Ironing rollers: features, types, tips for choosing and using

Women and men who do housework often face the need to do monotonous and physically difficult work. It is for such classes that ironing. It would seem that there is nothing complicated in moving the iron across the fabric, and the apparatus itself weighs very little. However, ironing such large items as bedding or bath towels requires a lot of time and considerable effort, especially if the number of family members is much more than 1-2 people.

Most often, large and complex ironing machines are used in large industrial enterprises and in various laundries or dry cleaners. Such complex devices are called calendars and are, in fact, the forerunners of a small home ice rink. The fabric straightening technology itself remains the same in a large factory and in a small city apartment. The fabric is pulled onto a spinning drum and passed under a hot roller-iron or along a special trough that smooths the folds on it.

Outwardly, such a machine looks like a tall narrow tableon which the feed drum and ironing mechanism are located, and instead of the sides, there are heaters that supply heat. Management can occur both in automatic and in manual mode. In order to start the heating mechanism, you just need to turn on the roller in the network and press the power button, and to move the feed drum you need to press a special pedal.For convenience, it is placed below, and the operator presses it with his foot.

Roller ironing machine is much more expensive than iron and takes up a lot of space in the apartment. In addition, it is impossible to iron a shirt or trousers on it, since it is suitable only for working with direct linen, for example, pillowcases or curtains.

She has a certain list of advantages that outweigh these disadvantages.

• After leaving the ironing roller, the surface of the fabric is not just smoothed out from creases, it becomes perfectly smooth and pleasant to the touch, which is almost impossible to achieve with a conventional iron without a steamer.
• A person in the process of working with an ironing rink takes a comfortable position, sitting on a pouffe, chair or even in a soft chair. This is especially important for older people and those who have problems with the lumbar spine, as normal ironing takes place in a slight slope, and the load on this area can lead to complications.
• The unfolded ironing rink occupies a rather large area, however, there are folding models that easily fit in the bottom drawer of a chest of drawers or cabinet. In addition, this unit is convenient to move around the room and when unfolded due to the small wheels on which it is installed.

• The processing speed of even the highest mountain of clean laundry is very high, and the effort that the operator will spend is negligible. During that time, which takes the usual ironing of one pillowcase, the skating rink skips 3-4 sheets or towels. At the same time, unlike manual operation, the density and composition of the fabric practically do not affect the speed of work.
• Unlike a conventional iron, which is easy to burn the skin of the body and especially the hands, the hot parts of the ironing roller are located inside the mechanism. The feed drum also has a protection that reduces the risk of injury to almost nothing.
• Such a large number of advantages over an ordinary ironing board and an iron or a more modern, but not so fast steamer leads to the fact that an increasing number of owners of even small city apartments prefer to make this expensive purchase.

All ironing rollers can be classified depending on the complexity of the mechanism, while they are divided into two large groups.

• First group includes equipment with a heating plate located at the very top of the unit. From below, a roller sheathed with heat-resistant material is pressed to the hot plate, which scrolls the sheet or towel over the hot surface.

• Second group - These are the so-called drying and ironing devices. In this case, the unit is equipped with a metal shaft, which heats up and smoothes the laundry with high temperature or steam. Since in this case the pillowcase or duvet cover does not extend over the surface, but is rolled at a soft angle of 300 degrees, the fabric wears out less and remains softer.

For similar reasons, you can divide the ironing rollers into:

• grooved;
• calendaring.

The design of the first includes one heating element and a groove or shaft along which the fabric is fed. Electric heating does not allow drying clothes when ironing and requires a fabric whose moisture content does not exceed 5-10%.

The second devices include two or more drums with electric and steam heating, which must be connected to exhaust ventilation to remove hot steam. In such skating rinks, you can simultaneously iron and dry clothes after washing machines. However, most often, such devices are bulky and limited in mobility; therefore, they are installed in large laundries, and not in private houses and apartments.

Today, an increasing number of manufacturers of household appliances offer ironing rollers in the range of products.

To choose a quality product that will last for many years and will be convenient to use, It is necessary to decide on several basic parameters.

• Determine for what purpose the device is purchased. In the presence of a large number of similar items of the same type, such a purchase will indeed be justified. If the number of complex products exceeds the volume of bedding, towels and curtains, it is best to purchase a high-quality steamer or a good iron.
• Select unit performance. Ironing machine performance is the number of things that it can process in 1 hour. Large laundries and dry cleaners require more efficient machines, and even the smallest one is suitable for home use.

• Select the dimensions of the roller. Before buying, you should determine the installation location of the ironing machine and calculate the maximum permissible dimensions of the device. Most likely, its dimensions will be such that the sheet or duvet cover will have to be ironed, folded in half, otherwise the skating rink will occupy almost the entire wall.
• Additional functions. In the case when a drying machine is installed in the house or apartment with a washing machine, it is enough to purchase the simplest skating rink without the drying function.
• Shaft diameter. The larger the shaft has a diameter that heats and smoothes the laundry, the better the result. In addition, the productivity of the machine will significantly increase, since repeated ironing is definitely not required.

• Clamping the roller to a hot surface can be either manual or automatic. In the first case, the operator himself regulates the force of pressing the linen, and in the second, it is automatically adjusted. Of course, the second option is more expensive, but the quality of ironing will be higher.
• The speed of the roller can be adjustable and constant. The first devices are much more expensive, but also much more convenient to use. Depending on the thickness, quality and humidity of the fabric, it is possible to reduce or increase the speed of rotation of the feed shaft, thereby improving the smoothness of the product leaving the roller.

Different types of products require different handling, however, there are certain rules that are suitable for any ironing machine.

Even on high-quality devices with additional drying of linen, you can not lay fabric with which water flows down in streams. The moisture percentage of the towel or curtain should not exceed 50.

When the machine is idle, you cannot use it as a hanger or stand for other objects.

It is undesirable to start the rink idle, as this wears out the surface of the rollers and contributes to the breakdown of the device.

The laundry itself must be dried before ironing (if a conventional roller is used), slightly shake with your hands and carefully lay on the feed roller. The product should be straightened in whole or doubled, deep folds and creases should be straightened by hand. Do not pull the corners of the product in different directions and even more so try to stretch the edge that has already gone inside the rink. To prevent the side parts of the heating panel or roller from overheating, it is necessary to alternate the flow of large and small products. Proper operation of the ironing machine will allow him to serve much longer than the warranty period, while maintaining the original quality of linen for a longer period.

For an overview of the ironing machine, see the next video.