This product was gifted to me by Russell Hobbs. All opinions are my own and as honest as always. This post contains affiliate links.
Let me set the scene.
You’ve spent an hour getting ready. Hair done, makeup sitting nicely, outfit picked out the night before because you are, apparently, that person now. You leave the house feeling genuinely put together. Then you see the photos from that night and your shirt looks like you slept in it, on a flight, across several time zones.
We’ve all been there. And most of us have quietly vowed to be better at ironing and then absolutely not getting better at ironing.
The thing is, ironing doesn’t have to be the ordeal we’ve made it in our heads. Especially when you’ve got the right tool for the job. Enter the Russell Hobbs Steam Genie Maestro, the handheld clothes steamer that has genuinely changed the way I approach keeping my clothes looking crisp, and I say that as someone who used to consider “giving it a shake and hoping for the best” a legitimate de-wrinkling strategy.
What even is a clothes steamer?
If you’ve never used a handheld garment steamer before, the basic idea is this: instead of pressing a hot plate directly onto your fabric like a traditional iron, a steamer releases a continuous flow of hot steam that relaxes the fibres in your clothing and releases wrinkles without direct contact. It’s gentler on delicate fabrics, faster for certain items, and a lot less faff overall.
The Russell Hobbs Steam Genie Maestro is a 2-in-1, which means it works as both a steamer and a traditional iron, so if you’re looking to replace both or just want one versatile piece of kit, it genuinely covers both bases.
First impressions
It’s compact, it’s lightweight, and it doesn’t take up much space at all. If you’re in a smaller flat, a student accommodation, or you don’t want a clunky ironing board, this is the kind of thing you’ll want in your life. It heats up in 45 seconds, which in ironing terms is practically instant, and it holds 750ml of water, giving you up to 30 minutes of continuous steam. That is a lot of steaming.
The 1700W power is noticeable too. This isn’t one of those sad little travel steamers that produces a faint whisper of warm air and gives up halfway through a blouse. It means business.
The duvet cover situation, and why this steamer is a game-changer
Okay, here’s my favourite thing about this steamer and something I genuinely hadn’t considered before I started using it. Ironing a king size duvet cover is one of life’s most pointless and frustrating tasks. It’s enormous, it crumples the second you fold it, and by the time you’ve wrestled it back onto the duvet you’ve somehow created new creases in the bits you already ironed.
With the Steam Genie Maestro, I just put the duvet cover straight onto the bed and steam it in place. The steam penetrates the fabric while it’s laid flat, it dries almost immediately, and I end up with a crisp, smooth duvet cover in a fraction of the time. If you have never done this, please try it. It’s one of those small life improvements that feels disproportionately satisfying.
I’m someone who cannot stand a wrinkled duvet cover but equally cannot stand ironing one, so this felt like a genuine solution to a problem I’d resigned myself to living with forever.
The attachments
The Steam Genie Maestro comes with two fabric attachments, one for delicate garments and one for thicker materials and curtains. Switching between steamer and iron mode is straightforward, and the ceramic heated pressing plate on the iron side does a solid job on tougher creases that steam alone might not fully tackle. It’s a nice bit of versatility to have in one relatively small device.
There’s also a self-cleaning function which prevents limescale buildup over time. Not the most glamorous feature to shout about, but genuinely useful for keeping the steam output consistent and powerful over the long term.
The one thing I’d change
I have to be honest with you because that’s the whole point: the cord length. For general use it’s absolutely fine, but when I’m steaming a king size duvet in place, getting to the middle of the bed is a bit of a stretch. Literally. If you’ve got a large bed and your plug socket isn’t ideally positioned, you might find yourself doing a slightly awkward lean. An extension lead sorts it, but it’s worth knowing.
Who is this for?
Honestly, a lot of people. Students especially, since it replaces both an iron and a steamer in one compact device. Anyone who moves around a lot and wants to keep their belongings minimal but functional. People in smaller homes or flats where a full-sized ironing board and iron feel like overkill. And anyone who, like me, has a complicated relationship with ironing but still wants their clothes and bedding to look like they belong to someone who has their life together.
The verdict
The Russell Hobbs Steam Genie Maestro retails at £99.99 but is currently available for £79.00, and for what it does, I think that’s a fair price. It’s powerful, it’s versatile, it’s genuinely quick to heat up, and the duvet cover hack alone has improved my quality of life more than I’d like to admit.
Is it perfect? Almost. Sort that cord length out, Russell Hobbs, and we’d be having a very different conversation. But as a 2-in-1 handheld garment steamer for everyday use, it’s a solid addition to your home and one I’d genuinely recommend.
Looking for the Russell Hobbs Steam Genie VacuSteam Review? It’s here!
Now go iron your clothes. Future you, in those photos, will be very grateful.
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