Help me decide between these garment steamers or tell me about another one that works better!

October 1, 2010 7:59 AM

Which garment steamer should I get, this Rowenta, or this Haan? Or something else altogether? Is there any advantage of having a metal head vs plastic? This is mostly for button-down shirts and dresses. I don't own an iron.
posted by rmless to Shopping (7 answers total)

Best answer: The commercial steamers I used at the family business always had metal heads, but I can't think of any reason that'd make a difference EXCEPT that a metal head won't crack when you drop it onto a hard floor from six feet up. That's going to happen a lot more in a commercial setting where you use the steamer a dozen times a day instead of one, but still, if you have hard floors, it might not be a bad idea.

I notice the Rowenta has pedal switches, which would be handy -- I always found myself flipping the switch on our steamers with my foot anyhow.

Rowenta is a great brand for steamers and irons. We used Jiffy, but I don't know that that was for any reason other than familiarity.
posted by mendel at 8:32 AM on October 1, 2010

This may not be helpful, but I have a Rowenta iron and it's amazing. Really great piece of equipment. I've had it for about ten years and it's still working as perfectly as the day I got it, the best iron I've ever had. I still hate ironing, though.
posted by sharding at 8:48 AM on October 1, 2010

I own a Jiffy commercial steamer and it's great. One thing that a friend in the fashion industry told me is that the steamers do not work as well for button-down shirts because they can't make the hard creases on the sleeves and around the collar that you get when you use an iron. I still use it for shirts, but it's less than ideal. It's great for dresses and everything else though.
posted by *s at 8:51 AM on October 1, 2010

I've never had a Haan but I had a Rowenta nearly identical to the one you link to and was pretty happy with it. Agreed, foot pedal controls make a lot of sense for things like this, when you've got clothes in one hand and a steamer wand in another.
posted by raygan at 9:16 AM on October 1, 2010

I used to sell vintage clothing, which involved a lot of steaming--I can vouch for the quality and reliability of Jiffy commercial steamers.
posted by pullayup at 9:18 AM on October 1, 2010

Best answer: We actually own that Rowenta steamer. It's a great steamer and, like it's already been mentioned, the foot pedal switches are great.
posted by TurquoiseZebra at 10:34 AM on October 1, 2010

One thing that a friend in the fashion industry told me is that the steamers do not work as well for button-down shirts because they can't make the hard creases on the sleeves and around the collar that you get when you use an iron.

A great point. At our menswear store, steamer was for suits, outerwear and touchups, and the ridiculous iron was for shirts and trousers.
posted by mendel at 10:52 AM on October 1, 2010