the perfect solution for my needs.
That's the first point to emphasize: Steamers in general will not press your clothes or give you the tight creases that an iron can. Consider a steamer as more of a "clothing relaxer" than an iron replacement... it will remove wrinkles, but it's nearly impossible to flatten and crease your clothes with a handheld steamer. Your clothes will look like they just came out of the dryer, but not like they just came back from the dry-cleaner. So if you need a crisp, pressed look in your work, you'll still need an iron. In that case, a steamer can still be useful for quickly removing wrinkles from suit or sport coats. That was the reason I originally purchased the Jiffy steamer, but I ended up using it as a replacement for nearly all my ironing.
This steamer is quite a simple device... think of a thermos with a heating element inside. You fill it with water, plug it in (there's no on/off switch), wait about a minute for the boiling to begin, and then use the steam pouring out to start removing wrinkles. This device provides a good amount of steam, but during the first few seconds of use it tends to spray a few droplets of water along with the steam. My recommendation is to start by steaming a towel or some other non-essential item to absorb the drops.
The process is quicker and easier than ironing, but it still takes some time. I find it essential to have the clothes on a hanger when steaming. The Jiffy holds enough water to thoroughly steam one shirt and one pair of pants. In this regard, it is perfectly sized... any smaller and it wouldn't hold enough water, any bigger and it would be heavier and harder to pack. Distilled water isn't required, but there is some mineral build-up on the heating element if regular tap water is used (this is easily cleaned).
After a year of heavy use, the unit is still going strong. There is now an occasional automatic shut-off while I'm using the device, followed by a quick return to steaming. It's not a big negative, but it does interrupt the process briefly. It seems as though there's a thermal sensor shutting the heating element off momentarily. Perhaps a good cleaning is needed.
In the end, I've found this device to be very handy and well worth the price. It's powerful yet portable, which makes it useful both on the road and at home.
_______UPDATE:
I've found that the shutoff that I was experiencing can be fixed by pouring the water out of the device after using it, and while it's still boiling hot. Something about the rapidly evaporating water on the heating element seems to have fixed the shutoff problem. It's been almost four years of continuous use with this steamer and it's still going strong. I think that shows that simple, effective designs are much better than bells and whistles.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
bgnoz
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Reviews written: 17
Trusted by: 1 member
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