If you ask anyone what the number one most despised and dreaded household chore is, they might say washing the dishes. Well, one Josephine Garis Cochran of Illinois felt the same thing way back in 1886 and invented the first dishwasher. The world rejoiced, and many households now utilise the latest technology to prevent standing at the sink for hours on end scrubbing plates clean. It’s particularly handy if you have a large family. But what about that other despised household chore – doing the laundry?
Although the dishwasher was first patented in the late 19th century, it’s taken until now to invent a machine that folds laundry successfully. The Foldimate is in early stages of development but the company has already taken over 8000 advanced orders for the gadget, which at the moment is priced just under $1000. Is it set to become a new household essential next to the dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer? Time will tell, but already some people have their reservations, as YouTube commenters will testify:
“You’ve pretty much just shot yourselves in the foot with this update. Folding laundry is not difficult, its time-consuming. You have removed the key time saver when you got rid of the laundry feeder and made someone stand there feeding items in one at a time. By doing so you have also removed your main selling point.”
And the disgruntled punter might well have a point, as while there’s no doubt the Foldimate saves a lot of hassle with folding our freshly washed clothes, it’s not all that useful if we have to stand there the whole time feeding them in! Why can’t we have a machine that auto-feeds the clothing? Dump a basket of clothes into the drum, turn it on and walk away. 30 minutes later – shazam! All clothes neatly folded. Now THAT would be worth just under a grand!
This significant design flaw hasn’t stopped people in their thousands from signing up for this machine, and with it still being in the prototype stage, they might well listen to consumers and address this issue. Whether or not we have the technology to do it remains to be seen, as many would-be purchasers are also apprehensive about the machines ability to not suddenly rip apart their favorite shirt. Maybe the perfect, clothing-folder is still a little way off.
Would you want a Foldimate in your life?! Watch the clip below and judge for yourself!
https://youtu.be/2Uay9hzwusk
