If you’re like me, ironing your clothes probably ranks somewhere between buying tampons and getting outsourced on your list of things to do. 

What if I told you there was one simple improvement you could make that would change your life (or at least the getting-wrinkles-out-of your-clothes part of your life) forever?

The “trick” to ironing is simple:

don’t do it. 

That’s right. 

Stop ironing. 

Now. 

You may think I’m advocating a return to the unkempt fashion anarchy of the grunge era. 

Not hardly. 

What I am advocating is using a steamer. 

That’s right.  If it’s good enough for the dry cleaner, it should be good (and easy) enough for you. 

COST

I purchased my Shark steamer at a local Super Target for $69.  It came complete and required about 5 minutes to ‘assemble’ (basically screwing the pole into the base, attaching a hose, and filling the basin with water).

Although more expensive units may exist, for my bachelor pad this one has proven plenty powerful enough.

STORAGE

One of the great things about it is the fact that I can leave it out, albeit stuffed into a ‘corner’ of my place.  

When I had an iron, it seemed like a huge production to pull it out of the cabinet, get the ironing board out of the closet, get everything set up, etc.

Now it’s as simple as pushing the ‘on’ button and waiting about 2-3 minutes for it to warm up.

USE

Using the steamer couldn’t be easier:

1) Hang your garmet on the attached pole.
2) Stick the steamer head inside the shirt, pull down on the bottom of the material, and then slowly begin dragging the steamer head downward. 

For pants, I suggest using a heavy duty wooden ’suit’ type hanger, which you can then clothes-pin the pant leg to. 

With these, you don’t need to get the steamer head ‘inside’ the leg, but rather, just steam down the material while pulling taut from the bottom.

OTHER BENEFITS

The reason dry cleaners use steamers is simple; they’re easier on the fabric of your clothes. 

A traditional iron is far more prone to burning the material than a steamer is (in fact, it’s impossible with a steamer).

To quote the very informative Jiffy Steamer site:

As your drycleaner knows, steam is the gentlest, safest, most efficient method to remove wrinkles from fabrics. The powerful action of garment steamers penetrate the fibers, relaxes them and causes the wrinkles to release. Unlike ironing, the gentle method of steaming increases the life of clothing. Garment steamers breathe new life into fabrics; conversely, ironing crushes clothing fibers. Many garment steamer users have found that steaming is up to five times faster than conventional ironing.

THE DRAWBACKS

Perhaps the main drawback to steaming is that you cannot get your collars as ‘crisp’ as you can with an iron. 

For shirts demanding this kind of detail, I typically dry clean them and then hang them up as soon as I get home from work. 

Doing this usually allows me to steam them into ‘work ready’ appearance several times before having to send them to the cleaners again for a touch up on the collar. 

Then again, I don’t sweat very much. 

On this point, you mileage may most definitely vary.

CONCLUSION

I would never go back to ironing.  The convenience, speed, and safety of using a steamer on my clothes is a God-send in my busy life.

-Cash

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