Refresh your clothes with a steam clean

Many of us only use the most basic functions of our washing machine and dryer. Even though modern laundry appliances offer a wide range of special features and unique washing and drying modes, it's easy to stick with what we know works.

However, it might be worth experimenting with those unfamiliar settings on your appliance's control panel. You might discover a more efficient way to clean and dry your clothes that has been right there all along.

Here, we’ll demystify the steam settings found in some laundry appliances, showing you how they can freshen up your clothes, remove odours, and even reduce the need for ironing (woohoo!).

The steam setting on selected washing machines is intended for those occasions when your clothes have been worn once and are still superficially clean, but require a bit of freshening up before they can be worn again.

While you could run these clothes through the full wash cycle, this can be a bit of overkill, using far more water, energy and time than really necessary.

By selecting a steam setting instead of a wash setting, your clothes will be cleaned by jets of steam rather than blasts of water. The steam penetrates the fabric, gently softening and aerating the fibres, releasing trapped odours and providing the lightest of cleans – perfect for delicates.

This also helps relax fabric fibres, reducing wrinkles and creasing in your clothes - as well as any subsequent time spent behind the ironing board.

Steam can also clean the invisible 'dirt', sanitising clothes and killing bacteria and allergens, which is great if you or any family members have sensitive skin or allergies.

Remember though, steam is extremely hot, so don’t be tempted to put 'cold wash only' items on a steam refresh cycle!

It may sound a bit counterintuitive to dry with steam. After all, steam is simply the gaseous form of water, and your clothes are already wet when they go in the dryer, with the expectation that they’re going to come out dry.

As such, you most often find steam cycles and settings on washer dryer combos rather than dedicated dryers, with these steam cycles appearing as part of the 'washer' half’s features.

However, there are exceptions, such as Beko's Heat Pump Dryers with Steam. Thanks to their heat pump, they are very energy-efficient compared with older style vented dryers, with an 8-star energy rating (compared to vented dryers' 2 stars).

As a type of condenser dryer (but more energy efficient than regular condenser dryers), the moisture from your clothes goes down the drain rather than being vented into your laundry room as hot water vapour.

But we’re not here to talk about that. We’re here to talk about this appliance’s steam technology, which can be used in three different ways:

1. Ready to Wear – For use with freshly washed, damp clothes, this cycle aims to reduce the wrinkle level on shirts and t-shirts using a steam function. It usually eliminates the need to iron casual shirts after drying, depending on the texture and thickness of the fabric.

2. Steam – For use with dry clothes only, this cycle refreshes clothes with a steam function and removes unwanted odours.

3. Added Steam – This extra steam option can be added to several other drying modes - Cottons, Synthetics, Mix of Cottons and Synthetics, and Jeans/denim - to help soften the fibres for reduced creasing and easier ironing.

So if you want to quickly get a smoky smell out of a few dress shirts, or to spend less time ironing after the drying cycle is complete, steam mode may be just what you need.