Say goodbye to ironing: This $21 Amazon travel steamer will change your life

Updated January 27, 2020 at 12:36 AM

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Ironing is a thing of the past. With a steamer, you can get the same results, without the fuss. (Photo: Getty Images)

If there’s one fashion gadget I swear by, it’s my trusty $21 Amazon garment steamer.

A few years ago, I was heading on a big trip and in dire need of a packable steamer to bring with me abroad. I’ve never been into ironing and the fuss associated with it. My old steamer ended up getting “fried” in the power socket during a trip to London, so dual voltage was a requirement when I was searching for a replacement.

With my luck, I stumbled upon the Conair Travel Smart Dual-Voltage Garment Steamer and life has never been the same. It features a compact, collapsible handle and averages 10 minutes of steam time — the perfect amount for one garment. And thanks to its dual voltage capacity, all you need is an adapter plug to bring abroad. Bye, bye converter!

If you’ve never used a steamer before, get ready, because this small gadget changed my life and it will change yours too.

All you have to do is fill it up with water, plug in, and watch the steam flow out within a minute. Hang anything you need to be steamed, whether it’s a dress, skirt, shirt, or coat — and it will steam it all. Just hold the steamer upright and run it up and down in a vertical motion on all the areas you need to get rid of wrinkles. Within seconds you should see those creases disappear before your eyes. Magic!

I recently brought my fashion must-have to France while visiting for a friend’s wedding. A group of us rented a house through Airbnb in the middle of the countryside and there was no iron (or ironing board) in sight when we arrived.

Unfortunately, no one in the group of 5 thought to pack a steamer. I, on the other hand, brought mine and came to the rescue, becoming the “hero” of the group. One by one, each person used my steamer to smooth out the wrinkles from their silky dresses, dress shirts, suit jackets and trousers. Mind you, this was one hour before we had to leave for the wedding. None of my friends had ever used a steamer before but they all learned to maneuver it almost instantly.

Long gone are the days needed to lug out your large ironing board and heat up your clunky iron.

Steamers are compact, sleek and small. They hardly take up any surface area, but the power they pack is a mighty punch. I love my steamer because it takes up as much space in my luggage as a small clutch or pair of flats. It doesn’t spit out water either, which I know other models are prone to do.

It makes traveling a breeze and worry-free when deciding what clothes to pack. At home, it fits neatly in the corner of my bedroom and I can easily pull it out in the morning, fill up and start steaming any garment that needs a touch-up.

Need more convincing? You can scroll through this item’s hundreds of reviews. Here’s one highlight I pulled from one reviewer:

“I bought this for my husband, as he often has to dress up for work more than I do. He would often use this instead of ironing, because it was less of a production than dragging out the ironing board, heating up the iron. Plus it was too easy to ruin clothes ironing. Not so with this travel steamer. I almost bought him an additional ‘home’ steamer, but it turned out he didn’t need one since this one, though travel sized, has turned out to be powerful enough. He will often do a few dress shirts and pants at a time. He’s been pretty happy with it. I highly recommend it!”