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I can be pretty certain that no daycare or preschool in this country is having their linens ironed lol. I toured dozens before finding the one my children attended, and I picked it partly because of its exceptional cleanliness and neatness (not that any I saw were horrendous) and the carers that worked there probably would have laughed if I’d asked if they iron anything. They did have their own laundry on site, a front loader Speed Queen, and they took turns everyday doing the wash. Now, I’m sure there are daycare facilities in larger cities that probably just have their linens professionally laundered, and that would get ironed, but it still would not be the actual employees of that facility. I will say that it wouldn’t surprise me if French crèches are actually bothering to iron, they’re pretty good at making American daycares and preschools look bad in almost every way and this would just be one more thing.

How common are these ironers in Europe anyway? I had only ever seen such things at professional dry cleaners here, I had no idea they were even available to regular consumers. I have to admit, if I had the money, I would snap one right up. I just imagine how much easier it would be for me to iron fabric for sewing projects, curtains and drapes, tablecloths (which I always have on my kitchen table), and bedsheets. I’m also slightly entranced by the videos on YouTube demonstrating these ironers, they make it seem so peaceful and calming and the women look so dignified doing it. I’m probably succumbing to the marketing but I kinda want to be one of these women in the videos!
 
Let's put it this way from first hand knowledge:  cleanliness levels are so superior in Eureopean countries compared to ours!  Never saw an ironer in use, but who's knows!   I so miss my Miele ironer that's in storage!! G
 
Pfaff Ironer

Laundress, isn’t that the ironer that was built from the Ironrite design? Open ended on both sides of the roller and center mounted roller. I remember in an ironer discussion years ago someone brought up another reason linens were ironed and this was for sanitation. I would imagine this would help keep things in a nursery or pre-school “cleaner”.
 
Pfaff Literally Made "Ironrite" Type Ironers

Using the expired patents from the defunct Ironrite company. Early models look nearly exactly like my portable Ironrite 890.

See: https://www.shpock.com/en-gb/i/XBe-JvYXFieJYp78/pfaff-buegelmaschine

https://www.ricardo.ch/de/a/buegelmaschine-pfaff-typ-68012-1035546182/

https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/pfaff-buegelmaschine/1027733190-176-7477

Pfaff was eventually gobbled up by a venture capital company (same one that owned Singer), and it was a horrible day for sewing machine enthusiasts. Factories and inventory at main headquarters in Germany were promptly emptied out of all remaining inventory and or anything else of "old" Pfaff. New machines, parts, mother boards, etc...all joined office furnishings (right down to clocks on walls) that went into bins to be rubbished. Some loyal Pfaff employees and enthuaisits tried to save what they could, but that was that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfaff

Pfaff long ceased making ironers. A company called Holek now produces them under a variety of brand names such as Singer, Ironnette and others.

https://www.mangelwaren.de/Steam-ironer-580-ironing-machine-rotary-press-Refurbished

https://www.schanbacher.de/ironnette-85.html

You can see from this video that same woman as in above kindergarten film is demonstrating the Ironnette. They've used a British announcer as voice over giving directions.


Personally wouldn't bother with these new "Pfaff styled" ironers. Not when can get an Ironrite almost for nothing (literally) here in the states.

In Europe there are tons of old Pfaff ironers being offered up especially in Germany. Most can be had for very little money, certainly far less than what an Ironnette goes for new.
 
@passatdoc

As noted only "new" rotary irons for domestic use sold in USA besides Miele are those Pfaff clones being sold under various brand names (Singer, Verve, etc...).

Pfaff ironers on this side of pond are rare (I've scored two; saw a third but let it go), and personally if space isn't an issue I'd recommend getting an Ironrite. You can find late model 95's all over often for very little money. Someone in PA was literally giving theirs away on CL with no takers.

Steam function for an ironer is a gimmick IMHO. Commercial laundries never have and still don't use; but rather simply iron damp things dry.

Besides it takes quite a lot of power to both generate steam (in any decent amount) and provide heat for ironing. My large Pfaff pulls > 2.5Kw, so cannot imagine what an American ironer does limited to 120v at maybe 15amps.
 
How common are these ironers in Europe anyway?

Had a detailed response typed out, hit "enter" and got the dreaded "Error 500" message, so am done on that score. *LOL*

Basically yes, there is a decent market for ironers/mangles in Europe. Not large as once was, but never the less demand seems to exist far more than in USA. Germany and some eastern European countries come to mind.

There is even a company called Mangelwaren who sells refurbished and new ironers/mangles with worldwide shipping.

Also at least in Germany you can still find plenty of "ironing services"; that is places where you take freshly laundered things to be ironed.

Loading…

buegelservice-engen.de
 
Rotary irons were common enough in B&Bs (small family run often fairly remote hotels) here in Ireland. It would be a total nightmare to iron bed linen by hand and a lot of laundry like that wouldn't be sent out.

Bigger hotels rarely do laundry in house these days. Makes more sense to have it done on a very large scale by a commercial laundry.
 
Just did a quick Google. Seems quite a few Irish electrical retailers like DID and Harvey Norman stock Miele's rotary iron.

Loading…

www.did.ie
 
Out sourcing laundry is big on this side of pond as well.

Hotels, hospitals, restaurants, etc... Changes in labor laws beginning in 1970's or so, rising cost of labor/supplies and fact laundries are both a capital and ongoing expense just made sending things out cheaper/easier. Many places don't even own their linen any longer; rather the linen service who does the washing.

For households or small businesses that generate a good amount of linen wanting ironing, a mangle/ironer isn't a bad investment. Can really cut down on laundry expenses.

Miele is probably the only one still making a high quality ironer for domestic and or light commercial use. That "Verve" or whatever ironer isn't in same ballpark.
 
It's the same here but it's as much about changing labour laws, as just specialisation and economics of scale. If you're processing vast amounts of laundry, it becomes a serious industrial process so you can achieve a lot more economies, automation and also probably reduced environmental impact in many cases too.
 
It can go either way

Many large healthcare or hotel/hospitality systems have their own laundries. Disney World in Florida comes to mind, as do many large hospital networks.

Tunnel washer and other technology is rapidly changing the "commercial" or industrial laundry game. It is now possible to process thousands of pounds of linens/textiles per hour with comparatively few workers. All this with being more environmentally friendly in terms of resources/energy used.

What this does is lead to ever more consolidation in commercial laundry business. If one plant can process hundreds of thousands of pounds per day, and do it for less than another, guess who is going to get business?







All this being said outsourcing laundry still brings same issues as sending things out always has; you don't have direct control over quality, turn around time can mean shortages.

For those and various other reasons you still see some hospitals, hotels and other places with in house laundry facilities.

 
I remember that some well to do people or big households had one at home. Neighbours, a family with 9 children had a Siemens IIRC. Their housekeeper would do some ironing on it now and then. Most people don't iron anymore as it was done in the past. Only shirts get ironed in a lot of households, the reason for the appearance on dedicated shirt ironers on the market.
 
Long used in commercial laundries, those inflatable shirt pressing devices are now showing up for home use. Some are rubbish, but others look a bit more promising.





Problem is many of these units sold for domestic market are vastly under powered and thus cannot supply enough heat and air to get the job done quickly, and or with good results. Ones sold for North American market being restricted to 120v power fall into this category.

By the time one sets things up, then waits for the usually > ten minutes for machine to do its work would have been faster to just iron shirt by hand.
 
I inherited a Swiss made Elna Press which my mother had bought in the early 90s and had assumed it would be a massive time saver for the whole household. It was always pointless and ended up being consigned to the shed almost totally unused.

I've never really understood what the purpose of it is. It's a very inflexible way of ironing.

It's now ended up in my basement and I think I've used it once.

The only ironing gadget that I've ever found genuinely useful is my Tefal steam generator. Wouldn't be without that. You can get great results with just steam for jackets and delicate items
 

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