I gave away my iron and started writing a novel after buying this Philips clothes steamer
What started as a way to deal with my son's daily work shirts ended with me ditching my iron altogether – and finding enough spare time to start writing a novel
A clothes steamer is something I'd never even contemplated buying until recently, because I've always thought I enjoyed ironing. Unlike so many other household chores, there's something almost meditative about it – a basket of freshly washed laundry, the living room to myself, something soothing on Netflix, and occasionally even a compensatory glass of wine within reach. It's the one domestic task I've never really minded.
Or at least that's how things were, until one of my sons started needing a freshly pressed shirt every single day for his shift on the reception desk of a busy seaside hotel. Overnight, my calm little ironing ritual turned into something stressful: last-minute shirt emergencies, daily lessons in ironing, and repetitive lectures on the importance of getting your clothes ready before you're due to be at work.
I decided there must be an easier way and ordered a handheld clothes steamer after I spotted one in an early Amazon Prime Day deal. Reader, it changed my life. I went for the Philips Handheld Steamer 3000 Series, a compact handheld garment steamer designed to remove creases without needing an ironing board. I'd hoped it might save us a few minutes before work each morning, but it ended up replacing my iron altogether.
I haven't touched the iron since the clothes steamer arrived. Turns out it hasn't just solved my son's problem – it has given me back the gift of free time – something I'd almost forgotten existed. I'm now genuinely considering dropping my iron into my local charity shop.
What surprised me most wasn't how well it removed creases (although it does that impressively well – see before and after pics of a linen pillowcase below) but how quickly it slotted into everyday life. It takes two seconds to fill the detachable water tank, which holds 100ml or enough to steam a single outfit, so you can literally go from creased to presentable in less time than it would take me to wrestle my ironing board into place and heat up the iron.
Even a linen pillowcase, which had ended up crumpled in the bottom of the laundry basket, was de-wrinkled in minutes with a blast of the Philips steamer.
I didn’t fully appreciate, in the clothes steamer vs iron debate, just how much of my mental load is consumed by ironing compared to steaming. There's wrestling with the ironing board, waiting for the iron to heat up, plus the constant repositioning of the iron around fiddly buttons and cuffs. Not to mention the sense that you still have a mountain to climb every time you glance at how much laundry is left in the basket.
A handheld steamer puts an end to all of that – you just hang up the garment, run the steamer over it, and carry on with your day. There's no big setup involved, and you don't have to psyche yourself up for the task.
Admittedly, there's also no reason to decamp to the living room anymore for an evening in charge of the remote control. But the knock-on effect has been unexpectedly liberating: those pockets of time that used to. get swallowed whole by the ironing pile are now mine to use as I wish. I'm sure it's no coincidence that I recently started working on my novel again. Is this the best clothes steamer money can buy? I've no idea, but thanks to my impulsive clothes steamer purchase, working on a creative project no longer feels like something I'll never get around to. Now, it's just something I find myself with time and headspace to pick back up.
Perhaps that’s the real question, if you're contemplating buying a clothes steamer – not whether you enjoy ironing or find it meditative. But if swapping your iron for a handheld steamer suddenly freed up time in your week, what might you choose to do with it instead?
Best of all, steaming is so simple, especially compared to ironing a shirt, that my son can take over shirt duty himself now. See? A clothes steamer really did turn out to be one of the best things I've ever bought.
Clothes steamer accessories
A heat-resistant steaming glove is my next purchase – this one has layered protection and a large surface (29 x 17.5 cm) to safely protect your hand when you're using a handheld garment steamer.
A steam pad is so much quicker than setting up an ironing board, plus it takes up much less space and rolls neatly away after use. This one is suitable for both steaming and ironing, and is made with Vapour Tex technology for efficient crease removal. It comes with three hanger hooks so you can steam clean clothes vertically with ease.
This is clever – it's a foldable steam board which is basically a firm, double-sided surface with a 360° rotating hook, so you can apply gentle pressure for faster, more effective steaming on everything from cuffs to tricky collars.
