Jiffy Steamer J-2000 Residential Series 1300-Watt Garment Steamer
by Jiffy Steamer
|
List Price: Our Price: $130.60 You Save: $39.39 (23%) Availability: Usually ships in 3-4 business days Buy Used: from $110.99 (click here) Category: Home See more product details |
|---|
Tools and Hardware Reviews of Jiffy Steamer J-2000 Residential Series 1300-Watt Garment Steamer
Customer Review: Great purchase
Summary: 5 Stars
After borrowing a friend's ConAir steamer, and reading numerous reviews, I purchased this Jiffy from Amazon about a month ago. The Jiffy seems to be better-built than the ConAir, and puts out more steam, more consistantly than the model I borrowed.
In the last month, I have steamed everything I can think of in my house, to see how it works. I have been pleased with this product, and here is what I have learned:
1) A steamer is not an iron. While I have read reviews of how you can press creases into clothing, I have not been successful in this (yet). I don't really care about creases, though, and have not spent much time trying.
2) A steamer is a tool. You have to learn how to use it properly to get good results. Steaming from underneath works better than steaming downward into the right side of the fabric. Just like anyone who uses a hammer a few times is almost certainly going to hammer their finger, you will probably burn yourself while you are learning to use a steamer. When I first started using the steamer, I wanted to steam upwards, like I iron. It was counter-inuitive for me, but it works better to steam downwards.
3) Wrinkles really do fall out of fabrics, but this seems to only happen with synthetic fibers or blends with a high percentage of synthetics. If I had trouble ironing it, it will take some work to steam it. However, I always iron in more wrinkles than I take out, so for natural or difficult fabrics, I do a better job with a steamer. Fabrics that I was afraid to iron (too thin/delicate) steam beautifully.
Now, about the Jiffy J-2000 specifically:
This steamer heats up very quickly, in just two or three minutes. I like to turn it on while I decide what to wear, and by the time I get it all together, it is ready to use. The wattage (1300) is slightly higher than most personal steamer models and makes a big difference in how quickly you can finish a garment.
The steamer is very sturdily built. It uses heavy-duty plastics, and comes with a wrench (magnetically attached underneath the steamer body) to secure the parts tightly. The pole that holds the steamer head and clothing is shorter than I would personally like (and the hose is a little shorter, too) and stands about 5 feet. I could not steam all the way to the top of my curtains, while they were mounted to the wall. The water reservoir does not leak, although when you pull it out, some water does remain in the connection area, but not enough to make a mess.
The list price on amazon for the steamer was 169.99, quite a deal more than most of the other steamers listed on Amazon. I purchased mine with a special 25$ off through Amazon, so paid 145$. I think that it is worth that price. I would not pay this much for the ConAir model that I borrowed. In a year, I may think the Jiffy is worth the Amazon list price.
Customer Review: I can't believe I waited this long!
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all, I have to say that I was skeptical about using a steamer to get wrinkles out of my clothes. I once purchased an inexpensive travel steamer and found that it was completely worthless. It produced steam, but it did nothing to remove wrinkles. I was convinced that the only thing I could do to make my clothes wrinkle-free was to iron or use the dry cleaners.
After doing some research on different models of steamers and reading remarks online, I have to say that I still wasn't completely convinced that steaming would work. But I was desperate. My dry cleaning bill is easily $80 every month, and I needed to find another option.
I finally came across the Jiffy Steamer brand. The online reviews were positive. I figured that since they have been in business since 1940 as "the world's oldest and largest manufacturer of steaming equipment", they must be doing something right.
I decided to bite the bullet and buy one. When I received it, I opened the box and was able to assemble it with the enclosed wrench without any problems. I noticed right away the "industrial" look of the unit. The base is very sturdy and impressive. The hose at first seemed stiff and unyielding, however once I turned the unit on and steam flowed through it, it was flexible and easy to work with.
The test: I pulled together my pile of wrinkled clothes that I was ready to take to the cleaners. I filled the reservoir tank with regular tap water, plugged the unit in, and flipped the switch. Literally, within a minute or so, I had steam coming from the head.
I hung my wrinkled silk shirt on a hanger, which I then put on the hook. I put the steam head to my shirt and to my surprise.... it worked!! The wrinkles just disappeared. I then proceeded to steam the rest of my clothes. Again, I had the same great results.
I am very happy with my steamer. It is expensive, but with my dry cleaning bill being $80 a month, it paid for itself in a little over 2 months. I can't say it eliminates dry-cleaning altogether, because it doesn't clean your clothes. But, if like me, you use the dry cleaner because your clothes become a wrinkled mess after wearing them and you need to look "polished" at work, this may be just what your looking for.
Another suggestion to consider: Jiffy Steamer also sells accessories, and one thing that caught my eye was a Steamboard. It is a flat board that has a hanger attached to it at the top. You can hang the board on a wall or a door, so that you can have a flat surface to press the steam head up against when steaming your clothes. Useful if you want to press seams on pants or long sleeved shirts. It's pricey, so I asked my husband if he could make me one instead!
Customer Review: Fantastic appliance! Love this steamer!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am not new to steaming. I have a very small house with small closets and lots of clothes. Consequently, closet wrinkles are an everyday problem for me and steaming has been a daily ritual. People who think that steaming will replace ironing are unrealistic, though, and negative reviews are unfair. Steaming is fabulous for woolens, knits, synthetics- basically fabrics that tend to hold their shapes. Natural fabrics such as silk, cotton, and linen- the bad wrinklers- tend to look best when they are smoothed out with an iron, so don't throw away the iron! Steaming is still great to refresh after closet wrinkles on the natural fibers.
This being said, I have used various steamers over the years. I had gone through about 3 travel steamers when I realized that I needed something more heavy duty (and one that held more water). My last steamer was that Conair portable home steamer, the one without the rack. I think that I paid $39 for it. It had a flimsy hose, was very difficult to remove the hose to refill (a major pain!), and the steam was intermittant, plus it "spit" (and spotted) just as badly as the travel steamers. I just figured that steamers just did that. After having it for about 4 years it finally burned out.
I shopped and studied the various home steamers that are available today. I promised myself that I would get a good one this time.
"You get what you pay for" I told myself...
When my Jiffy steamer arrived I was NOT disappointed! It was so substantial to look at, with a very heavy duty rubber hose. This thing would be able to handle some heat! It heated up quickly, just like previous reviews had said, and much faster than the old ones I had experienced. The best and most wonderful thing is that the steam comes out evenly and consistently with no spitting. It is a joy to use! This appliance has cut down my steaming time in half because of its constant even steam. Another thing that I love is that it is so easy to fill, much easier than any of my past steamers. After I bought it I ran into other steamers in stores while Christmas shopping. They all look flimsy by comparison.
This steamer is a joy to use and I highly recommend this product. Take it from a person very experienced in home steaming, this is THE ONE!
Customer Review: NOT for professional or anyone who has actually ironed for years
Summary: 2 Stars
OK - i saw all the great reviews for this product and against my gut feeling that this was too good to be true - i brought it. Well, it does remove wrinkles - however, not in the manner that i'm used to with an iron. I've been ironing for years for work and the steaming quality is just not up to par with an iron. Yes, it will remove the huge wrinkles, like if you leave your shirt in the dryer or if you left it in a ball, but it does not do the next step that an iron does - of making your shirt look crisp and sharp. This is what no steam can do and what i should have realized. No, i'm not looking for a pressed shirt from a steamer, but the faint wrinkles and unevenness left in the shirt are NOT acceptable for any professional.
ALso, I realize that using this tool takes some time to get used to (i'm fine with that) - when i learned to iron from my mother, it look a while and then years of experience - so i'll give you that. However, even with time and technique, though it might be faster and easier, the quality would not improve. I tried leaving the steam head on a shirt for a while, but it still does not make a huge difference. I also got burned more than a couple of times from the steam, the steam tube, the metal on the water tank, etc. - this is definitely more hazardous than an iron.
All in all, unlike all the other reviews, this WILL NOT REPLACE IRONING or your dry cleaning bills. I honestly do believe that the people who are satisfied with this "ironing / steaming" job have a low standard for what an ironed piece of clothing looks like - probably for them removing huge/noticeable wrinkles is sufficient, while for me (and most others looking at this) it just won't cut it - save yourself time and money. Would have loved for this to work, but I'm back to ironing my shirts while watching football...
Customer Review: Fades wrinkles, does not free them (they're still trapped there)
Summary: 2 Stars
I was disappointed when receiving this steamer. First of all let me say, I dislike ironing simply b/c it takes forever. I'm not even looking for that crisp creased look. However, when I'm done ironing hours later, I know my items will be wrinkle free. I hoped that would've been the case with this steamer, no wrinkles shorter amount of time. Sadly that it was not. It took forever to steam each of my garments, then when I was done, the wrinkles were not gone, just faded. I tried this on different types of fabrics (silk, satin, cotton, polyester blends,etc) and it was all the same (faded, still there wrinkles) except for one pair of wool pants where the wrinkles magically faded.
After trying this out for a week using different fabrics and techniques, the only thing that improved was using this steamer with another person. Just holding the clothes steady to steam against the wall doesn't work well. Having another person hold the clothes taut for you while you steam works the best, except when you accidently steam the other person and they don't want to help much anymore.
Pros: holds plenty of water for lots of steam, has wheels to carry around, feels sturdy, good for heavy fabrics and great for wool
Cons: wheels don't lock (moves too much), hose gets hot, spurts a bit even when held correctly, didn't leave items wrinkle free for me unless someone held clothes taut while I steamed.
Sadly I borrowed a cheap conair steamer from a friend and it worked slightly better than this item, it got the wrinkles off of my delicate shirts which was all I wanted.