After working in a children's clothing store for two years, I finally admitted: Portable Steamer is really great.
I used to look down on portable steamers very much.
Really.
It always seems to me that it belongs to that kind of:
The kind of things that "someone who gets up at five in the morning to make iced Americanos and always has eucalyptus leaves at home" would buy.
So what's the result now?
The first thing I do when I go to work every day is to search the whole store for our handheld steamer.
I'm anxious whoever took it.
Because in a children's clothing store, if the clothes get wrinkled, it's as if the entire store suddenly has a 30% discount.
Children's clothes really tend to look very shabby very easily.
For adults, a bit of wrinkled clothing can still be managed.
Americans love saying:
“Effortless.”
Translate it as follows:
Although my clothes are wrinkled, I pretend it's a sense of high-end style.
But children's clothing is not acceptable.
Especially that kind of:
- Little girl's skirt
- Baby onesie
- Preppy blouse
- Linen overalls
- Little dresses for photo shoots
These things crumpled.
He looked as if he had just been fished out from under a washing machine.
The most outrageous thing is that some little friends are particularly creative when trying on clothes.
A normal person gets dressed.
"Have a try."
A child is getting dressed.
Roll over.
Spin around.
Get down on the ground.
Dance in place.
Once, a four-year-old boy, wearing a white shirt, was practicing Spider-Man's wall-crawling in the fitting room.
When I came out, that piece of clothing looked as if it had just survived a financial crisis.
We used to iron with traditional irons, and it really felt like serving a sentence in a clothing store.
Every time I sort out new goods, it's like going to war.
First, pull out the ironing board.
Plug it in.
Wait for a long time.
Then start pressing them one by one.
The problem is that many fabrics used in children's clothing simply cannot withstand "rough treatment".
Especially:
- Ruffled edge
- Tulle
- Light cotton
- Embroidery
- Puff sleeves
Be a little more forceful with your hand.
It's all over.
Once a colleague left a birthday dress made of chiffon under the iron for too long.
The hem of that skirt later grew so long that it looked as if it had been treated by a heat press.
The boss passed by without saying a word.
But that silence was more terrifying than any scolding.
Later, the store bought a Portable Steamer, and my life suddenly became much easier.
The first time I used it, I had just one feeling:
"Oh, I see. Clothes can be organized like this."
There's no need to look for a board.
There's no need to smooth out the clothes.
Just keep spraying steam directly.
The wrinkles gradually unfolded by themselves.
That feeling is particularly like:
You looked in the mirror in the morning and found yourself in a bad state, but after washing your face, you suddenly felt alive again.
And the greatest advantage of the portable garment steamer is that it is fast.
What do clothing stores fear the most?
It's not that I'm tired.
When it's busy, everything goes haywire at once.
Customers enter the store.
A child is crying.
New arrivals have just come in.
There is a queue at the checkout counter.
The clothes in the display area are still wrinkled like pickled mustard greens.
At times like this, you simply don't have the time for the traditional ironing routine.
Later on, I found out that whether clothes are expensive or not doesn't entirely depend on their price.
Check the status.
The same piece of clothing:
When wrinkled -
Like "Mom, I don't want to wear this."
When she's well-groomed -
She's like a "little Upper East Side Socialite".
There's really a big difference.
Especially after the store is lit up.
As long as the clothes are smooth and flat, their quality will seem to improve immediately.
Sometimes I even feel that:
Half of the work in the clothing industry is actually a battle of wits with "wrinkles".
The greatest advantage of the Portable Steamer is not its sense of technology.
It's not troublesome.
Adults nowadays are most afraid of trouble.
Especially after work.
You expect a mom who has just come back from Target and still has to cook and do the laundry to take out the ironing board and iron clothes seriously?
Unrealistic.
The true state of most people is:
As long as the clothes aren't too wrinkled.
The greatest advantage of a portable steamer is that:
It won't cause you any psychological pressure.
There's no need to prepare for half a day.
Often it is the case that:
Plug it in.
Steam.
Done.
It's done in three minutes.
Faster than deciding what to have for dinner.
I used to think that the "dual steam model" was just marketing jargon.
Later, it was found that it was not the case at all.
Because different fabrics have really different temperaments.
For instance, the thin cotton clothes, little dresses and baby clothes in children's wear.
Too much steam can actually make things more damp.
It would be more appropriate to be a little gentler.
But like in winter:
- Thick sweatshirts
- Denim jacket
- Clothes that have been stored away for a long time
Your steam isn't strong enough. the wrinkles just ignore you.
That crease is as stable as if it were etched into the DNA.
So the dual steam modes design is indeed convenient in actual use.
Especially when the store deals with clothes of different materials every day.
The biggest mistake I've ever made was the "water-spraying" Steamer.
Really.
If a steamer can spray water.
Then it's not a steamer.
It is an emotion detector.
Especially dark-colored clothes are the most obvious.
You've just finished tidying up.
I feel in good form today.
Suddenly, the machine:
"Puff——"
A large drop of water.
At that moment, people will be very quiet.
It's so quiet that I want to call the police.
And weight, this is really particularly important.
Many people online buy steamers only based on their appearance.
But those who have used it for a long time know that:
Weight is the truth.
Some steam irons feel quite heavy when you first pick them up:
"Well, it's okay."
In twenty minutes:
The wrist began to enter a stage of life reflection.
Our store used to have a particularly heavy steamer.
Every day after using it, I feel like I've done some strength training as a bonus.
Later, someone brought a portable steamer that was lightweight.
Everyone in the store immediately changed their attitude.
Because it's really much easier.
Especially for lightweight handheld steamers like Nesugar, they are particularly friendly to people who stand in the store for long periods.
The difference will be very obvious when you sort out dozens of pieces of clothing in a row.
Now I understand why more and more people take Travel Steamers when they travel.
In the past, I always thought:
Don't all hotels have irons?
Later, it was discovered that the irons in American hotels are really very random.
Some of them are leaking.
Some of the soleplates are as black as a barbecue grill.
Some temperatures are so high that they seem like they could be used for steelmaking.
Once, my friend attended a wedding and used the hotel iron to press her dress.
The result was that the dress left a bright mark directly.
The expression on her face at that moment is something I still can't forget.
Since then, my understanding of the portable travel steamer has suddenly deepened.
Especially when it supports global voltage (100–240V).
It's really much more convenient to go abroad.
Otherwise, many Americans will experience that classic plot when they visit Europe, Japan or South Korea for the first time:
Why is my electrical appliance starting to smoke?
My favorite time of day is those few minutes before the store opens.
There's nobody in the store.
The music has just started.
I was using a portable steamer to tidy up the little dresses that were the main promotion of the day.
Steam rose slowly.
The clothes gradually regained their smoothness.
That process was particularly healing.
It's a bit like recharging clothes.
And it's very strange.
When clothes are neatly ironed, people's moods will really improve.
Perhaps the reason why many adults are anxious is that their lives are in a state of chaos.
The table is in a mess.
The hair is in a mess.
The time is all messed up.
The clothes are in a mess, too.
So when a crumpled piece of clothing gradually becomes crisp and smooth, there is a sense of:
The feeling of "OK, I can still control my life today."
If it's your first time buying a portable steamer, I suggest you don't just rely on the advertisements.
Really.
Think about your own life first.
Are you:
- I never have time to iron clothes.
- I have children at home.
- I often wear shirts.
- I'm always in a hurry when going out.
- I hate ironing boards.
- I live in an apartment.
- I often travel.
- My clothes get wrinkled easily.
If so.
That portable steamer is very likely to enhance your sense of happiness in life.
It's not some life-changing big thing.
But it will make many small troubles disappear.
And it is only later in life that adults come to realize:
Anything that can reduce the frequency of daily breakdowns is worth buying.
