Steamer Instructions

Insulating Our Vertical Fabric Steamer

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Steam fixing dyes is most efficient when the temperature in your steamer is at 212° F. If the steam cools down while traveling up the steamer it is possible you will not get the results you want. If you suspect heat loss, place a thermometer in the hole at the top of the steamer. If the temperature reads lower than 200° F you need to insulate. If the steamer is in a location where it is cool or drafty you may be loosing heat unnecessarily to the outside. The following are instructions to insulate the steamer to achieve the maximum temperature possible. These instructions are thorough, but often all one needs to do is wrap the steamer in a blanket.

The insulation is sold at Home Depot and hardware stores in 16 and 24" widths. 24" is the stuff to use. It is like bubble-pak with thick aluminum foil on both sides. This means it will not absorb moisture! One roll is all you need for this job, $20.00. All of it is wrapped two layers thick at least. The attachment is with ordinary plastic tape to the metal to hold the beginning of the wind and nylon ties to secure the outside. Large nylon ties are from a duct supply (less than $1 each, 11 pcs total, since the base needs 2 hooked together to go around). My design skipped the bottom band at the floor, but only because I ran out of bands. The transition piece from the large base to the smaller main tube is wedged onto my 36" tube, so I wrapped it along with the main tube.  I folded a piece of insulation into a 12" double-thick piece, cut staggered notches every 4 inches partway up, and let the notched pieces fan out over the transition.  They nicely shingled the transition, with no gaps.  I had a piece of 2" rigid styrofoam building insulation, so I cut a circle from it for the very bottom.  That may not be very important.  My first version had a 4" strip of polyfoam foundation insulation (1/4" thick, Home Depot) spiral wound over the metal tube, so I tidied it up and left it as the inside layer.  That had the serendipitous effect of creating a space for the metal nesting elements.  Testing the effectiveness of the insulation with the handy $25 thermometer from Grainger, I found my temperature near the top go up to 215° F, from 208 max before.   This had definitely improved the steaming quality. Courtesy of Practical Imaging