How much do you hate folding laundry?
Enough to let a robot take over the task of folding your clothes once they come out of the dryer?
Meet FoldiMate Family, the laundry-folding robot that ensures you never have to fold your own laundry again—unless you count linens, socks and underwear.
How to Use FoldiMate Family
Items clipped onto the front of the machine are pulled inside, where they are folded and treated according to the user’s needs. Steam treatment replaces the need to iron, and there are also options available to apply softeners and perfumes to clothing.
Anyone can use the device as the only labor component required is to clip the clothing and push the buttons on the machine. Once the clothes have gone through the machine and exit neatly folded, the user simply removes the folded items.
Is FoldiMate Worth the Cost?The robotic machine cannot fold all fabric items and can only fold 15–20 items at a time. Excluded items include linens, socks, and underwear. The folding time required for each item is approximately 10 seconds, and if additional treatment is required such as steaming or adding softener, an additional 30 seconds may be required for processing each item.
The steam component reduces the wrinkles in clothing but does not replace the effects of ironing. Capsules can be added for softness, sanitization and fragrance.
Although the product may be appealing to those early Roomba adopters who jump at the chance to eliminate house chores, the cost is high and the machine is quite large—similar in size to a washer or dryer.
Preorders start in 2017 at a cost between $700 and $800.
If you're interested in a marginally more practical home robot at a slightly lower price point, check out the ASUS Zenbo.