![]() The Conair Turbo Extreme Steam is a powerful, reliable steamer that can stand up to nearly any steaming task you throw at it. Size: Handheld | Power: 1,875 watts | Capacity: 7.3 ounces Another suggestion from Marilee Nelson, a nontoxic consultant and co-founder of Branch Basics, is to fill the tank with a half-and-half mixture of water and an inexpensive, high-proof vodka: the alcohol will “remove allergens, body odor, and even smoke and perfume picked up on clothes.” The right mineral levels “allow the water to get beyond boiling,” he says - the same rationale as adding salt to pasta water - which makes for a hotter, more effective steam. Filling the tank with distilled water will prevent spitting if you want to get even more precise, Patric Richardson, host of The Laundry Guy, recommends using spring water, which contains some minerals but less than tap water. Mineral buildup will “eject this gross white grainy sand, and if you iron it into your clothes, now it’s stained,” warns Pozniak. Several of the experts we spoke to also shared tricks for avoiding a buildup of the minerals naturally found in tap water, which “makes a lot of steamers spit and behave poorly,” per Freer. (It’s the style I used to steam entire racks of theater costumes at my college costume-shop job.) If you’re regularly taking on long steaming sessions, consider a freestanding steamer, which has a higher-capacity tank and is found in “every department store and every studio,” according to costume designer Alison Freer. Most handheld options on this list have a tank capacity of between four and eight ounces of water, which provides about ten to 15 minutes of continuous steam, an output the experts we spoke to agreed was sufficient for home use. The water capacity of a steamer is an industrial-design balancing act: too small and you’ll be running back to the sink to refill it before you finish steaming a single shirt too large and the appliance will be heavy and unwieldy when full.
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