Best Clothes Steamers

The powerful Conair GS108 is our go-to for blasting wrinkles and ironing out crinkled hems in record time. It has one of the highest steam power ratings in our tests and was the only model to tackle creased linen. That’s because it also works as an iron. You don’t need an ironing board, either; I used the corner of my bed to quickly smooth the stubborn sections that steam alone couldn’t. This model can steam continuously for 11 minutes on its highest setting before needing a refill. You can also turn off the steam and only use the iron.

A pump inside the steamer allows you to use it in any direction: vertically, horizontally, or any other way. The tank is somewhat difficult to detach from the steamer, but it’s easy to fill and takes only 45 seconds to heat up, 15 seconds faster than most of the other models we tested. One of its features that none of the others have is an optional smart sensor that stops steam when the appliance is placed on a flat surface and starts steaming again when it’s picked up.

It comes with three attachments: one to protect fine fabric, one for pleats, and one that pulls fabric taut and brushes it for better results. Distilled water is recommended.

The Conair GS59X does a good job of evening out rumples in thin cotton dress shirts, but like most handheld steamers, it struggles with creases. It took about 12 minutes to steam a button-up shirt and couldn’t handle a more challenging linen one. 

This steamer got solidly average scores in our lab tests across the board, including for steam power (16.62 grams per minute), heat time (1 minute), and run time (13 minutes). The tank is relatively easy to fill, and the steamer can operate vertically and horizontally.

It has a built-in creaser and a 3-in-1 attachment that protects fine fabric, pulls fabric taut, and brushes it for better results. Distilled water is recommended.

One unique draw to the Chi Handheld Garment Steamer is its ability to be used with tap water, not distilled. (The company says to use 50:50 distilled water and tap water if you have extremely hard water, but it also has descaling instructions in the manual in case you want to use tap for a short period of time.) The Chi Handheld Garment Steamer, about the size of a flat iron, was the fastest steamer to heat up in our lab test, ready to go after 40 seconds. It offers 8 minutes of steaming with a manual steam button on the handle. 

It could handle light rumples and lasted for an entire button-up dress shirt, getting the job done faster than the runner-up Conair GS59X above. For more established wrinkles and creases, I suggest bringing a small spritz bottle to dampen the garment and help this little guy.

The steamer is light, balanced, and works in all directions, but there are times when the steam stops, which made me think it was out, but then it came back. Whenever I thought it was empty, there was still a little water left in the tank when I refilled it. José Amézquita, the lab tester for this project, explained that this could happen depending on the position the steamer is held. “You might need to try various angles so the pump can reach lower water levels in the tank,” he said.

The steamer is placed horizontally; it doesn’t stand up, which made me hesitant to put it on my counter. But I was able to rotate it so that the vent faced away from the counter. It comes with a travel bag.

The Nori Press is one of the most expensive steamers we tested, but it isn’t quite the iron-steamer combo you want it to be, especially for that price. Our Editor’s Choice above is a better value. But if you want a travel-sized version or you already own a steamer you like and need something to finish trim, the Nori can help with those edges. When traveling, you must also bring a small bottle of distilled water or Nori’s fabric facial water (sold separately, $15).

It works much better as a small iron than as a steamer. The tank is comically tiny, and the water level gauge is difficult to read. Sometimes filling it will create an air bubble, making you think it’s full when it isn’t. Once filled, you have about 5 minutes before it runs out of steam—enough for half a shirt.

If you have weaker hands or limited mobility, the Nori can be difficult to use. It weighs nearly 2 pounds, and you have to constantly grip and squeeze the iron, like using tongs. I experienced hand cramping within minutes of using it. To add insult to injury, it spat hot water on me when it ran out of water—catching me so off guard that I yelped, but it didn’t burn my skin. And it leaked on my floor when I set it down briefly. In the company’s FAQ, Nori says that the nose of the device must be pointed upward at all times for the pump to function properly. But you should be able to set it down (that’s how the auto shutoff works).

The bare-bones Jiffy Travel Steamer Esteam takes a longer time to heat up than its competitors (4 minutes!) and can sometimes bounce excitedly on a countertop while doing so. “It boils water a bit violently at the beginning,” Amézquita said. “Be careful not to place it too close to the edge, and don’t leave it unattended.”

It’s not quick at dewrinkling fabric, either, but what’s the rush when your run time is a whopping 20 minutes? It struggled to smooth out wrinkles and creases but relaxed major rumples in a linen top—not completely smooth, but respectable for a lived-in look.

This steamer has no bells and whistles. It looks like an electric tea kettle with its spout replaced with a vent. There’s not even an on/off switch. One advantage is that this is the only canister-style model we tested that doesn’t require distilled water, only tap water. Is that worth the price, though? Probably not. A downside is that the surface area of the steamer body gets quite hot, going as high as 140° F in our lab test.

The Conair CompleteSteam Travel Fabric Steamer is the Dominic Toretto of handheld steamers—quick to heat up (1 minute), but once all that pressure starts to steam, a bit all over the place. Like Dom, it finishes first, with a run time of 5 minutes, and tops the chart for steam power, blowing more than 18 grams of steam per minute. The point of it all? Not sure. My shirt was still as rumpled as Cipher, and why was the entire city block destroyed? If you don’t understand anything you just read, you have a 10-film franchise to catch up on.

For a more science-backed explanation, I asked Amézquita why the highest-powered steamer wasn’t unwrinkling my shirt. “Steam power only indicates how much steam is produced,” he said. “This steamer won the steam power test but doesn’t have a pump, so the steam goes out without direction or purpose.” Translation for the Hollywood folks: A steamer (Dom) needs a pump (familia) to give it direction and purpose.

A side effect of all that steam rushing out is that the surface of the steamer handle reaches temperatures above 120° F, which, like our main character, can be too hot to handle for some people.

I suspected the extra-long cord was overcompensating for something, and I was right. The Black+Decker Advanced Handheld Steamer could straighten out a thin cotton dress shirt, but it struggled with a cotton T-shirt and did nothing to a linen shirt except drool all over it.

The steamer dribbled so much water as it steamed that I stopped to see if something was wrong. The manual says that this can happen if the water level or temperature is too low, and you’re supposed to let it heat back up for a moment. Even when I did, it left water splotches all over my clothes. The 15-foot cord would have been nice for steaming curtains, but I don’t think the steamer would be powerful enough to handle cotton or linen drapes.

“The only thing going for it was that it was the only steamer that keeps the surface temperature of its body at 120° F or below,” Amézquita said. “Most other steamers we got reached 130° F or above.”

It comes with three attachments: one to protect delicate fabric, one to remove lint, and one for upholstery.