The 3 Best Clothing Steamers of 2023

We’ve reviewed this guide and continue to stand by our picks.

If pulling out the iron feels like a slog or you want to give your hand-washed delicates a professional finish, a wrinkle-busting steamer can polish your look in minutes. And because they smooth without scorching, steamers are better for delicates like silk and wool. We’ve tested dozens of steamers since 2016, and our current favorite is the Conair Turbo ExtremeSteam Garment Steamer. Its powerful blasts of steam, comfortable grip, and smart features make it the one we grab over and over.

This steamer melted wrinkles without spitting water on our fabrics—rare among the models we tested. It's also comfortable to hold and has exceptional features, like an aluminum steamer plate and dual steam settings.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $68.

Like most of the midsize handheld steamers we tested, the Conair Turbo ExtremeSteam Garment Steamer (GS54) produced ample steam for the job, and it was easier to hold and more thoughtfully designed than the competition. It was also one of the only handheld steamers that didn't leave wet spots on test fabrics. The Conair Turbo steamer weighs just under 2.75 pounds with a full water tank (other midsize steamers we tested weighed between 2.5 and 5 pounds), making it among the lightest and most comfortable to maneuver. The heat-up aluminum steamer plate glides over fabric, helping to smooth wrinkles nearly as effectively as a traditional iron. It also comes with several accessories, including a silicone band attachment for pulling fabrics taut, a mesh bonnet for protecting extra-delicate items, and a bristle brush for loosening fibers to allow for better steam penetration. Plus, with two settings, the Conair Turbo steamer was one of the only models we tested that allowed us to control the heat and force of the steam: We used the "steam" setting for smoothing delicate silks, while the more powerful "turbo" setting was effective for tackling heavier cotton shirts. It has a one-year limited warranty.

There are some real clunkers in the world of small travel steamers. But this one is better built and more efficient than others we tried—it even outperformed some of the pricier midsize competitors.

If you want a steamer on hand to occasionally freshen up a suit or a delicate top or to pack in your suitcase, you probably don't need anything fancier than the Conair CompleteSteam Hand Held Fabric Steamer (GS2). It's less than half the price of the Conair Turbo ExtremeSteam Garment Steamer, and it was more effective at smoothing wrinkles than any other steamer we tried in its price range (most of which were junky). It was also one of the only steamers of this size (often called "portable" or "travel" steamers) we tested that didn't pour water out of the spout when tipped over. It has a relatively small water tank (5 ounces; the portables we tried ranged from 5 to 8 ounces), and it did spit some water when in use, but it left fewer wet spots on clothes than the other portables we tried. If you think you’ll use a steamer regularly, invest in the well-made Conair Turbo ExtremeSteam, but if you just need to smooth a wrinkle now and then—at home or while traveling—the Conair CompleteSteam fabric steamer is a solid choice. It has a one-year limited warranty, which is typical for small, inexpensive steamers.

This floor-standing steamer was more pleasant to use than the other big steamers we tried. It has smooth bursts of steam, a comfortable handle, and the biggest water tank of those we tested.

If you do a lot of steaming, or if you’d rather skip hefting a heavy handheld steamer, the Reliable Vivio 500 GC Professional Garment Steamer is a pleasure to use. It's nearly 6 feet tall, with a base about the size of a canister vacuum; despite its cumbersome size, it was our favorite steamer to use in testing. The tank holds a gallon of water (the most of any steamer we tried), it heats up quickly, and its steam head was much more comfortable for extended use than the handheld steamers that we tested. Be careful rolling the Vivio across the floor when the tank is full—it can splash water. This steamer comes with a three-year limited warranty, which was average for the ones we tested.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $68.

This floor-standing steamer was more pleasant to use than the other big steamers we tried. It has smooth bursts of steam, a comfortable handle, and the biggest water tank of those we tested.

Wirecutter senior staff writer Jackie Reeve has spent the majority of her waking life working with textiles, and that means dealing with wrinkles. She has written our guides to cotton sheets, flannel sheets, bed blankets, throw blankets, pajamas, robes, bath towels, and duvet covers, among others. In the course of doing the research for those pieces, she has done so much laundry that she must hold the company record by now. Jackie also wrote our guides to irons and ironing boards. For this guide she also built on the research of Camille Perri and Tim Heffernan.

Zoe Vanderweide is a Wirecutter staff writer covering style, so she's constantly wearing, washing, styling and generally fussing over clothes. At any given time, she has between 30 and 40 garments in her testing queue to keep clean and wrinkle-free. In her off-hours, she's also a type-A neatnik who considers a marathon garment-steaming session the ideal way to spend an evening in.

If you own a lot of delicate fabrics, or if you just need to freshen up the occasional piece of clothing or linen, a steamer will be a solid addition to your laundry arsenal, and it might even be a replacement for an iron. Over time, a steamer can also save you money normally spent at the dry cleaner. If you choose to hand-wash your delicate items at home (we have guidelines on what can and can't skip the dry cleaner), a steamer can smooth out wrinkles and help everything look professionally cleaned and pressed. Steamers generally heat up in a couple of minutes, and the top ones we’ve tested melt away wrinkles with very little effort. They work best—and fastest—on thinner fabrics like silk and polyester, which you probably don't want to iron anyway for fear of scorching them. Steamers are also a convenient way to smooth wrinkled curtains or drapes without having to take them down. We tested three basic types of steamers for this guide: midsize handheld models, which look like small dumbbells and are a good choice if you steam semi-regularly; small portable models (shaped like a pitcher), which hold a few ounces of water and are best for light use; and full-size, floor-standing models (similar in size to a vacuum cleaner), which have a rod to hang your garments on and the biggest tanks, so you can steam for long stretches without refilling.

Don't rely on a steamer to create sharp pleats or creases, or to flatten seams. Some we tried came with special tools for that purpose, but they were time-consuming and fiddly, and they made us wonder why we hadn't just gotten out the iron. In testing we also found that steamers were less effective than irons on stubborn folds and wrinkles, particularly on the hems of heavily creased shirts, jeans, and cotton sheets. If you wash and dry dress shirts—or any button-down shirts—at home, an iron is a better tool for keeping them crisp. A steamer can be helpful if you want to avoid storing a big ironing board in a small apartment, but that's only realistic if your laundry isn't that wrinkled. (We recommend options for small-space living in our ironing boards guide.)

We used these criteria to find the best steamers:

Good power: The steamers with the strongest bursts of hot steam flattened wrinkles the fastest. We wanted to be able to steam an outfit in minutes and get out the door.

No water marks: A water stain can ruin a delicate, expensive fabric, and dribbling water can also be a safety hazard with a plugged-in appliance. We looked for steamers that didn't drip, spit, or leak.

Big water tanks: The bigger the tank, the longer you can use your steamer before having to refill it. We looked at three different size categories and prioritized roomy water tanks for all of them.

Comfortable: Midsize handheld steamers can be especially top-heavy and awkward to hold. Since steaming involves a fair amount of arm lifting, we looked for steamers that were comfortable enough to use for several minutes at a time. We also favored steamers that could be used both vertically and horizontally, for people who are more comfortable using a steamer on a flat surface. And we looked for longer cords, which are helpful if you’re tall, or if your outlets aren't in a convenient spot.

Warranty: Over the years, we’ve learned that irons and steamers can break easily. For one person, a steamer might last for years, and for someone else, the same model might conk out after two months. We considered only models with solid warranties, in case they give up the ghost too soon.

In addition to applying our deep knowledge of steamers (gained from a long history of testing them), we considered opinions from The Strategist and Good Housekeeping, and checked star ratings on Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, and other retailers to compile a list of 28 candidates. We narrowed the list by reading user reviews from those same retailers, checking for things like customer service concerns and for reports of steamers that didn't last long, and we looked at each steamer's specifications—warranty, water-tank size, and useful features. We included well-reviewed steamers, favored brands that have proved to be reliable in the past, and covered household names that are easy to find. In the end, we decided to test 17 steamers in three categories: portable, handheld (aka midsize), and floor-standing.

We tried each steamer with a variety of materials, including cotton sheets, button-down shirts, and silks, noting which models met the above criteria. We used them vertically (on clothes hung from hangers) and horizontally (spread out on an ironing board), and we measured the length of the steamers’ extension cords and the size of their water tanks.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $68.

They say the devil is in the details, but with the Conair Turbo ExtremeSteam Garment Steamer, the details were downright heavenly. The Conair Turbo steamer checked every box on our list: It was effective on wrinkles, didn't leave wet spots on test fabrics, and felt comfortable to hold. It heated up in under a minute and provided more than 15 minutes of continuous steam, and we found its long, 10-foot cord convenient. But the smart details—like the aluminum-quilted steam plate and the two steam settings—pushed the Conair Turbo steamer above its competitors to make steaming an enjoyable chore.

The bursts of steam from the Conair Turbo steamer smoothed out a silk dress in seconds and a rumpled cotton pillowcase in under a minute. Several steamers we’ve considered have multiple holes for the steam to escape, but the Conair Turbo has a thin, long slit, which results in a more targeted sheet of steam. It took more wrinkles out of crumpled button-down shirts than the other handheld steamers we tested (although the most stubborn wrinkles, on the sleeves and the bottom hems, still needed an iron). Also, many steamers we tested spit droplets of water along with the steam, leaving wet marks on test fabrics. The Conair Turbo steamer didn't; out of eight handheld steamers we tried, only the Conair Turbo and the (now discontinued) Sunbeam Power Steam Fabric Steamer left clothes completely dry.

Handheld (aka midsize) steamers can be uncomfortable to use after a few minutes—of the three steamer types we tested, they were the heaviest to hold. The Conair Turbo is among the lightest and most comfortable handheld models, for both vertical and horizontal use. It weighs about 2.75 pounds with a full tank (the handhelds we tested ranged from 2.5 to 5 pounds), so while it can still feel heavy after prolonged use, it's lighter than most in its category. It wasn't as comfortable to use as the floor-standing Reliable Vivio 500 GC Professional Garment Steamer, but it's about a quarter of the price and far, far easier to store.

Its 7.3-ounce water tank is one of the smaller water tanks among our handheld test group. Nevertheless, in testing it produced more than 15 minutes of continuous steam, and we were able to smooth a dress, a jacket, a pair of slacks, and three heavily wrinkled cotton button-downs with water left to spare. The Conair Turbo steamer's water tank is also easy to remove and replace—simply slide up the release switch to unlock the tank, then click it back into place—which is handy if you do need to refill it in the middle of a big job. And it stands up on its own, meaning it can be filled while resting on the counter.

The Conair Turbo steamer has a heat-up aluminum head that glides smoothly and helps to push steam into the fabric's fibers (similar to what an iron does). This feature was enormously helpful for unwrinkling heavier fabrics, especially when used horizontally against a flat surface. It also comes with several snap-on attachments, including a lint brush and a bristle brush, a silicone bar for pulling fabrics taut, and a mesh bonnet to protect your most delicate textiles. But for quickly removing heavy wrinkles, this steamer performs best all on its own. The Conair Turbo steamer also gave us more control over the amount of steam than most other handheld steamers, with two settings: "steam," for freshening up lighter items, and "turbo," for blasting the wrinkles out of weightier fabrics.

The relatively small water tank means that the Conair steamer weighs less than the competition when full, but it also means you’ll need to refill it if you’re doing a lot of steaming. Because of the tank's small opening, it was also challenging to fill from a gallon-jug of distilled water. (This is pretty common with handheld steamers, and can be easily remedied by using a funnel.) The small opening also means it takes a long time for the tank to dry fully after use. And we found the built-in creaser tool fiddly and awkward to use. If you want to make sharp pleats, use an iron.

Portable (aka travel-size) steamers are not the most impressive examples of modern engineering—most of them leak, and they’re not that powerful—but the Conair CompleteSteam Hand Held Fabric Steamer (GS2) is the best one we’ve found, and it even outperformed some bigger, pricier models. If you need to use a steamer only occasionally, for an outfit or for a trip, the small Conair is effective, affordable, and lightweight.

In our testing the Conair Complete not only beat all of the cheap portable steamers, it also was easier to fill and left fewer wet marks on clothes than midsize handhelds from Rowenta and Black+Decker. The Conair Complete didn't produce as much steam as our main pick, the Conair Turbo ExtremeSteam, so it needed more passes over the fabric to flatten wrinkles, and it wasn't as effective on tough creases—but it's also less than half the price. The Conair Complete is just right for light jobs and travel, and it's more comfortable to use than a heavier midsized steamer if you don't have much to steam. It did leave some water spots when used too close to fabrics. But the Conair Complete was also one of only two small steamers (the discontinued Deneve was the other) we tried that can be used horizontally; it dribbled only a few droplets, which was a win compared with others that poured water everywhere.

The Conair Complete (like most of the five portable steamers we tried) looks like a small watering can, and it weighs about 2.5 pounds when full. It was the heaviest of the portable steamers we tested, yet it has one of the smallest water tanks. Empty it's just over 2 pounds, and the tank holds 5 ounces of water. By comparison, the Hilife Steamer weighs 1.5 pounds when empty and has an 8-ounce water tank. You can steam two, maybe three, outfits with the Conair Complete before you’ll need to refill. Conair's one-year warranty is comparable to those of most of the other inexpensive portable steamers we considered. The price and quality of portable steamers indicate to us that these are not meant to last forever.

This floor-standing steamer was more pleasant to use than the other big steamers we tried. It has smooth bursts of steam, a comfortable handle, and the biggest water tank of those we tested.

If you have a lot of steaming to do (like helping a wedding party get dressed or tackling a mountain of laundry), if you prefer to steam clothes spread out on a table or bed instead of hanging upright, or if you don't find heavy handheld steamers comfortable to use, the floor-standing Reliable Vivio 500 GC Professional Garment Steamer is a solid alternative that left its four competitors in the dust. A flexible hose makes this steamer the most comfortable of our picks to use. It releases a steady, effective flow of steam; it's smartly designed; and its 1-gallon tank was still steaming long after we ran out of fabric to smooth. It does, however, cost nearly four times as much as the Conair Turbo ExtremeSteam.

For big jobs, the handheld Conair Turbo steamer will build up your biceps but test your patience; the Reliable Vivio, on the other hand, has a lightweight hose (like all floor-standing steamers) that was more flexible than others we tried and easier to glide across fabrics. (It's like using a vacuum-cleaner hose.) This also made the Reliable the best of our steamer picks for steaming horizontally, if that's what you prefer. It was as effective as other full-size steamers at smoothing wrinkles (and also similar to the handheld Conair Turbo in this regard), but it was the only one that didn't spit any water.

All floor-standing steamers have an attached pole to hold the steamer head and a garment. The Reliable Vivio comes with its own hanger, which keeps your clothes steadier while you steam than models like the Pure Steam and the Jiffy, neither of which included one. The Reliable's design sets it apart, but it did require more setup than other floor-standing steamers we tested—we had to get out a screwdriver. Another standing steamer we tried, the Pure Enrichment, also came with a snap-on hanger, but it was harder to move around (an important consideration when you’re trying to steam the front and back of a shirt).

Like those of all floor-standing steamers we tried, the Reliable's removable tank was easy to fill, with a screw-on cap and a wide opening that fit under a faucet. It held more water (a gallon) than any other steamer we tested, but it still heated up in about two minutes. You don't have to empty the tank after each use, so once it's set up, it's a breeze to wheel out and start using. The Reliable's wheels were better on hardwood floors than those of any other full-size steamer we tried, but be careful when storing the steamer or moving it around. If the base tips backward, some water will dribble out of the tank. Leaking is a common issue, and the Reliable wasn't the worst offender during testing. It comes with a three-year limited warranty.

Our former top pick, the Sunbeam Power Steam Fabric Steamer, was discontinued. If you can get your hands on one, we still think it's an excellent steamer.

The Black+Decker 2-in-1 Steam & Iron Handheld Steamer & Press Plate (HGS312) (now unavailable) was the best of the three Black+Decker steamers we tried, and it performed about as well as the Conair Turbo and the now-discontinued Sunbeam steamer. Like the Conair Turbo, the Black+Decker has a heat-up steam head, but in our tests it wasn't very effective. Other small details, like a tricky-to-use on-off button, prompted us to move it lower on our list.

The Reliable Dash 100GH Hand-Held Garment Steamer (now unavailable) and the Beautural 1200-Watt Steamer for Clothes turned out to be identical steamers in every way except their names. They both smoothed wrinkles on thin silk but struggled with thicker cotton, and they spit some water onto fabrics.

The Rowenta DR8080 Powerful Handheld Garment and Fabric Steamer (now unavailable) is about as heavy as the Sunbeam, but its 6.5-ounce water tank is almost half the size. In our tests, it wasn't as easy to fill, and it leaked.

The Black+Decker Advanced Handheld Steamer (HGS200) was a dud. We had to push the power button several times to get it to work, and it was the slowest steamer to heat up in our testing. It also didn't produce much steam, and it made strange—even alarming—noises, so we unplugged it after just a few minutes. It did have the largest water tank (13.5 ounces) of any handheld we tried, though.

We pulled our former top pick, the Joy Mangano My Little Steamer, after reports of a lawsuit related to claims of severe steam burns. In past years we’ve also tested and dismissed the Jiffy Esteam Travel Steamer, the Steamfast SF-435 Compact Fabric Steamer, and the Shark Press & Refresh Garment Care System (GS500) (now unavailable).

The PAX Steamer For Clothes, Travel and Home and the iSteam Steamer for Clothes (both unavailable) turned out to be the exact same steamer, just branded differently. There's no barrier between the water tank and the steam holes in either one, so if you tip them over, the water will pour right out. In fact, with both we found that the slightest bump sloshed water onto our fabric. This makes horizontal steaming impossible and vertical steaming unpleasant, and it felt like a safety hazard.

The Hilife Steamer for Clothes had the same problems as the PAX and the iSteam steamers. It leaked water, couldn't be used horizontally, and didn't get very hot.

The Deneve Portable Garment Steamer was discontinued and became unavailable while we were retesting it in 2019. It was still an outstanding performer, if you happen to find one.

In previous years we also tested and dismissed the Conair Travel Smart, the Pure Enrichment PureSteam Portable Fabric Steamer, and the Joy Mangano My Little Steamer Go Mini.

The Pure Enrichment Pure Steam XL Standing Steamer was the least expensive full-size steamer we tried. Although it has some nice details, overall you get what you pay for. It spit on our test fabrics, and it wasn't as powerful as the Reliable Vivio 500 GC. It also had the smallest water tank of the bunch. The clip-on hanger kept garments still, but it was fussy to unclip and turn around to steam the garment's other side.

Our former floor-standing pick, the J-2000 Jiffy Garment Steamer, has a simple design, and it emitted strong steam, but it was the worst offender in our testing when it came to water leaks from the tank. When we tried to roll the Jiffy's stiff wheels across the floor, water poured out of the base, covering the cord and plug. We had to halt testing this steamer until it was dry enough to plug in, and it leaked again when we moved it after testing.

The PurSteam Full Size Garment Fabric Steamer was the only other steamer we tried (aside from the Sunbeam) that had a dial to control the force of the steam. This is a nice feature, but the steamer leaked on all the test fabrics. The hose was also stiff to use, until the steam loosened it up after several minutes.

In previous years we tested and dismissed several steamers, some of which are now unavailable: the Rowenta IS6200 Compact Valet and the Rowenta IS6300 Master Valet Full Size Garment Steamer (which are virtually identical to each other), the Steamfast SF-510 Fabric Steamer, the Sunbeam S1500 Classic Garment Steamer and the nearly identical Singer SteamWorks Pro, and the Conair Ultimate Fabric Steamer (GS28).

This article was edited by Catherine Kast and Jennifer Hunter.

Editors, The Best Clothes Steamers on Amazon, According to Hyperenthusiastic Reviews, The Strategist, May 10, 2019

Sarah Bogden, These Are the 10 Best Garment Steamers to Buy, Good Housekeeping, December 7, 2018

Jackie Reeve

Jackie Reeve is a senior staff writer covering bedding, organization, and home goods at Wirecutter since 2015. Previously she was a school librarian, and she's been a quilter for about 15 years. Her quilt patterns and her other written work have appeared in various publications. She moderates Wirecutter's staff book club and makes her bed every morning.

Zoe Vanderweide

Zoe Vanderweide is a staff writer reporting on style and accessories at Wirecutter. She has been wearing things for over three decades, and she has spent years covering streetwear, luxury, art, and design. Off the clock, you can find her painting the town rainbow with her (devastatingly stylish) daughter.

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