Folding laundry no longer a chore
New appliance will do the work — for US$700
Never mind the chore of doing laundry — often, the part of the process that many wish they could do away with would be the folding.
Now that time-consuming chore, the U.K.’s The Telegraph explains online, could become a thing of the past, depending on the success of the latest advancement in home appliances.
For those who are willing to plunk down several hundred dollars, San Francisco-based startup FoldiMate (foldimate.com) has revealed a three-foot-high robot that will take in every crumpled shirt, blouse and pair of casual pants and return to you neatly folded and steamed garments.
The FoldiMate offers a row of small trays to which pieces of clothing can be attached. Once those pieces slide into the FoldiMate, the device’s sensors detects the garment type and passes that information on to a series of robotic arms, which will fold the item.
The company also mentions the FoldiMate will “de-wrinkle items by steaming them as items leave the machine,” the Telegraph says.
The procedure “takes around 10 seconds to fold each item and can hold between 15 and 20 pieces of clothing at a time. At the end of the process, they are released from the machine in a neat pile.”
There are some exceptions: The FoldiMate won’t work with underwear and large items such as linens.
While a commercial version has been around since 2014, pre-orders for the household version will begin sometime next year, with a target price of US$700-$800.