I used to hate ironing so much that I bought wrinkle release spray, clothes that do not wrinkle, and a steamer that hangs in the bathroom while you shower, which works about as well as you would expect. Then my sister showed up to a family dinner with perfectly crisp clothes, and when I asked if she had ironed, she said she steamed them in ninety seconds flat. I borrowed her steamer, ordered my own that night, and my iron has been in the back of a cupboard ever since.

Why steaming beats ironing for most clothes

An iron presses wrinkles out with heat and pressure, but it also flattens the fabric and risks shiny patches on dark suits and delicate fabrics. A steamer relaxes the fibers with hot steam, so wrinkles fall out without the iron pressing a crease into everything. It is faster for most garments, gentler on the fabric, and nearly impossible to scorch. The only thing I still iron is button down shirt collars and crisp cotton, and even those steam fine if you do not need a military crease.

What I actually do with mine

Hang the garment on a hanger, fill the steamer with water, and let it heat for about a minute. Then run the steam head down the fabric, top to bottom, keeping it a few inches away. The steam does the work, you are not pressing, you are guiding. A wrinkled shirt takes about ninety seconds. A full suit jacket takes three minutes. I steam everything now: shirts, dresses, the curtains that always looked rumpled, even the couch cushions after a nap incident.

What to look for when you buy

Buy the one with a continuous steam feature, where you hold a button and steam flows steadily, not the pump and pause kind. Get a decent sized water tank, refilling mid shirt is annoying. And get one with a hose and a standing unit if you steam a lot, or a handheld if you travel. My first one was a cheap handheld, and it worked fine for two shirts but ran out of water and steam power on a full wardrobe. The upright model was worth the upgrade.

The tricks nobody tells you

Steam from the back of the garment too, it pushes wrinkles out from both sides. Stretch the fabric gently with your free hand as you steam, it helps the wrinkles release. And for stubborn creases, hold the steam head against the fabric for a few seconds, then pull the fabric taut. Do not steam clothes while you are wearing them, the steam is hot and you will learn that lesson exactly once, like I did.

The honest downside

Steamers need a minute to heat up, so they are not faster than an iron for a single shirt grabbed at the last second. And they add humidity to the room, which is fine in winter and annoying in summer. But for the weekly batch of work clothes and anything delicate, it is dramatically faster and safer than ironing.

My iron has not been plugged in in over a year. The steamer lives on a hook in the closet, heats up while I pick a shirt, and has me dressed and out the door without a single ironing board setup. My sister was right, and I have told her so.