It’s amazing the products you will find for sale at your supermarket or local home goods store. Sprays and contraptions and laundry additives all aimed at helping you get rid of wrinkles. Often, these are over priced and ineffective. They turn clean, dry clothes into clean damp clothes, may put buildup or residue on your clothing, don’t always smell the greatest, and often do not work.

If you’re frustrated with so-called wrinkle relaxers, it’s time to get out the electric iron and do it right. Modern irons take only a minute or two to heat up. They have multiple settings and options for all your different garments. Once you buy one you have it for years with no more expenses. And best of all: they actually work.

Ironing has been used for hundreds of years. The fibers of your clothing have tiny long-chain molecules that give them their shape and structure. The heat of the iron relaxes those molecules, while the weight of the iron presses them into the flat shape of the soleplate. When they cool, they stay in this new, flatter configuration.

Sprays don’t really do that; and while you may be able to relax some of the wrinkles, you’re just as likely to misshape your garment while you’re tugging on it to straighten it out.

Heat, weight, and a flat surface are the key to why irons are so effective. And if you haven’t used an iron that’s been made in the past few years, you are in for a big surprise. The modern iron is more temperature-sensitive, more customizable, and more versatile than ever before.

Most electric irons for home use are steam irons. This means that they have an internal water reservoir. The heating mechanism that heats the soleplate of the iron also heats the water in the reservoir, allowing you to infuse a mist or cloud of moisture into your clothes, which helps loosen the fibers further. Steam settings can be easily turned off for certain fabrics.

The consistency of the heating mechanism, the effectiveness of the steam options, and the safety features (such as auto-off and non-stick plates) make the modern electric iron fast, easy to use, and a lot more effective than some cheap chemicals in a bottle.