verdetto: MOLTO SCARSO

It takes at least two people (or some complicated, ingenious rigging of clothesline and pins) to effectively ItalSteam a garment. The reason is because it only functions properly when held vertically. You don't need a board, which is supposed to be convenient, but the lack of a solid surface behind the garment is just an annoyance because it's hard to press the steamer against, well, nothing. So to effectively dewrinkle the shirt, you need to hang it vertically from a bar and have someone hold one side while you hold the other, pulling the fabric taut as possible. If there's just you, it takes three times as long (and no small degree of dexterity, flexibility, and patience) to ItalSteam it than it does to iron it the regular way. The only nice feature about ItalSteam is that if you have to re-use a pair of jeans or a shirt, you can freshen it up nicely in a jiff. But if it's wrinkles you're concerned with, just take the time to iron it.

After failing to steam Scott's work shirts with the same ease as Stupid Kiosk Guy, I tried a few of mine with slightly greater (but not total) success, then got bored and tried to steam the wallpaper off the bathroom wall. (Wasn't happening.) Went back to shirts, but eventually got mad at the small wrinkles that wouldn't go away, and lugged out the ironing board, the Black and Decker, and all of my shirts plus one of Scott's. I probably ironed more extraneous creases into the garments than out of them, but whatever, at least the changes it made were visible.

The verdict on the ItalSteam: Don't throw away your ferro.