FoldiMate is a folding machine for the lazy

If we pack somewhere for a trip, folding clothes can be a very tiring activity, and in addition it takes a lot of time. Imagine a machine that can replace us in this activity and do even more. Yes, people are already working on something like this and it’s called FoldiMate.

FoldiMate had its share on Kickstarter, which, unfortunately, turned out to be a flop, and quite a lot (11,000 dollars raised for the required 250,000). The producers, however, did not give up and continued working on their device. Now FoldiMate measures 71 x 81 x 79 centimeters. It probably does not say too much, so I will just emphasize that you can put the device on your washing machine without any problems, and it was designed for that. What does it even do? First of all, he folds the clothes into a beautiful cube, and in addition he can perfume, soften, disinfect and “ruffle” them, which does not mean that he will iron them wonderfully, because we will have to do it before putting the clothes into FoldiMate.

How does it even work? Well, you just need to clip 15 to 20 clothes to the front of the device, which will then be “pulled” inside, where all the machinery will put it together into a beautiful cube. Inside, two bars lower to the height of the garment and hold it down so that it does not move during the process itself. Additionally, these bars serve as axes around which the clothes are folded. After that, the folded clothes leave the lower part of the structure, and we can put them somewhere in the wardrobe or in a travel bag. The action of pinning is supposed to take 5 seconds, 20-30 seconds for “wrinkling”, and the rewinding itself is almost 10 seconds. 45 seconds doesn’t sound like all eternity.

FoldiMate can take care of normal-sized clothes, i.e. pants, shorts, shirts, T-shirts, sweatshirts, but it will not fold bedding that is too large for him or socks that are too small for him. The volume of the device is similar to the washing machine itself, and if you ask about the destruction of clothes, it is less than 1% chance (if someone is unlucky, be careful).

Now the price. The pre-order of the first version of FoldiMate – Family will start in 2017, and the first devices will go to consumers sometime in 2018. FoldiMate Family is to cost somewhere in the range of $ 700 – $ 850 (which, assuming that a dollar costs 4 zlotys, will be respectively 2,800 – 3400 zlotys). Unfortunately, the “wrinkle” and “grooming” functions are sold separately, and you will be able to purchase folding styles other than the “cube” ones from the online store. The steam module for “wrinkling” will cost $ 200- $ 300 (PLN 800-1200), and the care capsules $ 15- $ 40 (PLN 60-160), although there is no question yet how many pieces of this agent will be included in the box .

I must admit that the equipment is not especially cheap and is rather aimed at people who really hate folding clothes, or often do not have time for it. I only hope that the creators will achieve success with FoldiMate and producers of household appliances from around the world will become interested in a similar type of devices. Then, slightly cheaper alternatives will be created, which will later find their way into less wealthy households.