apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Sweet. I might actually iron my clothes if I had this. Doesn't make it look fun exactly, just easy. The hard part is finding space for it.

My mom has an Iron-Rite mangle, a standing iron just like these. She inherited it from her mother and she loves to iron linens on it. She is sad to see it go as she downsizes. I told her about this one that folds up smaller, but at $2200 I think she'll have to do without it in her new condo.

$2200??? For an Iron? When I don't even have a laundry room in my apartment?

I'd rather keep my Rowenta, spend $1200 on an Asko washer/dryer combo for my apartment, another $300 for installation of electric and plumbing in the linen closet, and the remaining $700 on a weekend in Palm Springs.

Besides - This wouldn't do any good with my dress shirts.

Looks great if all you have is flat sheets, placemats, runners and the like. If you have fitted sheets, darts or other tailored items? The cuff they show being ironed - oh, so much easier than ironing with a hand held iron. How will I survive without it?

Seriously, it looks much less convenient than a conventional iron - harder to use. More PITA all the way around.

Gosh...this is a little over the top. I find it funny her pants are kinda wrinkled.

And I thought spending $70 on a Rowenta iron was excessive. I guess that was a comparative pittance. Honestly, a giant rotary iron like this is only useful if you have a LOT of sheets, tablecloths, and other flat stuff or maybe a dry cleaners. How else could you justify the cost? It won't really work on a dress shirt, and I'd be really careful running slacks through that thing. Miele must be desperate to sell them because they were constantly demonstrating it at the Home Design Show last weekend.

These are de riguer in higher end neighborhoods in Los Angeles. I have never used one myself but people who have full time maids tend to have these in their laundry rooms.

"rotary iron". Huh - my grandmother called it a mangle.

They are very cool machines, and someday when I have space I will grab either my mother's or my grandmother's mangle, even though I hate normal ironing.

$2200 is a horrifying amount, but then people spend twice that to get a stainless steel finish on an oversized refrigerator, so I guess I chalk it up to "luxury appliances are weirdly overpriced"...

My grandma used to send out her damask bed and table linens out to be laundered, and they would return so crisp and starched, it was almost like opening a book when you unfolded them... I dream of getting my damasks that crisp, but no laundry that I can find does that sort of laundry.

So I dream of this Rotary Iron (which I have wanted ever since Martha showed off hers back in the '90s), and the LaraStar.

There is nothing like the perfect bed...

I will have one of these...when I have my own restaurant.

Another product out of reach for the average consumer. Plus, who would realistically have the space for that contraption? Is it really THAT hard to pull out the iron and ironing board to press your clothes? Jeez.

i bet meile wouldn't approve of my ironing technique: throw it (skirt, shirt, pants) in the dryer for 10 minutes while i'm in the shower. take out (pretty much wrinkle-free), put on, and go to work.

Yep, my grandma had a mangle, too. She worked as a laundress during World War II, so that may be how it happened, but my cousin inherited it and I'm only a little jealous. (I try to buy stuff that doesn't require ironing, but it would be excellent for my kind of stiff new sheets.)

A throwback sort of appliance that's too big and expensive for the average consumer. Still doesn't beat a conventional hand-held iron for versatility, portability and cost.

My favorite picture is the one of the man happily ironing his jeans.

park avenue triplex with 25 servants - yes I can see this in. My apartment?? No. I much rather enjoy ironing with my Rowenta. I am bound for life with my Rowenta. I nearly blew my knee and nearly hurt my 2 month old son, buying that thing, walking in the super shiny floors of Bloomingdales...

AMP - LOL - good catch. the least she can do is iron her pants before she shows us how to use the machine :-)

This would be great for commercial (or even large-scale home) sewing projects but the cost definitely makes it unattainable for the average person.

Looks like a mangle to me.
And what does homegirl needs pink sporty mj's for. She doesn't even need to stand up to iron.

I too have an old-fashioned mangle, which I totally love and use pretty often. The pictured one is great, but it gets too hot to sit there for hours, and it's impractical for anyone in an apartment (or at least those who don't live on Park Ave. in a 17 bedroom apt or aren't Candy Spelling.)

You can do dress shirts on a rotary iron (how do you think your cleaners do them? There's not minions with corded irons on premises) but it takes some practice.

I must get one for my butler.

AMP you're right.

Makes me feel like a laundry woman in a sweat shop- so early 20th century.
Get one of the industrial steamers they take out wrinkles super fast and you don't have to sit and sweat it out.

We had one of those in the 70's & 80's. My Mom used to iron our sheets. Martyr! LOL

I am with Abigail.....I am dryer girl too. I have managed to avoid ironing for years now. It's pretty miraculous when I think about it!

Until I find a man like my dad, who will do my ironing for me, so that I may maintain my non-ironer status, I am sticking with the dryer.

I hate it that much....just pure chore.

for sheets, tablecloths and napkins is one thing but for clothes it looks a lot more difficult. Is ironing THAT hard? $2200 - that is a lot of fluff and fold.

oh come on, this is ridiculous!
and the last picture with dad coming home and mom happily ironing..gross.

While I would never be able to afford such a luxury (in space or money), having used a mangle in my European apt building laundry room was always a treat. I loved the look and feel of pressed linens. But, alas, to have one in a single-family home would be a pure luxury that I am sure we can all agree would be unobtainable for most everyone.

And, yes, I do agree that the posed photos above are a bit on the creepy side. Haven't we gotten over the preconceived gender roles in the household yet?

My grandmother and aunt each had mangles, my aunt could iron a man's shirt in one pass, noone else ever figured out how she did it but... wow... persistence makes perfect!

Though who wants to spend their life ironing?

Line dried sheets suit me just fine.

For clothing, I wear a ton of linen, I'm used to wrinkles... bring em on!

pathetic. rather have a washer/dryer ANYDAY!

When I lived in Estonia I took my laundry out ($3 for a huge 15 lb. duffel bag to be washed, dried, and ironed). They used battleship sized rollers like this to dry and iron everything (including undies). I would have never guessed that a Soviet style apparatus would turn into a luxury item...

Nearly every costume shop where I worked in the nineties had some old mangle that was donated and it sat unused in a corner of the shop or buried in storage. Now someone's trying to make 'em chic.

If you've ever read "The Luckiest Girl" by Beverly Cleary, you'll remember the family that mangles by moonlight!

could you send me instructions how to use thie rotary iron. i have one (was a gift) but i am not sure how to use it. it did not come with instructions as it ws second hand.

eglipper,

Any idea what model rotary iron you have? If it's a Miele, they have the manuals available online (pfd's) at www.miele.com.