You could spend hours neatly folding your clothes into packing cubes, but no level of preparation will perfectly stop your evening pants and dress shirts from developing a few creases along the way. While many hotels come with an iron or steamer, it may be easier to bring your own — especially if you are traveling for a wedding or special event — as you never know how hot an iron or steamer may get or how it will work on your clothing.
To help you find the best ones on the market, I spoke with travel experts and NBC Select staffers, and compiled a list of recommendations.
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The best travel steamers
To help you find the best travel steamers for your next trip, I took into consideration expert recommendations, staff picks and highly rated options that will fit in your luggage while traveling.
This is a personal favorite because it removes wrinkles and creases on my dresses within minutes. It's a hybrid iron and steamer that can eliminate any odors and bacteria from your clothing and can hold up to 90 milliliters of water in its tank, according to the brand. Its auto shut-off feature, which turns the steamer off after 30 minutes of inactivity, especially gives me peace of mind while traveling. I primarily use this steamer for cotton, linen and silk clothing. That said, you can also use it on fabrics like viscose and cashmere, but should avoid leather and suede as it may damage your clothing, according to the brand.
This travel steamer is a favorite of travel journalist and writer, Rana Good, for how quickly it works. “It gets my clothes steamed in minutes and is especially good to use with flowy materials like silk,” she says. It heats up within two minutes and has a water tank that allows for continuous steaming for up to 10 minutes, according to the brand. You can use it on your clothing, but also on drapery and table cloths — just make sure not to tilt it more than 45 degrees to avoid any spillage, according to Urpower. Plus, it has an automatic shut-off feature that kicks in if the steamer overheats or if the water level is too low, as detailed on the product page.
This top-rated handheld steamer can emit steam within 140 seconds and works on a variety of fabrics including chiffon, silk, wool, cotton and nylon, according to the brand. Its 240-milliliter water capacity provides up to 15 minutes of continuous steaming (the longest on our list) and its 9-foot cord provides easy access and maneuverability.
The Nori Press is a favorite of former NBC Select senior editor Lindsay Schneider as it doubles as an iron and steamer and functions like a flat iron for your clothes. It comes with six fabric settings, a clamping mechanism to press your clothes and a pointed tip that can iron hard-to-reach areas like collar corners. You’ll press its two aluminum plates against the front and back of each garment to minimize creases and wrinkles.
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How I picked the best travel steamers
All of our picks are expert-recommended or highly rated with an average of four stars or higher and in line with our expert guidance. I also included NBC Select staff recommendations and kept the following in mind:
- Weight: Every travel steamer on our list weighs less than 2 pounds.
- Attachments: Some steamers come with attachments like a brush or a lint remover. For ease while traveling, we chose steamers without any additional attachments to save you space in your carry-on or checked bag.
- Capacity: This indicates how much water the steamer can hold. The more it holds, the longer it can continuously run. We recommended steamers that can hold up to 240 milliliters (which is about 15 minutes of steaming).
How to shop for travel steamers
Aside from looking for steamers with portable and lightweight designs to make travel easy, here’s what our experts recommend searching for while shopping:
- Heat-up time: The faster the steamer heats up, the better, when living life on the go, according to Sally Isabella Nguyen, an influencer and luxury travel advisor. I chose steamers that do so in under three minutes.
- Size: Since every steamer weighs less than 2 pounds, it won’t add too much weight to your bags.
- Works on different materials: A quality steamer should work on a range of different materials including linen, nylon, cotton and silk, according to Good.
Meet our travel experts
At NBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also take steps to ensure all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and without undisclosed financial conflicts of interest.
- Rana Good is a travel writer and founder of Naïra, a digital magazine for women of color.
- Sally Isabella Nguyen is an influencer and luxury travel advisor who has traveled to over 37 countries.
Why trust NBC Select?
Nishka Dhawan is an associate commerce editor at NBC Select who’s written about the best travel backpacks and the best luggage sets. For this article, she interviewed travel bloggers and journalists about their favorite travel steamers and considered staff favorites as well.
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