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Maybe you’re an avid ironer, maybe you’re the sort who believes sporting crinkled garments isn’t a big deal unless you’re attending a wedding or job interview. But there’s something about going on holiday that ignites a collective desire for crease-free clothes – even more so if you’re travelling for work, naturally.
Although most decent hotels and villa rooms will come with an iron and board, it’s not exactly convenient, quick or easy to set it all up and get everything smoothed out before you hit the town or your first meeting. This is where a great travel steamer comes into its own. Not only are the best travel steamers mini-sized for compact packing and a cinch to use, but steamers in general are often a better option than irons for delicate fabrics, like silk, satin and cashmere. Rather than hitting those wrinkles with intense direct heat and pressure, which can be damaging, a steamer will use moisture and heat from a distance to gently relax creases. As an added bonus, the best travel steamers also kill 99.9 per cent of bacteria that your clothes might be gripping onto post-flight or train journey, so it’s also a good way to help keep clothes fresh and illnesses at bay while you’re away.
Although it may seem like packing a travel steamer is just a way to take up precious luggage space, once you’ve taken one of these away with you, you’ll never want to travel without it again. Traveller editors have put a number of the best travel steamers to the test and have found that all of their favourite models had one thing in common: a metal soleplate, allowing you to touch the steamer to the clothing to smooth out tricky spots.
Each steamer has been tested and reviewed on jeans, khakis, t-shirts, button-down shirts, blouses, and jackets based on the following criteria:
Power/efficiency: Is it faster and easier than setting up and using the hotel iron? Or at least just as good?
Water capacity: How many times do you have to refill the reservoir to steam an entire outfit?
Leakproof: Will you be late to dinner while waiting for the wet spots to dry?
Durability/longevity: Is the quality going to withstand enough trips to make the steamer worth packing and purchasing?
FAQ:
Which is the best travel steamer?
We’ve put many travel steamers to the test, and while lots of them delivered great results, we’ve managed to narrow our favourites down to these four models:
Nesugar Steamer portable garment steamer
When you’re bringing a steamer with you on your travels, the last thing you want is something bulky and heavy to lug around. Fortunately, the Nesugar steamer is slimline and weighs just 363 grams, making it very portable even if you’re only flying with a cabin bag. Despite its small size, it’s still of robust construction and produces a solid stream of steam, with the attachable water reservoir holding enough to keep it going for 10 minutes without needing a refill.
This one is best suited for lightweight fabrics, as it didn’t quite manage to tackle stiff creases in jeans with the steam alone. However, the metal soleplate allows for an ironing option which can be used to effectively smooth out stubborn wrinkles.
It’s easy to use, switching on with the touch of a button and heating up quickly. You’re also able to rotate the head 90 degrees, which allows you to steam at different angles, and the unit also comes with a wall mount too, so you always have somewhere to hang the garment you’re working on.
Weight: 0.3 kg
Size: 22.6 x 7.9 x 4.2cm
Pros: Lightweight and packable, adjustable head, Comes with wall mount, powerful
Blasting out 20g of steam a minute with a maximum heat up time of just 15 seconds, this steamer by Tefal steamer is great at removing wrinkles in record time. It is fairly heavy though, at 700g, and doesn’t hold a tremendous amount of water which can cut steaming time short.
Traveller editor, Olivia Morelli, has chosen this one as her favourite travel steamer after finding it to be vastly superior to her old budget buy from Amazon.
“It’s lightweight, comes with a handy bag for travel and an attachment that removes lint as it steams. Unlike my old steamer, this one can also tackle clothes on flat surfaces, which means no more worrying about burnt fingers and I can press out collars and sleeves more effectively. For travel especially, I love how slim it is – it will easily squeeze into any remaining suitcase space in even tightly packed bags. It’s a winner.” Olivia Morelli
Weight: 700g
Size: H32 x W14 x D6cm
Pros: Very light, slimline, comes with travel pouch, can be used for stubborn creases
Cons: Small, so can only do two or three items at a time
With a £100 price tag, this is the most expensive travel steamer on our list, but Traveller commerce editor, Charley Ward, thinks it’s well worth the spend. While other travel steamers struggle with smoothing creases out of heavier fabrics, this one tackles them with ease, only struggling with a particularly wrinkle-prone dress which Charley needed to pull taut while steaming using the included mitt.
“I’ve been tempted to purchase a steamer in the past, but most people I’ve asked have said they’ve struggled on heavier fabrics, which has put me off – why buy something that’s only going to work on half your wardrobe? But my fears were not borne out here. I had my jeans looking pressed and perfect within minutes, plus a cotton T-shirt and a button-down, all in far less time than it’d take to iron. I’d not ditch my iron completely at home, it still has its place, but for pressing out floaty summer dresses and light shirts while travelling? This is a game-changer.” Charley Ward
Weight: 0.75kg
Size: 31 x 14 x 9cm
Pros: Comes with mitt for doing shirt collars and cuffs, worked very effectively on jeans and heavy fabrics
Cons: Didn’t perform so well on a very creased dress
Despite being our budget pick, this travel steamer has three settings to choose from, so you can pick the appropriate amount of steam and heat of lightweight, medium weight and heavyweight fabrics. It’s a little on the bulky and heavy side, so maybe better for people traveling with hold luggage rather than carry on, but it does fold up and the larger size means you can fill it up with more water and therefore have a longer steaming time before it runs out.
“This travel steamer comes with a refill container, fabric brush and a bag to keep everything neatly together. I was impressed with how quickly it heats up, and it got most of the creases out of a thick white shirt easily. The cord is quite bulky, so it’s a little fiddly to get into the bag properly if not wound in perfectly. Overall, though, light packers will likely find this to be a new essential for their travelling tech kit.” Amber Port
The only time you might encounter a problem when flying with a travel steamer is if you’ve accidentally left it full of water in your hand luggage. Assuming you won’t make this mistake, it’s perfectly fine to put a portable steamer in your carry on or your hold luggage. Most travel steamers will fit into your carry-on and can go through airport security without any issues.
Is a portable steamer worth it?
The best portable steamers not only smooth out unwanted creases with ease, they also eliminate bacteria and odours, so packing one of these can help keep your clothes fresh for longer while traveling. If you are going to a formal event such as a destination wedding or know you’re packing clothes that are famous for wrinkling, a travel steamer is an absolute must if you want to look your best. Even people who travel with carry on only could squeeze one of our smaller picks into a cabin bag, or repurpose the water bottle holder in your favourite travel-friendly handbag or backpack.
What is the lightest travel steamer?
Of all the travel steamers we’ve tested, the Nesugar steamer has won the award for lightest available, weighing in at less than a pound. This pipped the Steamery Cirrus 2 to the post (750 grams and 31cm long) and beat the Conair Turbo too (weighing in at about 900 grams and measuring 33cm long).
More steamers I tested
Of the 10 steamers Traveller editors tested, these are the others we would recommend, with caveats:
Steamery Cirrus 3 iron steamer
Swedish brand, Steamery, have made a bit of a name for themselves as the go-to company offering the most effective hand-held steamers that also look great. We included their most recent, lighter model as one of our top picks, but feel their Cirrus 3 also deserves a mention. This portable steamer heats up quickly and has proven to have impressive de-creasing capabilities. When put to the test by our commerce editor, Lauren Burvill, she found she was able to steam a couple of crinkled silk dresses in a matter of minutes.
“The Steamery Cirrus 3 comes with a wearable heat-protecting ironing mitt, which helps make it even easier to remove every crease. Overall. it's not just great for travel but can easily replace your iron at home too. If you're hand luggage only, this one may be a little on the heavier side, but if you're travelling with check-in luggage, the minimalist design is easy to store amongst your other items. They also make a fabric spray that is brilliant for keeping clothes smelling fresh when you're travelling.” Lauren Burvill
Weight: 0.86 kg
Size: 24.6 x 14 x 8cm Pros: Can de-wrinkle anything, can stand on its own, quick heat-up
The Conair Turbo actually would have landed the top spot in our best travel steamer guide if only it was more compact and suitable for travel. It’s pretty heavy, weighing 1.38kg, and on the large size in comparison to the fold up, slimline alternatives we’ve included here. But if you have the space and you want to invest in a travel steamer that leaves all your clothes, whatever material they may be, looking good as new, you may just want to sacrifice some extra luggage space for this.
This steamer can blast wrinkles from jackets, jeans, jumpers and t-shirts in minutes, but you also have the option to select a lower heat setting for delicate items. It even has a built-in creaser, if that’s your thing. The level of steam power you get with this one does require more water (hence the larger size), so you’ll probably need to refill the reservoir after steaming a few garments, depending on the fabric and intensity of the wrinkles. But it’s likely you’ll ditch your iron at home for this one, it’s so good.
Weight: 1.38kg
Size: 34.5 x 21.4 x 14.4 cm
Pros
-Can dewrinkle anything
-Various settings to choose from
-Quick heat-up
Cons
-Hard to fill with small opening
-On the larger side for travel
Better known for high-powered drills and sanders, Black + Decker have entered the steamer market with this portable tool. We found this one does take quite a while to heat up, while others are up to maximum temperature in seconds. Once it gets going it’s a pretty nifty steamer, working wonders on button down shirts and dresses, while not quite cutting it with heavier fabrics. The metal plate can be utilised to switch from steamer mode to a more traditional iron for stubborn creases. You also have the option to lock the steamer into a continuous stream or control the trigger for smaller bursts (this helps save water in between items, too).
Weight: 1.19kg
Size: 28.5 x 12.5 x 12.5 cm
Pros
-Metal plate
-Option for continuous steam or manual
Cons
- Longer heat up time
-Won't tackle jeans or heavier garments
-Heavy
As these are travel steamers, you might think that other models would have considered the voltage changes across countries when designing their tools. But most don’t. The Conair model does have automatic dual voltage, which might be quite a blessing to globetrotters. The biggest downside to this steamer is potentially a bit of a dangerous one – the reservoir of the steamer gets painfully hot, so it’s really important that you only hold on to the handle. This also means that you’ll need to wait a while between water refills, and you will need to top up the water every three de-wrinkled garments or so. On the plus side, it heats up in just 20 seconds and there’s an automatic steam feature that works from the get-go, which means your fingers get a rest from holding down the trigger button that comes with many other steamers. The main reason this steamer remains on the final list is for its appeal to those who frequently travel abroad. It’s not the best pick, but it’s very small and lightweight and will do in a pinch.
Weight: 0.5kg
Size: 24.1 x 11.4 x 11.4 cm
Pros
-Collapsible handle for travel
-Automatic heat-up (no power button)
-No trigger needed to release steam
Cons
-Cannot promptly refill reservoir because the tank gets so hot
