We Tried The Most Popular Clothing Steamer At Bed Bath & Beyond. Here's How It Went

Move over, bulky ironing board and iron: There's a new way to remove wrinkles from clothes. Many people nowadays use a handheld steamer to quickly smooth out fabrics, and it's easy to see why. Conventional wisdom states that steamers have a few added benefits over irons: They're more compact, easier to store, and typically faster to use. Additionally, they can kill bacteria on things like your mattress and furniture. However, they also have their disadvantages. For instance, they may not do a perfect job for every fabric and are usually not ideal for creating creases.

After reading about these advantages and disadvantages, we wanted to try one out for ourselves. While Bed Bath & Beyond has quite the selection of both handheld and full-sized models, we decided upon the most popular handheld one: The Conair Turbo ExtremeSteam GS54 Garment Steamer. Typically retailing for $64.99, we purchased this model with a 20% off coupon for $51.99, and because it cost more than $39, the shipping was free. However, is this popular steamer worth the money? 

According to Bed Bath & Beyond, this steamer should easily remove wrinkles from fabrics faster than ironing. Additionally, it claims to create 50% more steam and be 50% hotter than other handheld models while also being 67% faster. And it should do more than remove wrinkles; with temperatures reaching 175 to 212 degrees Fahrenheit, this device should kill almost all the bacteria when used in one area for three minutes. With 440 reviews, this product has 4.2 stars, and 84% of people would recommend it to someone else. Positive reviews said it felt sturdy, did the job, and made steaming extra fast. However, others complained that it didn't remove all the wrinkles, took longer than expected, and sports a small water tank.

The Conair comes with quite a few extra functions. It has four attachments: a silicone brush to make the fabric taut, a bristle brush to speed up the process, a lint brush to remove any loose fuzz or hairs, and a bonnet to help protect delicate fabrics. It also has a built-in creaser at the top and two different settings: the regular steam setting and the turbo option, which provides extra steam.

According to Home Depot, steamers can be used on cotton, silk, wool, and polyester fabrics but should not be used on leather, swede, or plastic-like materials. To see how the steamer would perform on multiple fabrics, we steamed three items: a cotton t-shirt, a mulberry silk pillowcase, and pants made from a blend of shell, cotton, and polyester. To test each attachment, we used the silicone band and bristle brush on the t-shirt, the bonnet on the delicate pillowcase, and the lint brush on the pants. We also attempted to create a crease in the pants using the creaser. Finally, each item was hung on the shower curtain from clothes hangers (the pillowcase and pants were attached to the hangers with safety pins).

Because the cotton was only slightly wrinkled, we expected the creases to come out without using the turbo setting. We also hoped that the deep wrinkles in the pillowcase would come out even with the bonnet attachment on. The pants also had a few pieces of lint stuck to them, which we hoped would come off thanks to the lint brush attachment.

One of the most common complaints about many handheld steamers is that they splatter or drip hot water, which can lead to damaged clothes or serious burns. However, this never happened while we were using the Conair; it never splattered, sprayed, or dripped water, even when it was tilted forward while being used.

While the device doesn't come with many directions, they were pretty easy to follow, and filling the reservoir was simple (note that we used distilled water, as the instructions suggested). Because it comes with a long cord, steaming clothes situated a few feet away was effortless, and the compact design makes it simple to store. Regarding the attachments, the lint brush did a great job removing lint and hair, and the bonnet attachment protected the silk well. Overall, as the reviews said, it did the job — it got rid of most of the wrinkles. 

While the Conair could remove most of the wrinkles, it didn't get out the deep creases in the silk pillowcase and the blended pants, even when using the turbo setting and pulling the fabric taut. Additionally, although all the wrinkles came out of the cotton t-shirt, we did have to steam the fabric three times, and for one of them we used the turbo setting. And, as the reviews said, because the reservoir is relatively small, we had to refill once to steam all three pieces.

The silicone band attachment (both with and without the bristle brush) didn't exactly pull the garment taut — Instead, it created wrinkles in the fabric from the edges of the silicone. Therefore, to remove all the wrinkles from the cotton t-shirt, we had to continue going over the fabric a few times. Also, we wish the attachments were easier to snap on, as it took some effort. And, although it's pretty self-explanatory with a bit of trial and error, the instructions should show how to attach them. Finally, the creaser was challenging to use and understand due to the limited directions.

Those who want a handheld steamer with all the bells and whistles may be intrigued by the Conair Turbo ExtremeSteam GS54 Garment Steamer. Because it has multiple attachments and a creaser, it's made with functionality to spare. And it typically costs $64.99, an average price for a handheld steamer.

However, while it is appealing on paper, we were slightly disappointed with the performance of this device. While it did remove the creases from the cotton t-shirt, it took quite a bit of time and effort to remove every single one. Further, though it removed surface-level wrinkles, it struggled to remove the deep creases from the pillowcase and pants. In addition, to comment on the attachments, only the lint brush seemed to truly make a difference when steaming, while the silicone brush caused further problems. Finally, while this steamer is offered a for reasonably affordable price, there are cheaper options on the market that may perform similarly, if not better. Because of these reasons, we wouldn't purchase this product again.