I''ll make it simple: If you are looking for a home-edition garment steamer, your top 2 choices in the marketplace will likely be the Jiffy 2000 and the Rowenta 8100.
I tested both for 10 hours; on a 1 to 10 scale:
Jiffy (Looks = 6; Engineering = 10; Handling = 9; Craftsmanship = 10).
It looks like a mop bucket on wheels but it performs like a jet engine; every part of this machine from the plate at the bottom of the unit to the steam handle is built for rugged usage.
Rowenta (Looks = 10; Engineering = 5; Handling = 7; Crafsmanship = 4).
It looks like a UFO but performs like a Pinto with much less steaming power; it is built as a toddler''s toy having most parts made with inexpensive plastic including the watertank base and valve: pull the machine a single foot OR tilt it a mere 1 inch and you will experience a slow-building cascade.
Buy the Rowenta 8100 as a decorative piece to make your closet look good.
Buy the Jiffy 2000 as a garment steamer to make your clothes look good.
After borrowing a friend''s ConAir steamer, and reading numerous reviews, I purchased this Jiffy from Amazon about a month ago. The Jiffy seems to be better-built than the ConAir, and puts out more steam, more consistantly than the model I borrowed.
In the last month, I have steamed everything I can think of in my house, to see how it works. I have been pleased with this product, and here is what I have learned:
1) A steamer is not an iron. While I have read reviews of how you can press creases into clothing, I have not been successful in this (yet). I don''t really care about creases, though, and have not spent much time trying.
2) A steamer is a tool. You have to learn how to use it properly to get good results. Steaming from underneath works better than steaming downward into the right side of the fabric. Just like anyone who uses a hammer a few times is almost certainly going to hammer their finger, you will probably burn yourself while you are learning to use a steamer. When I first started using the steamer, I wanted to steam upwards, like I iron. It was counter-inuitive for me, but it works better to steam downwards.
3) Wrinkles really do fall out of fabrics, but this seems to only happen with synthetic fibers or blends with a high percentage of synthetics. If I had trouble ironing it, it will take some work to steam it. However, I always iron in more wrinkles than I take out, so for natural or difficult fabrics, I do a better job with a steamer. Fabrics that I was afraid to iron (too thin/delicate) steam beautifully.
Now, about the Jiffy J-2000 specifically:
This steamer heats up very quickly, in just two or three minutes. I like to turn it on while I decide what to wear, and by the time I get it all together, it is ready to use. The wattage (1300) is slightly higher than most personal steamer models and makes a big difference in how quickly you can finish a garment.
The steamer is very sturdily built. It uses heavy-duty plastics, and comes with a wrench (magnetically attached underneath the steamer body) to secure the parts tightly. The pole that holds the steamer head and clothing is shorter than I would personally like (and the hose is a little shorter, too) and stands about 5 feet. I could not steam all the way to the top of my curtains, while they were mounted to the wall. The water reservoir does not leak, although when you pull it out, some water does remain in the connection area, but not enough to make a mess.
The list price on amazon for the steamer was 169.99, quite a deal more than most of the other steamers listed on Amazon. I purchased mine with a special 25$ off through Amazon, so paid 145$. I think that it is worth that price. I would not pay this much for the ConAir model that I borrowed. In a year, I may think the Jiffy is worth the Amazon list price.
Buy J-2000 Jiffy Garment Steamer Now
After figuring out that I must be spending in excess of $1000 yearly to have my husband''s oxford shirts cleaned and pressed, I decided to cut my losses and purchase a Jiffy steamer.
I am happy with the purchase, so much so that I routinely steam garments that I would not have ironed in the past (t-shirts especially come out looking store-bought new), and it takes very little time.
I have used the steamer on prom dresses with great success.
I am able to press a knife-edged crease in dress pants of all types of material.
I think the best thing about this appliance is that I feel I am damaging our clothing LESS than if I were using an iron.
Don''t throw away your iron, however! I must still use it to finish off the collars and shoulders of my husband''s work shirts.
Read Best Reviews of J-2000 Jiffy Garment Steamer Here
Just got my steamer after a year+ hiatus since my Rowenta''s plastic head cracked off. WOW, what a difference, for almost the same price! My advice: DO NOT bother with a steamer that has a plastic head. Over time, it will melt, crack, irreparably fall off-->the end for your steamer. There were no replacement parts for my Rowenta, & its ability to remove wrinkles was underwhelming, so I just didn''t bother replacing it. The Jiffy J2000 is easier to use: The tank pulls out & replaces easily, no levers or locks to undo. The tank opening is big, no funnel needed, holds about a gallon. It heats within a minute to steaming. The metal head gets steaming hot, so you essentially have a combination of a hand-held iron and a steamer (the instructions do stress the importance of contact between the head and the fabric for best results). The handle is big and wooden, so its comfortable & cool. The unit itself is easy to roll on casters, not bulky, so it''s easy to use in my very small laundry room. Be aware that if you haven''t used a steamer before, the tubing gets very hot & may burn a little one (or you)--teach kids to stay away as soon as you get this out of the box! You will get billowing clouds of steam, & it WORKS, even on jeans! This is a very quiet unit, too, so you can steam while the kids sleep or do homework, Dad watches TV, etc. And if you want to hold your hanging garment by a corner to keep it steady or straighten it while steaming, I would strongly suggest an oven mitt, or just using a metal or wood tong to keep your hand out of the way entirely. That''s the voice of experience, having scalded my fingers a few times! DON''T touch the hot steam head & keep it & the hose away from your anatomy. No attachments come with this steamer. The instruction book shows several attachments that can be ordered thru the Jiffy website to make this a steam cleaner (bathroom, floors, etc), hat steamer, etc, as well as a garment steamer. An extended 3 YEAR warranty is also offered on top of the 1 year warranty, for $34.99 on [..]. Can''t beat this deal!
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Speed through ironing and remove all wrinkles in record time. A waste of money? You don''t need an ironing board or an iron and you''ll save a lot of time and will not damage your clothes. I bought this because ironing is tough to do unless you have a lot of patience and experience. No more shiny pants from too hot ironing. In fact it''s fun to use.
Now my confession. I took a $2000 pair of drapes, and put them in the washer (cold cycle) and then the drier (for linens). Duh! I did it because they were yellow from smoke and if I was going to spend hundreds, I would spend another $2000 if the experiment didn''t work. Hadn''t had them cleaned in five years. The drapes were clean as a whistle, but wrinkled like a prune. The Jiffy Steamer dewringled them in 20 minutes flat after they were rehung.
The unit arrived with a broken caster. One phone call to customer service and a new one arrived in three days, and they didn''t ask for the serial or model number.
Wait! There''s more. I have a DeLonghi Steam Cleaner (I give it four stars), but I decided to use the garment steamer to remove grease from my George Foreman grill. That''s because the garment cleaner head is hotter than hell on contact. It cleaned the grill fast! Encouraged, I used it to steam grease out of the oven. Worked fast! Then I used it to remove grease and old food from the rubber matts that line the sinks. Within a few seconds it actually boiled the residual water that lay in the sink! I took a tea bag and made tea with the boiled! OK. Now I''m lying.
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