How to choose and use an ironing mannequin?

Until the first half of the 20th century, ironing was a difficult and dangerous process, because housewives had to heat heavy metal irons on a fire for this. The advent of the electric iron made this process easier, but it was still quite time consuming. Finally, by the XXI century, automation has reached this area of ​​everyday life, so it is worth considering how you can choose and how to use the ironing mannequin, as well as what reviews are left by the owners of this device.

An ironing mannequin is generally an inflatable polyurethane doll in the form of a specific piece of clothing (usually a shirt or trousers) with a device for blowing and heating air connected to it. The principle of operation of the ironing mannequin is that the clothes put on it immediately after washing are first straightened with the help of a stream of air, and then dried and ironed.

For this, the air in the inflatable element is gradually heated according to a predetermined rate, which is usually selected in accordance with the material of the garment. For ironing with steam, such devices may have a built-in or external steamer, however, its presence is not necessary - the clothes are smoothed quite well when interacting with only one heated surface of the inflatable element.

The use of an inflatable, rather than a solid, mannequin in such devices allows it to be used for both men's and women's shirts and trousers, as well as ironing products of different sizes. The quality of ironing using such systems is comparable to manual ironing with an electric steam iron.

Currently all available on the market ironing mannequins are usually divided into the following categories according to their purpose:

• household devices;
• semi-professional mannequins;
• professional complexes;
• industrial inflatable steamers.

Household appliances are characterized by relatively low power and, accordingly, productivity. In 1 hour, such a device can iron about four shirts. Semi-professional and professional models are distinguished by an increased speed of the process, due to which about 6 and 8 items can be ironed on them per hour, respectively. Industrial complexes are intended for use only in equipped workshops and must be operated by qualified personnel.

On the Russian market, goods produced by the Italian company EOLO Elettrodomestici are quite widespread, which produces the whole range of mannequins - from cheap household to industrial complexes. Among Russian firms, the Vyazemsky Machine-Building Plant is engaged in the production of inflatable ironing devices, which produces them under the Vyazma brand. The plant produces mainly semi-industrial complexes for steaming clothes. In the segment of cheap household devices, the Italian company Pony and the Chinese company Termaxi are represented.

The delivery set of devices usually includes:

• base (which usually contains the heater, control unit and fan);
• mount for inflatable parts;
• a set of accessories for securing clothes;
• an inflatable element for ironing shirts;
• inflatable doll for ironing trousers;
• auxiliary elements for stretching individual items of clothing (cuffs, bottom of shirts, collars).

Moreover, if almost all household models include dolls for both trousers and shirts at the same time, then professional options are often supplied with one non-removable inflatable part that allows you to iron only one type of clothing. This is due to the fact that professional devices are often included in the continuous technical process of an atelier, laundry or other business, and the loss of time for replacing a doll, in terms of production volumes, will be irrational.

Floor-standing models are additionally equipped with a crosspiece, which often has wheels. Often this part is equipped with a pneumatic regulator (gas lift), which allows you to set a convenient height of the product. Optionally, semi-professional and professional devices can be equipped with steam generators.

The main advantage of mannequins for ironing is a significant reduction in the amount of physical labor and time that needs to be spent on ironing clothes. For ironing by hand, the hostess has to:

• lay out the ironing board;
• adjust the iron;
• carry out prolonged ironing from the inside and the front side;
• disassemble the board;
• let the iron cool down.

The use of a mannequin requires the hostess only to install clothes on the inflatable doll, select a mode and remove clothes after the process is completed. The rest of the ironing on the mannequin is automatic; at this time, you can calmly do other things or relax, only occasionally straightening your clothes. In the case of continuous production, mannequins become practically irreplaceable, because their use can significantly reduce the number of ironing personnel.

You can iron clothes on mannequins immediately after washing and spinning; they do not need to be dried before that.Another important advantage of such devices is their significantly greater safety both for fabric and fusible items of clothing (for example, buttons), and for the hostess - after all, their surface does not have hot items, which means that the risk of getting burned disappears. At the same time, the energy consumption when using household models does not exceed the energy consumption for ironing with an iron - after all, their power (about 1.5 kW) is comparable to the power of popular electric irons.

The main disadvantage of these devices is their relatively high cost - household models cost from 70 to 200 thousand rubles, and professional devices will cost from 200 to 300 thousand rubles. Industrial steam machines so far have many disadvantages that are not typical for household models:

• very high cost;
• high power consumption;
• the need to install ventilation, connect to a water supply system and a 380 V power supply;
• danger to personnel (steam has a temperature of more than 100 ° C).

Ironing with a dummy is carried out in the following sequence. Place the clothes on the inflatable doll and secure with the clasps. Switch on the inflation mode and wait for the inflatable element to stretch the clothes. Use additional fasteners to evenly stretch the front and back of your shirt or pants. Turn on the heating function on the device. After waiting for the end of the process (usually a signal is given), be sure to switch the equipment for 30 seconds to the cold air supply mode. Unplug the mannequin and remove clothing from it. When ironing shirts, pay attention to the tightness of the cuffs and collar.

The versatile ironing robot created by the American company FoldiMate will help to reduce the time and effort even more. The dimensions of the device slightly exceed the dimensions of the washing machine, while up to 20 shirts or trousers can be loaded into it at the same time.

Most owners of household appliances note that their use can save a significant amount of time. Separately, the authors of the reviews say that you can iron shirts on a mannequin immediately after washing, which allows you to completely eliminate the procedure for drying clothes. Of the shortcomings of some models, the owners note a high level of noise when inflating the doll. Owners of devices with a power of less than 1.5 kW mention that they do not provide a sufficient level of smoothing of products made from dense or natural fabrics.

For an overview of the ironing mannequin, see the video below.