Fabric steamers are replacing old fashioned irons, as they are more much more convenient and equally as efficient.
Many of these steamers are perfect for those who travel a lot and need a portable, mobile device to carry around to quickly iron their clothes.
However, there are “full time” steamers that work great at home and can actually fully replace the iron that you’re probably currently using to iron your clothes.
One of these light, easy to carry steamers is the Conair Compact Upright and here’s our review of this product.
Conair Compact Upright
Technical Specifications
- Brand: Conair
- Cord length: 5 feet (152 cm)
- Product width: 12.5 inches (31 cm)
- Product depth: 17 inches (43.18 cm)
- Steam head width: 5 inches (152 cm)
- Product height: 12 inches (30.48 cm)Continuous steam time: 60 minutes
- Voltage: 120 Volts
- Product weight: 9.15 lbs (4.15 kg)
- Water capacity (oz.): 20 fl oz (591 ml)
Design and Functionality
Aesthetically, the Conair Compact is nothing revolutionary or special, by any means, but it looks good enough to stand in the corner of a room, without really influencing or hurting the overall interior design of your apartment. It looks simple and neat, but it definitely can’t be considered stylish.
The Compact definitely has some design flaws that can possibly hurt the user experience, even though it’s easy to handle and feels comfortable in hand.
For a start, the hose is a tad too short, so it doesn’t really allow longer reaches. That means you’ll probably have to drag the entire device around if you want to use the steamer on your drapes.
However, the product is pretty light (weighs about 9 lbs), so it can be easily moved and dragged around the room as you take care of your clothes or anything else. This can sometimes be problematic though, since it will sometimes flip and fall over.
The foot-activated power switch is a nice little addition that makes the Compact even more user friendly.
All in all, the Compact doesn’t look special and has some minor design flaws, but it definitely does the trick.
Performance
Performance is what matters the most, with any product, and the Conair Compact definitely delivers in this department. 60 minutes of steam time is plenty and the device does what it’s supposed to, effortlessly and efficiently.
When tested on clothing, drapes and upholstery, it showed great results and definitely de-wrinkled and freshened all fabrics we used it on.
The water tank has a large capacity and the product works best with distilled water, although this is definitely not a must.
Apart from the hose length issue, everything works surprisingly well, as fabrics we’ve tested the Compact on look a lot better and fresher after we applied this steamer.
The handle has good grip and feels comfortable and it is pretty easy to refill the tank once the device is out of water. Overall, Conair’s Compact steamer model works very well and definitely does the trick.
Pros
- Good performance
- Great steam time
- Large capacity water tank
- Foot-activated power switch
Cons
- Short hose
- Falls over easily
- Bland design
The Bottom Line: Good and Efficient
The Conair Compact Upright Fabric Steamer is a good, efficient device that definitely gets the job done.
While there are some minor design issues, they don’t really hurt overall performance.
All in all, those of you that are looking for a good, affordable fabric steamer to use at home will probably love this device.