Instead of spending yesterday shooting outfits for upcoming blog posts I was putting in some sweat equity on the fixer-upper house my parents bought. Yay! Actually, it was so nice outside yesterday that I really enjoyed getting a workout by raking the front lawn, which had definitely seen better days! I mean, give me some warm weather, some sun, and some country music and I’ll be happy as a clam doing almost anything outside. (Which is why I’m less excited about going back tomorrow to help with the interior of the house…). Meh.

I apologize for the quality of these photos, or lack thereof, but I’ve been meaning to share my raving reviews about this super inexpensive E-Best Steamer! First of all I should share that I basically went the first I dunno…18 years of my life avoiding ironing at all costs. Who enjoys ironing? No one! Exactly. After so many wrinkly outfits though I finally caved and decided to buy a super cheap steamer on Amazon that had great reviews. One of my criteria was that the steamer had to be travel size because obviously I was going to fall madly in love with this thing and take it everywhere with me (okay the first part is true, I love my baby steamer, but in all honesty it’s never gone further than Boston, and that was because I was driving). Side note: I have no idea how people have room to pack a steamer if/when they travel with just a carry-on bag. Sure if you check a bag you’ll have plenty of room, heck, pack 2 steamers (kidding), but with such limited space, even on trips where I know I’ll need my steamer, I still can’t bring myself to sacrifice the space.

I love ordering stuff off Amazon because if it doesn’t live up to the hype or if it just ins’t what you expected you can easily return it. Amazon (after LL Bean) has the best customer service team. So anyway, that’s one of the reasons why I have no problem taking chances on things like $14 steamers because hey, if it doesn’t actually steam then I’ll just return it. Simple.

I know you’re probably dying to know…does it work? Yes! I love this thing, and it still works great after 5 years! I like to tell people that it holds just enough water to steam yourself out. I think for the average person you’ll either just steam one-two pieces of clothing that you need to wear that day, or you’ll get in some sort of “I’m in the mood to steam” groove and then you’ll pull out 3-5 things from your closet that just need a desperate refresh. Whether it’s 1 item or 5 items this steamer holds enough water to tackle the job. Depending on the material and how long you take to steam it will probably run out after 5 items, but you’re probably never going to find yourself in a situation where you need to/desire to steam more than that I one sitting. IF you did though, it only takes 15 seconds to heat up so you won’t have to wait long after refilling it.

How does it compare to professional steamers? I actually had access to a professional grade steamer for a week when my friend and I went on Spring Break last March. We stayed at her grandmother’s house in Palm Beach and well…the whole trip was amazing! But her grandmother also had this amazing wardrobe that deserved a true, professional grade steamer. Did I feel bad cheating on my E-Best Steamer? Nope! I will say though, the E-Best Steamer is an amazing steamer for $14, the professional steamer is obviously professional, but it took so long to heat up. I’m talking 5 minutes or so! Ultimately though, both steamers got the job done and left me wrinkle free. Yippie!

*Before I sign off here, just a friendly reminder to never steam an article of clothing while you’re wearing it (I may or may not have burnt myself really bad when doing this a month or so ago). Lesson learned.