Questions before buying a steamer (Jiffy-2000)

[fwang]

Hi guys, first time posting. I am considering purchasing a Jiffy steamer from the good reviews. To start off, I'm a college student that needs suits looking fresh for interviews and special occasions. I also hate ironing with a passion. I understand it is a little bit more expensive, but I'm hoping after 2-3 loads, it'll pay for itself in dry-cleaning bills. And I might also charge friends a couple of bucks to steam their stuff to recoup my costs. But my questions are 1) People talk about only using distilled water to avoid mineral build up, how do they get this? Is it from that attachment people might put on a sink? If so I'm living in a dorm so that is out of the question. Other than that, when I think distilled water I only think of bottle water. Is there another/cheaper option I'm not thinking of? 2) When steaming dress shirts, do you steam it after you cold wash/low dry it? Do you steam after cold wash/hang dry and while it's still damp (like you would ironing)? Or I've even heard people say the Jiffy puts out steam so hot it disinfects the material (which I'm doubtful) so should I just steam after wearing? Thanks in advance!

 

[GBR]

Steaming will not properly put a crease in your trousers....

 

[FlaneurNYC]

The only distilled water I know of is readily available in stores. It can be had as cheaply as 79¢/gal. Setting up your own distillation process could be daunting.

Be every careful with steam and tailored clothing!

 

[fwang]

thanks for everyone's insight!

 

[Cold Iron]

I have the Jiffy 4000 pro steamer. You can get distilled water in 1 gallon jugs at almost any grocery store pretty cheap. And you can put knife edges in with a press board, the 4000 metal head gets hot and is heavy enough. I took a hollow core door and wrapped it in metal vapor barrier with metal tape. Over that I put a huge white towel which I also used metal tape on the seams to hold it in place. Put an over the door hanger holder on the top and use a plastic hanger with clips to hold pants in place and to hold shirts while steaming. I usually steam on Sundays after I wash and dry. The longest part is waiting for the water to heat up but I turn it on and take of other things while the boiler is running. Takes all of a minute to do a shirt or pair of pants, I haven't ironed in about 4 years. I love the damn thing.