After working in the flower shop for so many years, the tool that I was most surprised to never part with was actually a clothes steamer.
If you ask me what I encounter first every day when working at a flower shop, I would say without hesitation:
It's not the flowers.
It's a bucket.
Every morning at 8:30, the first thing I do when opening the store is to re-cut the flower materials that were soaked in water the night before. The roses need to be cut at an angle, the hydrangeas need to be kept in deep water, and the tulips need to be placed separately because they will continue to grow. Once all these are done, half of the floor in the store has become wet, and the apron is almost covered with leaves and pollen.
But if you think that the job at a flower shop is only about "handling flowers", then that would be too simplistic.
We also need to:
- Wrap flower bouquets
- Clean flower leaves
- Decorate windows
- Arrange tablecloths
- Prepare the wedding venue
- Handle staff uniforms
- Package and deliver orders
Among these matters, there is a very practical issue -
Wrinkles.
The tablecloth will wrinkle.
The wrapping paper will wrinkle.
The apron will wrinkle.
The backdrop will wrinkle.
Even the cloth curtain hanging at the entrance of our store, which reads "Fresh Flowers Daily", would become very wrinkled and unsightly if the weather was a little humid.
It was precisely in this environment that I gradually came to realize:
A clothes steamer is actually much more important to me than I originally thought.
During the busiest days at the flower shop, there was simply no time to iron the clothes slowly.
If you have never worked in a flower shop, you might have a hard time imagining what a festival looks like.
Take Valentine's Day for example.
That week, we almost survived on coffee alone.
The receiving process starts at 7 a.m. By 2 p.m., all the orders for the day must be prepared. Additionally, we need to handle the temporary customers who come to the store. The phone keeps ringing, the door remains open, and the freezer keeps replenishing flowers.
At such times, if someone tells you:
"Please iron all these 20 tablecloths."
You really do want to just quit your job.
An iron is actually not a practical choice for a flower shop.
The reason is quite simple:
- Needs an ironing board
- Heats slowly
- Easy to get burned
- Takes up space
Moreover, there were already a lot of flower buckets, cardboard boxes and flower materials piled up behind our store. There was simply no space to place an ironing board.
Later, we started to use a clothes steamer, and everything changed.
The first time I truly realized how important a clothes steamer was, was at a wedding venue.
It was an outdoor wedding held in a small vineyard.
The weather is nice, but the air is very humid.
We completed all the arrangements one day in advance:
- Long table
- Tablecloth
- Backrest decoration
- Arched drapery
- Background cloth
When we arrived at the scene the next morning, the first thing I saw was not flowers, but -
Wrinkles.
It wasn't the obvious creases, but rather the fine, subtle wrinkles that made the entire scene look less refined.
The photographer is adjusting the lighting, the wedding planner is checking the time, and the guests will arrive at any moment.
No one will wait for you to iron the clothes slowly.
At that time, we took out a clothes steamer from the car and spent about 30 minutes to recondition all the most prominent fabric items.
The effect is really obvious.
The fabric became smooth, the photo looked cleaner, and the entire scene suddenly acquired that "formal" feel.
On the way back that day, for the first time, I seriously thought:
It turns out that this tool is not optional but actually capable of saving the situation.
After working in a flower shop for a long time, you will find that many things require the use of steam.
Many people think that a clothes steamer is only used for ironing clothes, but in our store, its uses are actually quite extensive.
For example:
Handling employee aprons
We change our aprons every day.
Because the flower juice, soil and water will quickly stain the clothes.
After washing, if you dry it directly, the apron will become very stiff and have creases.
Using steam to gently treat it will make the fabric soft again and it will look cleaner as well.
Sort out the wrapping paper for the bouquet
This was something that many people didn't expect.
Some high-quality wrapping paper may develop creases during transportation, but an iron cannot be used because the high temperature would damage the surface.
At this point, a quick pass with the clothes steamer yields excellent results.
Especially on the following festivals:
- Mother's Day
- Valentine's Day
- Christmas
During these times, the order volume is very high and we need to process a large number of bouquets quickly.
If the wrapping paper is wrinkled, the entire bouquet will look cheap.
Handling the window display setup
The theme of our store's display window changes every month.
Spring is in shades of pink and green. Autumn is in shades of orange and brown. At Christmas, a lot of red fabrics and lights are used.
These fabrics are usually stored folded, so when taken out, they will have obvious creases.
Using a clothes steamer, it takes about 5 minutes to finish processing a whole background cloth.
The handheld clothes steamer is the version I use most frequently every day.
Our store actually has two types of steamers:
One is a stand model, placed in the storage room.
The other is a handheld model, kept in the drawer at the front desk.
And the one I use the most is the handheld type.
The reason is quite simple:
It's fast.
For example:
The guest suddenly said:
"I'm going to take a photo in a moment. This ribbon is a bit wrinkled."
At this point, you can't rush to the back to prepare the ironing board.
All you need to do is:
Take out the clothes steamer
Add water
Power on
15 seconds
Then you can start using it.
This is the difference in the real working environment.
The three key aspects that I personally pay the most attention to regarding the clothes steamer
These are not the items listed on the parameter table; rather, they are things that one would notice only after long-term use.
Heating speed
In the flower shop, time is truly of great importance.
If a machine takes 2 minutes to produce steam, you would be very anxious.
But if it's 20 to 30 seconds, you'll find it very convenient.
Weight
Many people overlook this point.
But when you use it continuously for 10 minutes, your wrist will get very tired.
Especially at the wedding venue, the camera needs to be held up all the time.
A gentler design will make the work much easier.
Steam stability
The most troublesome thing is:
The steam fluctuates in intensity.
This will lead to:
Water marks appear on the fabric surface
The effect is uneven
It needs to be processed again
So later on, I began to pay more attention to some brands with more stable designs.
It's not because of the advertisements, but because of our working environment. The tolerance for errors regarding tools is very low.
Once the machine breaks down at a critical moment, you won't have a second chance.
People who work in a flower shop will gradually become very meticulous about "details".
When I first started in this business, all I cared about was whether the flowers were fresh.
Later, I began to pay attention:
- Is the packaging smooth?
- Is the tablecloth clean?
- Is the apron tidy?
- Is the background crisp?
These things may seem small, but they can affect the guests' first impression.
Once, a regular customer said something to me, and I still remember it to this day:
She said:
"Your store always looks very clean and tidy."
It's neither luxurious nor expensive.
It is refreshing.
And this feeling usually results from the combination of many details.
Nowadays, many newly-opened flower shops will directly equip a clothes steamer.
Over the past two years, I have noticed a very obvious change.
Previously, steamers were more commonly found in hotels or clothing stores.
Nowadays, more and more flower shops, coffee shops and small studios are equipped with one.
The reason is actually quite realistic:
Space is smaller.
Time is tighter.
Efficiency is more important.
Especially in cities, the rent for storefronts is very high, and every square meter is extremely valuable.
No one is willing to set aside a corner just for ironing clothes.
If you deal with fabrics on a daily basis, I truly recommend giving this tool serious consideration.
I'm not the kind of person who likes to buy gadgets.
On the contrary, I usually take a very long time to make a decision.
But the clothes steamer is one of the few things that makes me feel:
A tool that recovers the cost quickly after purchase.
It's not because of the price, but because of the time saved.
In the flower shop business, time is:
- Be able to make more bouquets of flowers
- Be able to complete the orders earlier
- Be able to work fewer overtime hours
These things are more important than any function.
When I reached this point in my writing, I realized that it had already become a part of my job.
Sometimes I wonder, what would happen if one day the clothes steamer in the store suddenly broke down.
The answer is quite simple:
We can still work.
But it will be much slower.
It will also cause a lot of fatigue.
And many details will become less perfect.
After spending a long time in the flower shop, you will come to understand one thing:
What truly makes a store look professional is not the decorations, but the unnoticed details that are meticulously maintained.
And the clothes steamer is one of them.
