Thanks to the Dyson V10 Cyclone, I feel like a Ghostbuster when I’m doing the vacuuming, while my Hotpoint dishwasher let’s me live the lie that fairies in white goods boxes do the majority of my other chores for me.
But ironing shirts? That’s still a serious hassle. Creases are my enemy, and put my sartorial ambitions to shame every morning.
Could anything help my unskilled hands to make my garments look like anything other than crumpled paper blowing in the wind?
Yes, there is: enter the Philips PerfectCare Elite Plus, the world’s first “smart” steam generator iron. I never thought I’d be willing to recommend a £520 (about $685 / AU$955) iron, but by dammit, I’m going to try.
Steamy sensors
I’ve been living with the Philips PerfectCare Elite Plus for a few months now and, dare I say it, it’s made ironing fun.
It’s a huge thing – being a steam-focused iron, it requires a water reservoir built into a base that's close to the size of a small microwave. But once you un-clip the smooth-gliding iron and feel its near-industrial performance, you’ll be willing to let it take up a whole room in your home, rent free.
Somewhat attractive with its bronze and black finish, what makes the Philips PerfectCare Elite Plus special is the amount of sensors it’s decked out with, which make it near-impossible for you to damage your clothes with it, and allows you to iron in or out creases with ease and precision.
The iron uses just one setting, no matter what type of fabric you’re dragging it across, be that cotton or jeans, silk or polyester, pumping out steam as it moves automatically to help you avoid singeing your clothing. What’s particularly smart is the onboard motion sensor – if it notices a lack of movement, it’ll quickly halt the steam, cooling the underside of the iron and letting you leave it for as long as you want right on your delicate clothes without moving or turning off the iron, safe in the knowledge it won’t burn through.
Smart suits, safe silks
Philips PerfectCare Elite Plus is also aware of the type of fabric it is working on, and will adjust its steam output accordingly. This sensor, which Philips calls the DynamicQ steam sensor, works by detecting the depth of a crease based on the speed with which you’re ironing across a surface. It guarantees that you’ll be crease free in no time.
If you’ve got super delicate garments that you don’t want to put any pressure on at all, or just need a quick freshen up for a lightly-scrunched t-shirt, the iron can also be used as a manual upright steamer for clothes hanging in place.
In a nutshell, it’s super-safe, super-foolproof ironing, using the sort of technology – accelerometer and heat sensors and the like – that you’d never expect to trickle down into this sort of household good.
It’s of course prohibitively expensive and exactly the sort of item you could build a side-hustle second business around. So quick and reliable is the Philips PerfectCare Elite Plus, and so crease-inducing is that price tag.
But if the luxury lifestyle is yours for the taking, and you’re too modest to get your butler to do the chores for you, this is one extravagance that will make your life for easier.
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