How to Use a Garment Steamer: A Quick & Easy Guide

Last Updated on January 10, 2023

A clothes steamer or garment steamer can make an excellent alternative to your standard iron. A handheld garment steamer is a great way to get unwanted wrinkles out of your clothes. When used correctly, this product can make delicate fabrics wrinkle-free, and it’s great for various forms of cleaning too. As the name suggests, steamers rely on high-heat water vapour or steam to remove creases from your garments.

So if you’re wondering how to use a garment steamer, you’re in the right place. Today, we’re going to look at how you can put your home steamers to work and forget the ironing board once and for all.

How to Use a Garment Steamer Effectively

1. Read Instructions

Learning how to effectively use your steamers ensures that you’re not going to damage your garments or end up with problems in your home. The first thing you should do is look at the instructions provided by your garment steamer. You should have some information on using a steamer included with your purchase, as well as insights into how much tap water to use and which items to avoid steaming.

2. Prepare the Garment (and the Steamer)

Fill your garment steamer with water, following the instructions provided by the items’ manufacturer. Remember to follow the maximum fill line information on your steamer. Putting too much water into these items can cause them to leak.

Most garment steamers will need to be switched on for a few minutes before you start using the steam nozzle. That’s because the nature of these devices means they need to heat up to produce steam, just like your standard irons. You can test that your clothes steamer is ready by carefully pulling the trigger.

Check the instructions provided on your fabric care labels to ensure that they’re suitable for cleaning with steam. There are some fabrics that aren’t suitable for steamers.

3. Hang the Garments

After checking, you can use your steam iron or steamer with your garments, hang them with a clothes hanger in an area where the fabric can drop down naturally. If you’re steaming your drapes or other materials, leave them hanging too. This will make it easier to access wrinkles, and you’ll find that you don’t have to go over the same area multiple times to get your clothes looking good, as gravity will help you.

Show extra care if you’re using your clothes steamers with clothing that has multiple colours. The clothing in these fabrics can sometimes run when you use high heat and water. Use a fabric brush to remove any lint from the clothing before you start steaming.

4. Use Downward Strokes

With your clothes or fabrics hanging up, turn your steamer on, keeping a close eye on the water tank. Press the button on your handheld steamer to release the steam. Make sure you move your hand slowly over your clothing so you don’t get a build-up of moisture in one place.

The best way to steam wrinkles out of your fabric products is to use a downward motion with your clothing steamer, as this will help to loosen the creases. Make sure you follow the products’ instructions on how far away your clothing steamer should be from delicate fabrics. It may be helpful to turn the garments inside out when steaming.

5. Take Your Time

Steam cleaners are often much faster than irons as a way to clean your clothes and make them wrinkle-free. However, it’s worth noting that you still have to be patient with each article of clothing. The amount of time you need to spend steaming your clothes will depend on the article of clothing.

The more time you spend steaming your clothes instead of using your iron, the more comfortable you’ll feel. You’ll find one or two ways to steam your clothing that work well for you. You might even discover how to use different nozzle head attachments and support systems to boost the outcomes with different clothing products.

6. Give Plenty of Time to Dry

When you use a clothes steamer, you are applying moisture to your clothes. It’s important to give the products plenty of time to dry before you put them back in your closet or drawers. If you don’t get rid of all the moisture in your clothing, then you might end up with mildew and other issues.

Around five to ten minutes after steaming the garments, your fabrics should be dry. However, check the instructions for each article of clothing. Some fabrics might need longer to dry, particularly if you’ve been working on certain parts with tough wrinkles.

Tips for Using a Clothes Steamer

Using clothing steamers is usually a very straightforward process. As long as you follow your clothes steamers’ instructions and be careful about the products or clothes you steam, you should be fine.

However, if you’re brand-new to using a garment steamer, the following tips might help.

• Mind your distance. Check the instructions on your clothes steamers to see if it’s suitable for the device to touch your clothes. Some handheld steamer products work better when the nozzle is pressed against the wrinkles on the clothes gently. However, this won’t be the case for all steamers.
• Carefully stretch your clothes. When dealing with difficult fabrics like cotton, it’s helpful to gently stretch out your clothes when you’re steaming them. This will help to get rid of difficult wrinkles in certain parts of the garment.
• Use the accessories that comes with it. Some fabric steamers come with extra accessories and tips so you can get more uses out of your products. If you get a brush with your device, you might find that this is useful for any thick fabric or accessories you need to steam.
• Show caution. A garment steamer is usually an easy and safe way to get wrinkles out of your clothes. However, it’s important to follow the instructions provided by your device. Take care not to use too much water with these accessories, and read the information given by the company that made the product.

How Effective is Garment Steamer?

The performance of your garment steamer will depend on numerous things, including what kind of device you buy. There are plenty of different kinds of these accessories on the web today, and most come with a range of capabilities and uses to enjoy.

Most users find that heating water and steaming clothes is much more effective at safely making their garments wrinkle-free than using a steam iron. Garment steamers are easy to use and lightweight. Depending on the size of the water tank, your clothes steamer can tackle a range of garments at once. What’s more, the steamer may even come with things like a fabric brush to help with different kinds of clothing.

If you take care to use the water in your garment steamer correctly and read any article provided by the manufacturer, then you should be able to get the most out of your garment steamer without a problem. Just remember that they may not be a complete replacement for your iron. Your garment steamer won’t be suitable for every fabric.

To get the most out of your garment steamer, make sure that you learn how to use the steam device correctly in advance. Use the hose and nozzle to stretch to the different parts of the garments that you want to cover. Don’t bend over to tackle products on the floor, as this can take a toll on your back and lead to discomfort.

Remember to go slow with your clothes steamer too. The steam needs time to build up a little on the wrinkled sections of clothing so it can remove any creases.

Is a Garment Steamer Better Than an Iron?

This will depend on your personal preferences. Some people would rather use a clothes steamer to steam all of their clothes and forget about the iron entirely. It’s worth noting that a clothes steamer can be a good way to ensure that you keep different kinds of fabrics in good condition without risking damage to things like an article of silk clothing or velvet.

A garment steamer uses hot steam to carefully relax the fibres in your clothing, which helps to eliminate wrinkles and creases at a rapid pace. You’ll often find a lot of these products in clothing stores and behind the scenes at catwalks and runways.

One interesting thing to note about garment steams is that men and women can use them for more than just clothing. Unlike irons which are designed specifically for fabrics, a garment steamer can handle a bunch of cleaning options.

If you need support getting mildew off your shower rod or you want to remove the stains from upholstery, your garment steamer can help. Just make sure that you read the instructions on how to use different steam settings and which nozzle head to use.

Steamers are one of the best ways to support your cleaning strategy around the home. You can remove bacteria from surfaces in the kitchen or bathroom or use your garment steamers to steam clean the upholstery in your car.

Final Thoughts

Now you know how to use a garment steamer, you will never have to worry about wrinkles again. Garment steamers can be used for so much more than just getting your clothes wrinkle-free; from disinfecting your countertops to cleaning your car upholstery, unlike a steam iron, your garment steamer has more than one use.