Steam has a problem too.

Most people who give up on ironing don't give up on heat. They switch to a steamer instead, on the reasonable assumption that no direct contact means no damage.

That's only half true.

Steam doesn't scorch, and it doesn't create shine the way a hot soleplate does — but it still forces heat and moisture into fibres that weren't built to absorb either repeatedly. Silk and other delicate weaves are prone to water-spotting and swelling under steam. And steaming does nothing to address the real issue underneath: the fibres are still being stressed, session after session, just by a gentler-looking method.

Here's where that leaves you: iron it, and you risk scorching. Steam it, and you risk swelling. Skip both, and you spend your week in clothes that look slept in.

None of those are good enough answers. So we spent a year finding a fourth.

Tomorrow: we'll show you what a year of research turned into.