Folding clothes is easy enough. Problem is, it still takes a bit of time, making it quite the annoying post-laundry chore. Like all annoying chores, it makes sense to leave the job to the robots instead and that’s exactly why Foldimate exists.
Completing the robot takeover of our laundry chores, the appliance is designed as a third addition to the washing machine and clothes dryer you have lined up in the basement. That way, you don’t just have to leave the laundry room with your clothes properly washed and dried, you can come out with every item neatly folded, too.
That’s right, someone finally made a garment-folding robot. However, Foldimate isn’t quite as hands-off as your existing washing machine and dryer, so it’s not entirely the perfect solution to the problem. Instead, it requires you to be present during the folding process, since it can only process up to 20 garments at a time, so you’ll likely need to do several batches to finish up a load. To use, you’ll have to manually attach each of the 20 garments to the appliance’s clips, after which, it will commence with the folding process (it can also steam, de-wrinkle, and even treat clothes with a fabric softener at the same time).
In its current incarnation, the machine takes around 10 seconds to fold each garment (adding steaming and other processes will extend that), so it should finish a batch in just a few minutes. It measures 28 x 32 x 31 inches and weighs 66 pounds.
Currently still in development, the Foldimate is slated to go to market in 2018.