Conair GS16R Deluxe Hand Held Fabric Steamer

by SuzyQ
(Glen Allen, VA)

Conair GS16R

I got this compact clothes steamer as a gift. Since I used to do a lot of traveling, my parents gave this to me, thinking it would be a useful item to pack on my trips. Well, it might be for some people, but not for me, especially when most hotel and motel rooms come equipped with irons and ironing boards.

This little steamer does what it is supposed to do. It steams. But it does not do anything beyond that. Despite its 1,000 watts, the amount of steam isn't powerful enough and the reservoir doesn't hold enough water to keep it going for very long. Trying to get wrinkles out of a garment by using this appliance is useless. I was more successful in hanging up my clothes in the bathroom and leaving them there while I showered. It also took less time to set up the ironing board and iron the wrinkles out.

The steamer's design allows it to be used vertically (as a steamer) or horizontally (as an iron), but perhaps that is the problem. It does neither task well.

The bottom line is this is not a quality product and does not do a good job. I supposed it might work for some men who are ironing board-challenged and who don't care if they look a bit rumpled. But for me, I found this product to be a cheap tool that barely did any good on my clothes.

The bright spot is that it was able to steam wrinkles out of my very lightweight summer kitchen curtains, although it took a very long time as I ran the up and down the fabric.

This Conair unit comes with a fabric lint brush, which didn't seem to work very well, either.

The unit retails for about $40 but I've seen it as low as $19.99. I would suggest saving your money at any price, since this steamer seems more like a toy than a serious appliance.