Looking for a clothing handheld steamer, one finds there are many general reviews, but few on specific models. Maybe this review might help you with your decision.

There are some clothing items that just can’t be ironed on a flat surface due to their shape or material. It may be shirts, shirt collars, dresses etc. Also on occasion some wrinkles may appear while the item is put away and some steaming is required just to make it presentable before putting it on.

After some research I found the device that had the properties I wanted and was price-performance, Philips 7000 series.

Pros:

• easy to use
• comes with 2 water cups with volumes 1 dl and 2 dl
• Effective, relatively quick
• 2 steam settings; steam and eco – the latter lets out about half less steam, it’s effective (I mostly use this setting)
• comes with a heat protective glove, which is very useful when you have to hold the garment in place to properly steam it. Caution: if you don’t use the glove, you can quickly get burnt!
• Very useful for refreshing the clothes – those that have been worn once or twice, are not dirty, but are not appropriate to be put back in the closet. With the steamer, refreshing such clothes without having to wash them too often is easy, thus prolonging their usability, the washing machine and save water, energy and pollute less with microplastic or chemicals by fewer washing cycles.
• Has a self-cleaning setting for limescale removal, which is very useful and important to prolong the usability of the device, specially in areas with hard water
• the design, it looks very nice
• for touch ups, whether before wearing the items, or before putting them away
• very useful for refreshing the outerwear which cannot be washed (as often) in the washing machine. It cleans the items on micro level and removes wrinkles, double effect!
• Could be used instead of a flat iron in case you live in a small space and don’t have room for an ironing board. It can’t be used to iron, for example, table cloths or other larger home textiles, just for clothing for a more put together look.

Cons:

• quite large, too large to pack for travelling (note, I wasn’t looking for a travel size in the first place, I don’t mind the size as I only use it at home)
• not heavy, but also not very light
• takes some time to cool off, about an hour, you need the space to place it somewhere safely for it to cool down
• yet another device that requires resources, energy, money, takes up space in our home and, in the end, inevitably becomes trash
• only for local ironing, or for one or two entire pieces. If you wish to iron several entire items, you must refill the water tank in between

I am pleased with this device and use it on a weekly basis. Either to touch up some items before wearing them or putting them away or to refresh some worn clothes to extend their use between washing cycles and thus their usability as mentioned above.

Would I recommend it? Only if you need it for any of the reasons listed above or any other logical reasons of your own. It’s very useful, but not for everything. There are many options out there, define your needs, do your research and you should find something that fits your needs perfectly.

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