Hi Isandler - Here's a serious answer for you! ;-) We've owned the Jiffy J-2000 garment steamer for nearly 5 years now... (I had thought about it for years before finally "splurging" on one, since it's not cheap compared to most irons and other steamers.) Now I can't imagine living without our Jiffy! It's no longer a luxury, but a necessary appliance in our household. Even my husband is a convert, and happily steams his own stuff before work daily - it only takes him a couple of minutes. I bought one for my mom one Mother's Day a few years ago, and she loves it too. A friend of ours owns 2, just in case one should ever break down. (She's the one who first turned us one to it. That, plus if you go into many clothing boutiques, such as Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, a Jiffy is standard equipment for them.) Steaming clothes is surely better than deep frying them - LOL, weissman! It pays for itself by saving us A LOT of time compared to ironing. We don't iron anymore. We don't even own an iron anymore. (If you have lots of men's dress shirts, an iron still works better than a steamer, IMO, but we send my husband's shirts out to the cleaners since it's only 99 cents a shirt.) It also saves money by decreasing the frequency of dry cleaning. Steaming refreshes most clothing very nicely. If there's a small stain on a suit jacket, sweater, or slacks, I often just take a wet towel to spot treat it. Now we only take clothes to dry clean when they're really dirty or sweaty. We also bought the Steamboard, which makes steaming easier for beginners, and also allows you to make creases (i.e. in slacks) if you wish. To be honest, we don't use it most of the time, since we can steam a shirt on its hanger so quickly. However, my mom still prefers steaming w/ the board better than on the hanger since the clothing does move around a lot more on the hanger. It's a cinch to use. There'll be a learning curve for about the first week. Be careful, you might even steam burn your hand a couple of times V That steam is HOT! The unit heats up in under a minute, which is awesome. Be wary of other brands which might be cheaper than Jiffy, since they may take longer to steam up, have a smaller water reservoir, and not produce as much steam. The last point is crucial, since the quantity of steam is what makes steaming either quick and easy, or essentially ineffective for anything but the thinnest fabrics. The power of the Jiffy allows you to steam even blue jeans with ease. As far as problems, I've let it run dry by accident a few times; I wish it had an auto-shut off, but it doesn't. As a result, the rubber baffle on the check valve cap for the water reservoir melted. You can order replacements from Jiffy for 75 cents per pack of 3. Also, they sell a longer hose than the standard. It's sometimes easier for me to just hang the clothing on the back of the bathroom door to steam it. Sometimes I've wished that I had ordered the longer hose for that purpose, although it's just fine most of the time. Also, if you order any of the specialty heads for steaming other things, you may wish to have a longer hose for easier access. You will have to use the Jiffy liquid cleaner to clean the machine periodically. How often depends on how often you use it and how hard your water is. It's easy to do and doesn't take long. We end up cleaning ours about once every 10 months or so. (You'll notice the steam volume start to decrease.) If you wish to try it before buying the entire unit, consider getting the Jiffy Esteam travel steamer first (about $50-70 depending on where you buy it). It's nowhere near as powerful as the J-2000, but you'll get a good idea of how it works. The Esteam is not tiny/compact, so it is a little bulky to put into a suitcase (like a pitcher), but it's very lightweight (like a lightweight plastic pitcher), so we always take it with us when traveling rather than having to deal with hotel irons. If you like it, you'll love the J-2000 since it'll steam way faster and easier than the travel version. In any case, I think the Esteam is better and more powerful than any other travel steamer available. Also, I've seen the J-2000 for sale at Costco in the past; not sure if they still have it now but that's a good place to try it since they have such a great return policy. It really doesn't matter, since I'm sure you'll love it and never want to return it!

I have a standing Rowenta one (I got it a few years ago at BB&B, not only with a coupon, but with some promo they had at that time for the steamer giving me a BB&B gift card with the purchase!). I got it because I'm lousy at ironing (!), and because we have some articles of clothing that need to be "de-wrinkled" after laundering, without being perfectly smooth and pressed (if that makes sense). It works well for what it does, and I'm glad I have it for some things. DH has a bunch of cotton, button-down shirts that are supposed to be slightly wrinkled when worn, slightly being the operative word! I can smooth them out with the steamer, without giving them that freshly ironed crispness. I wouldn't get one in place of an iron (for example, you'd still need an iron to do napkins, tablecloths, a more "crisply" pressed shirt, or pants with a crease....), but it's nice to have one, too.

I, too, have the Conair. (Bought on a Friday sale special from Amazon.com). I love it - I don't need my clothes to be super crisp, I just want the wrinkles out - I never iron any more.

I have an early 1970's or late '60's shirt that I got for my daughter, but too small for her. I saved it to put in my friend's shop when it opens because she is going to have some vintage clothing. Other than that...I don't keep clothes, or know how old they are, because almost all of mine are used and nothing fancy. I wear them out and they become possum beds.