Steaming attempt number 1.  Consists of a 4" PVC pipe, dryer flex hose, a backpacking stove and a funnel.  (I spent all of $19  on the PVC, the rest from the basement...  A few coat hanger sections through the pipe for a rack and good to go.  You can see the result here.  Looks good.

Unfortunately, it does not work.  The contraption creates steam, and some even comes out the end (when not plugged with a rag).  But, it is barely warm by the time it gets to the end of the 6 feet of pipe.  Steaming a test piece for an hour had no impact on its pliability.  Back to the drawing board.  Need something with more heat, more steam and perhaps insulated.  Might get some more steam using a camp stove, but on-line forums indicate propane burners, a la maple syrup boilers are more like it.

Seems much too complicated for what I am trying to do, so we'll go with  something more primitive.  I'll just soak it for a while and see if that works!  (The picture includes our celebration for pi day.  The pic is not at 9:29, but we'll pretend it is and note that the time is 3.1415926.  That won't happen again for a while!)

You'll have to wait for the next post to see if a good long soak in the tub is better than a short steam bath.