I know,I know, I shouldn't be so darned worried about wrinkles in my clothing, right? Well, since they make me crazy, does anyone out there have advice on travel irons? Do they sell travel irons with converters specifically for italy? tell me anything and where to buy it..thanks so much..

Most hotels and apartment owners provide irons.

Better than buying and lugging a heavy iron around and dealing with the voltage difference, buy some wrinkle-resistant travel clothes. There's lots of it out there. If you live away from an urban area, look at the online catalogs www.travelsmith.com and www.normthompson.com. www.jjill.com has some items also.

A dual voltage steamer is compact, lightweight, and does a nice job.

Thank you so much for some help.
I actually phoned the hotels, and they do offer to do the ironing for you, but said for safety reasons, they will not issue me an iron.
I have made all my clothing purchases, but I thank you for the website.
I am interested in the dual voltage steamer, though, since it is lite weight..any suggestions on where to purchase one? Have you actually used one?

Why not let the hotels do it for you? I used to always pack a travel iron, but even the smallest is too heavy and takes up too much room to be worth it for me.

Two solutions:

Pack only things that don;t wrinkle

If you do have something that wrinkles steam up the bathroom and hand it in there - they should come our fairly easily

If desperate - have the hotel iron it.

Caveat: I know there is an iron somewhere in my apartment but I haven;t seen it for years. The ironing board is handy as a large cooling area when you're making lots of Christmas cookies.

I have this one and recommend it

http://www.amazon.com/FRANZUS-TS183M...751084-2014855

This one is also excellent

http://www.amazon.com/Samsonite-Dual.../dp/B000MN9DA8

I did NOT like the Franzus TSM183MS Micro Pro Garment Steamer because it was too hard to hang onto and operate. The handle splits in two and the unit is too short.

But, price shop online. There are some good ones, cheap, and "Buy It Now" on E-Bay usually.

An old trick I learned years ago is to let the shower and/or bathroom steam up and then hang the wrinkled article in the shower. I have never done this myself - I tend to travel with wrinkle free or wrinkle resistant clothing.

If that steam in the bathroom plan worked, I wouldn't bother packing a steamer. It's never worked for me.

catiecat,

Even here at home I sometimes use the steam up the bathroom for clothes that say do not iron.

Have a great trip.

The easiest thing to do is to carry a small spray bottle and fill it with water at your destination. Lightly spritz the wrinkles and smoothe them out with your hands. Let the garmet hang up to dry. Or spritz and use coolest setting on your hairdryer to smoothe out the wrinkles.

This always works for me and I don't travel with just "wrinkle resistant" clothing but also with many cotton items.

"An old trick I learned years ago is to let the shower and/or bathroom steam up and then hang the wrinkled article in the shower".

Nothing healthier than breathing hot and damp air after wasting a lot of energy and water.......... ))))

I use Downy Wrinkle Releaser. It does a fairly good job of smoothing the wrinkles..not like an old fashioned iron, but it definitely helps.

Hi C,

My Lady Wife uses Betty's method.

I agree that the steam idea isn't very "green." Though moist air isn't all bad, is it?

I do know of people who use the Downy and like it. And the spray bottle idea seems good, too.

"I agree that the steam idea isn't very "green." Though moist air isn't all bad, is it? "

It is not moist air, it's water with a little bit of air into it
The dampness remains in the room, under the wallpaper and the carpetting, into the bed, even when you leave the window open and it's raining outside.....

although we've always had an iron offered whether we stayed at a hotel or apt, I too use the downey wrinkle remover like scatcat. Like she said, it's good, not great but it's better than nothing.

Yes - but you're not using the electricity that an iron takes. And, if you plan properly, you put the wrinkled items in the bathroom while you're taking your showers.

My ex-wife bought a travel iron when we lived in Germany. It was small and light and worked only on 220 volts because she bought it over there. Suggest that you go to a large department store as soon as you arrive in Whatcity and buy the local goods.

Tip for djkbooks: when you have a mile long URL use tinyurl.com.