Product Review: Amazon Travel Steamers
When I travel, 99% of the time I only bring a carry-on, so my clothes usually get wrinkled from packing them so tight - which is why a travel steamer is one of my absolute essentials when I pack! I recently decided to upgrade from my previous travel steamer (I had the CHI travel steamer, and it was NOT great), so I tried 3 different travel steamers and there was one clear winner.
Overall winner: the Newbealer handheld steamer
This steamer was by far the best one out of all the ones I tried! It has a large ceramic steaming surface, so it gets out wrinkles SUPER fast - I was so pleasantly surprised at how well it worked, especially on my more difficult pieces that I would normally need an iron for (Donny’s linen blazer, my linen pants, etc.) It was faster and more effective than all the other steamers I tried, and it comes with a ton of useful accessories, including a steaming mitt, a heat-resistant resting pad, an extra water tank, and an attachment for more delicate fabrics.
The primary cons were that it was one of the larger options and its cord wasn’t as long as some of the other ones, but because it was so much faster and better at getting out wrinkles I decided it was worth it for me.
PROS:
Easy to pack
Large water tank (and comes with an extra!)
Comes with lots of very useful accessories! (Steaming mitt, silicone resting pad, and delicate fabric attachment)
Has 2 steaming levels
Can be used vertically or horizontally like an iron
CONS:
Slightly larger than other travel steamers
Power cord is a little shorter than the other travel steamers I tried
Below I’ve included a picture of it next to a 20oz stainless steel water bottle for reference.
Runner Up: the Newbealer Foldable Travel Steamer
This steamer was a close runner-up (and it’s by the same brand on Amazon, so it seems like overall this brand makes great steamers). It is foldable, so it’s slightly more compact, and if you’re not steaming any heavy-duty fabrics like linen, it’s perfectly effective at getting out wrinkles.
The reason I didn’t end up going with this one is because I do frequently need to steam more heavy-duty fabrics, and the steaming mitt it came with was basically useless.
PROS:
Compact and foldable
Long cord
Large water tank
CONS:
Comes with a steaming mitt, but it’s clunky and not very useful
Says it can be used horizontally, but it didn’t work very well for me that way
Not as effective getting out wrinkles in thicker fabrics (linen, tweed, etc.)
Travel Steamers I tried but dON’T recommend:
Seekclass foldable travel steamer
I had high hopes for this one because it was the most compact and it was the cheapest option, but you get what you pay for. As soon as I turned it on, it started spitting hot water everywhere and I actually burned my hand a little bit.
Chi Travel Steamer
I love my CHI flat iron and hoped this steamer would be just as high-quality, but it’s really not well-designed. The water tank is hard to fill, and it doesn’t put out a lot of steam - you also have to keep the steam button held down the entire time you use it which is super annoying.