Garment Steamer vs Traditional Iron. Which is better for your household?

In the past, when it comes to ironing cloth, the only thing that we would had to worry about would be which type of Iron should we choose. A choice between the dry iron or a steam iron. More recently, garment steamer had come into the discussion mix.

You would think that the garment steamer is a modern innovation. In reality, it had been around since the 1900s. It was not until the 2000s that garment steamer for home started to gain popularity. Since the 2000s, garment steamer market share has risen from a Million Dollars industry (Grandviewresearch.com, 2018) to a Billion Dollars industry (Arizton.com, 2020). Experts had predicted that the garment steamer had not reached saturation point. There are still room to grow. Garment Steamer is continuing to grow in popularity.

As for the Traditional Iron, it had always been a staple household appliance since long time ago. We will not be going into the rabbit hole on the history of the traditional Iron this time round.

Which is better for your household? Garment Steamer or Traditional Iron?

To understand how a Garment Steamer may be better than a Traditional Iron, we would have to look at how Garment Steamer remove wrinkles from your cloth. The Garment Steamer, for example a Tefal Steamer, keep your clothes wrinkle free by turning regular water into steam and then blowing it into wrinkled parts. The steam then loosens the bonds between the fabric molecules. Result is a wrinkles free cloth.

Here is an example of a Tefal Steamer from a Tefal Malaysia authorize distributor webstore.

Steamers work well for fabric that are heat-sensitive, for example, materials like silk, synthetic, cashmere, velvet, etc. However, when it comes to thicker fabric like denim, wool, heavy cotton, and etc; you will have to put in more effort to get the wrinkles out. Traditional Iron is preferred in this case.

Another point to take note is storage. A Garment Steamer come in an upright position, and you can hang your steamer head on its vertical rack when not in use. The space that it takes up minimal.  When it comes to Traditional Iron, you will need to store your Iron and the ironing board separately. Not to mention, when ironing, you will have to unfold the ironing board, taking up more space. If portability or storage is a cause for concern to you, then you will want to choose a Garment Steamer instead.

An added benefit of Garment Steamer is its ability to freshen up cloth. The heated steam from the garment steamer loosens up the fabric. It can kill bacteria, remove odours, allergens, and dust mites. Something that the Traditional Iron cannot achieve but achievable with modern Steam Iron. For example, a Tefal Steam Iron.

Garment Steamer will not damage your cloth, but a Traditional Iron that is not manage properly might damage your clothing. If you are not careful, or there are children around, a hot Iron can be a hazard.

One important thing that a Garment Steamer cannot do is giving your clothes the sharp crisp finish like a Traditional Iron. If that is important to you, then a Traditional Iron may be the better option.

Here is a general comparison chart between a Garment Steamer and the Traditional Iron. The chart is based on the author own experience with both equipment and by no means an international standard.

In summary, the Garment Steamer, and Traditional Iron both get the job done albeit in a different way. The result is better when using a traditional Iron. Tthe ease of use and the extra benefits of the Garment Steamer is something that is very enticing too. Ultimately, it boils down to a choice between result and ease of use. Well, you can always purchase both equipment too. The choice is yours.