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Refresh your wardrobe with our tried and tested handheld and upright garment steamers Travel Size Garment Steamer
This article was updated in Decmeber to reflect the latest prices and deals.
If you're still using a traditional iron to get the creases out of your clothes, it’s high time you tried a quicker, more effective garment steamer.
The best clothes steamers will leave any item in your wardrobe looking pristine in minutes. There is plenty of choice on the market, including handheld options for travelling pros, and there’s a model to suit all budgets.
The GHI team tried and tested market-leading garment steamers on a range of fabrics, from delicate silk to hardy linen. These are our top picks:
Steaming is the modern way to enjoy fresh, crease-free clothes. Garment steamers heat up in seconds and are easy to use, including on soft furnishings like sheets and curtains. Most offer a range of settings so you can adapt the power to your fabric and avoid any damage. Best of all, there’s no need to faff around with an ironing board!
Handheld models are useful for keeping clothes crisp on-the-go, quick touch-ups and storing in smaller bedrooms. They’re so popular you’ll find 11 in our roundup.
The GHI put a range of market-leading garment steamers to the test. Our experts timed how long each model took to heat up, before judging how quickly and effectively it steamed a linen suit, a silk evening dress, a cotton and polycotton shirt and a viscose top.
They considered how easy and comfortable each garment steamer felt to use and noted if it dripped or spat. Its manoeuvrability, controls and overall design were also taken into account before awarding a final score.
We've listed our best buys below, along with a guide on the clothes steamer features to look for.
No matter what fabric was thrown at it, this steamer took it in its stride. It rapidly steamed through a large pile of clothes, thanks to its big tank and wide head, and it left everything bone dry.
It proved powerful, but not too strong for delicate fabric, and our polycotton shirt emerged looking as crisp as if it had been ironed. It comes with a generous array of accessories too, including a folding hanger, and has wheels for easy transportation.
However, there was no light to indicate when it was ready to use and no way of controlling the steam. It spat occasionally, too, but we’re being picky.
If you’re frequently on the move and pressed for time, look to this handheld model. It heated up in an impressive 29 seconds and its wide head made quick work of almost all creases, across all fabrics.
However, it proved too cumbersome to tackle intricate areas and the trigger switch can’t be locked, meaning you have to hold it down while steaming.
Despite its small capacity, we were pleasantly surprised by how long its water lasted before requiring a refill. There aren’t many included accessories, but the protective glove is a bonus.
The compact F10 gave a brilliant performance, eradicating all creases from every fabric except cotton (although it still did a good job). It preheated quickly and its smaller head offered better manoeuvrability than some of its competitors, allowing it to cover every nook and cranny.
It offers two power modes and comes with plenty of useful accessories, including a collar press. Its short power cable limited our reach and it took a little longer than expected to steam linen and silk, but those were our only niggles.
This handheld steamer will rid your clothes of wrinkles for a reasonable price. It quickly smoothed creases from all materials tested and left our polycotton shirt looking freshly ironed. It comes with a one year guarantee and is a fraction of the cost of many of its counterparts.
However, it spat sometimes and its short head risks burning your fingers if not handled carefully. It started straining slightly after about two minutes and, despite its speed, our silk, linen and cotton clothes were all left a little damp.
This colourful, slimline garment steamer would make a great holiday companion, quickly heating up and removing creases from warm-weather favourites including viscose, silk and cotton.
It took longer to achieve pristine results on our linen garments, however, and it spat a little, meaning it’s best used when your clothes have time to dry. With a full tank our tester said it felt heavy too. But for an on-the-go steamer, it’s surprisingly effective.
Our tester pr