Home-Tek HT 611 Garment Steamer Travel > Reviews > One spurt = one big smile

Author's product rating:   

Performance	Excellent
Ease of use	Very easy
Durability	Everlasting
Cleaning & Maintenance	Very easy
Value for money	Excellent

Advantages:	Easy to use, excellent crease removal, lightweight
Disadvantages:	None

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I travel a lot for business purposes and there is nothing I hate more than creased clothes, especially if I am meeting a client. Looking good for me is what life is all about and hotel irons have never been that great nor has my travel iron. Then the Home-Tek Travel Streamer Iron was thrust into my hands by a work colleague whom after hearing my moans assured me that if I took care of her precious item I could use it and return it.

The Home-Tek Iron is to be blunt shaped like an old fashioned Joystick and looks nothing like an Iron or in fact a travel iron, which I must say look naff and cheap in any capacity. This iron is really lightweight and fits into my travel case with relative ease alongside my hair straighners and hairdryer.

So arriving at my designated hotel I almost scream with anger that my power trip business suit is creased and is need of ironing, so it was time to test out this trusted travel iron. Taking out from the accompanying travel pouch the first thing you notice is the shape which I previously mentioned was similar to an old joystick, the difference however is that the handle on this iron is rubber coated and it rotates to allow to you steam your items vertically as well as horizontally. The bottom plate of this iron is stainless steel and comprises of a translucent water tank which gives out a very generous amount of steam, it is almost as powerful as my steam iron back home. Finally with this iron is the removable garment brush which I didn't use because I didn't have the need too, but I am told it comes in very useful for those harder to iron clothes and my colleague uses it on her curtains and sofa and also acts a lint brush to remove stray hairs and other particles from clothing.

This Iron is also dual voltage which for traveling is brilliant because I didn't have to worry about whether I need a separate plug for it to work. So once I had the water into the iron and got it hot I was ready to use it, there is a red indicator light which will light up once this iron is ready for using. I did say before that you could vertically steam your articles of clothing so I decided to have a go with my suit jacket. Whenever I hand my suit jacket up there are always creases in the arms, so with it still on the coat hanger I hung it on the door to the bathroom, which I assumed to be safe to do and blasted one arm of the jacket with a shower of steam and to my amazement the creases in that one arm disappeared almost immediately. When using the steamer vertically it is advisable that you rotate the handle away from the iron itself so that when you press the steam button your hand is nowhere near to the steam. When it came to the trousers of the suit I used the ironing board from my room to iron them, remembering to rotate the handle back into position to make the ironing much easier and the again the iron was brilliant at dealing with the creases effectively and efficiently, unlike previous travel irons where I had almost a mental breakdown trying in vain to rid the trousers of creases, with this iron a few spurts of steam was all that was needed to remove the creases.

Now most travel irons that I have used are not as sophisticated as the ones we have at home, there isn't a lot to decide on when it comes to what type of make your suit is whether it is cotton or linen for example, but when using this iron you are given the options as you would normally get from your home iron as to what setting you need, which for me is a rapid improvement, although the more creased my clothes the more I tend to just use maximum as a setting anyway, but the option is still there.

Since using this iron and finding it brilliant to use and easy to carry I did actually hand it back to my colleague with difficulty but then decided to purchase my own. Home-Tek are not a brand I had heard of, so with my basic computer knowledge I managed to find out a little bit about the company using Google and found that they are championed by Ainsley Harriot and make an array of household good from kettles, carpet sweepers, sterilizers and irons to juicing machines, ovens and slow cookers and sell their items in 70 countries worldwide, so they are definitely a brand on the move and this iron ranges in price quite dramatically depending on who you prefer to buy things from. I eventually ordered this iron from the Home-Tek website because I felt much safer ordering from them and because they are well known and this iron cost me £29.99 and it came with a 12 month guarantee and it arrived the following day.

So over all I am delighted with this iron, I don't quite know how I have managed without it in the past and it is a delight to carry with me on my travels. For those people who travel a lot, live out of a suitcase or go on holiday this iron is definitely something you should purchase.