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Garment steamer: benefits. Video
Ironing is not a pleasant occupation. Sometimes it takes a lot of time and effort. Special inconvenience is caused by things decorated with beads, flounces, ruffles or rhinestones. Needless to say, clothes made of delicate fabrics, over the ironing of which you literally have to sweat. All these problems are designed to solve the garment steamer.
What is a garment steamer
The steamer is another technical know-how designed to make the chores as simple as ironing easier. It is a device that consists of a steam generator, a water tank and a nozzle. The principle of its operation is based on the effect of hot steam on the fabric, due to which it is possible to smooth out even the most insidious folds, in particular, under the buttons and near the seams.
The water tank contains a heating element that heats it to a boil. Outside, hot steam enters through the nozzle. Unlike the iron, which has a mechanical effect on the fabric, that is, it directly contacts with it, the steamer works at a distance, which is why it does not deform the fabric and does not crush the pile, and even more so does not leave marks.
Despite the advantages of a floor-standing steamer, manual models of this device are widely used in everyday life.
What are the types of garment steamers
There are several types of garment steamers: from the simplest household to professional models, endowed with a significant range of functions. Among them are hand-held and floor-standing steamers. Each of them has its own advantages. Handheld models are considered a budget option, they are compact in size, so you can take them with you on a trip. However, it was not without a fly in the ointment. The manual models, in comparison with the floor-standing models, have a small power and volume of the water tank. They can run continuously for about fifteen minutes, and if you only have a couple of delicate ironing items, a handheld steamer is a good choice.
Floor-standing models have more power and a larger reservoir, which will allow you to iron things continuously for 1-2 hours
In addition, these steamers are often accompanied by various devices that facilitate ironing: clothes hangers, mittens to protect hands from steam, a clip for trousers, brushes.
What can be stroked with a steamer
This device will allow you to efficiently iron almost any fabric: silk, corduroy, guipure, lace, velvet, wool, knitwear. The steamer is able to iron those things that a regular iron, in principle, cannot cope with. First of all, these are outerwear with an abundance of various decorative elements. It is convenient to use a steamer to tidy up wedding and evening dresses, which, as a rule, have a complex design, a lot of frills and are generously decorated with rhinestones, sparkles, beads and sequins. They can safely iron fur and leather products. It refreshes even natural fur remarkably. Hot steam will quickly and easily return its former shine to your favorite fur coat. What can we say about such a delicate fabric as velvet: it is generally impossible to approach it with an iron.
Many women sometimes refuse to buy clothes made of delicate fabrics due to the difficulty in care, but with the purchase of a steamer there will no longer be a reason not to wear them.
Curtains deserve a separate discussion. Many housewives know how problematic it is to iron them with an ordinary iron on an ironing board. With the help of a steamer, this can be done directly on the curtains. But the advantages of this device do not end there either. A sufficiently powerful stream of hot steam can disinfect pillows, soft toys or upholstery. Under the influence of hot steam, all pathogenic microflora will die, some of which carry dangerous diseases.
Iron or steamer: which is better
If you are faced with a dilemma to buy a steam iron or steamer, opt for the second. The key difference between them is that the fabric does not come into contact with the hot surface during ironing with the steamer. Consequently, there is no pressure on the fabric, which means that shiny spots and creases will not flaunt on clothes, as evidenced by numerous reviews of satisfied customers of this device.
What to buy – a steamer or iron
In addition, the steamer gives off steam constantly, and the iron produces it in portions, that is, impulsively, which not only makes it difficult for steam to penetrate into the fabric fibers, but also causes their deformation. The steamer, on the other hand, straightens the fibers of the fabric, and they return to their original volume, which is sometimes lost during washing. As a result, things regain their former appearance. This is especially true for woolen clothing.
The versatility of the steamer knows no bounds. Ironing things is far from its only purpose. With its help, you can remove old stains, clean suede shoes and rid things of foreign smell.
The steamer has many advantages over the iron. For ironing, the latter requires a workplace – a bulky ironing board, which still needs to be unfolded, which takes time. The steamer only needs to be plugged into the network – and after a couple of minutes the device is ready for use. It allows you to iron your clothes without removing them directly from the hangers.
However, this device also has disadvantages. It can be very problematic for him to cope with rather “chewed” things made of such a coarse fabric as linen. This fabric is not so easy to iron. In addition, the steamer is not very convenient for ironing trousers with arrows. In this case, you cannot do without the usual iron. Some steamer models are equipped with special clamps for arrows, but this device does not do its job very well.
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