✨ Ironing Reinvented: Elevate Your Routine!
The Laurastar Magic iS6 Ironing System combines Swiss design with innovative features, offering automatic steam technology, customizable height settings, and a compact, easy-to-store design. With a long electric cable and energy-saving capabilities, this system is perfect for the modern professional looking to streamline their ironing experience.
D**Y
You may even enjoy ironing
The Swiss are very serious about ironing. A good-sized appliance store will offer two or three such "ironing systems", and at least half a dozen different steam generator irons, which seem to sell better than ordinary irons.There are three different levels of ironing setups. The base level, which is the only one that most Americans know about, is the ordinary, self-contained steam iron. Even the best of these is a pain in the neck to use.The second level is a steam generator iron--an iron in which the boiler that makes the steam is not part of the iron that you move back and forth over the fabric, but rather connected to it by a flexible hose. Unfortunately, a typical American ironing board has no place to put the heavy steam unit, but if you can configure your ironing space close to a sturdy table, this can work very well (if a little awkwardly).The third level, which is represented by the iS6, has the steam generator built into a special ironing board. The board is set up to blow air up through the fabric, or to draw air down through it. At first I thought it a defect that there was no way just to turn the air off, but I've gotten used to it--it does automatically turn off the air whenever you put the iron down on its rest. If you want to get high-level functionality and save some money, you can buy a blower board separately. But having the whole thing in one package that folds away and has wheels to move it is very convenient.So who spends thousands of dollars on one of their most reviled household appliances? Well, one way to look at it is that whoever has to do such a loathsome job as ironing should at least get the benefit of good equipment. And that's the way I started. But I found that ironing with good equipment is really rather a pleasant job. Shortly after I got the iS6, I bought a big stack of nice linen napkins mostly because they're fun to iron--it's oddly satisfying to send great blasts of steam to subdue the unruly linen, and my dinner guests always notice the elegant touch. Climbing into bed with freshly ironed sheets once a week is something to look forward to. I suppose it takes a certain domestic inclination that not everyone will share, but for me ironing has become a task I look forward to, and crisp clothes and linens are little luxuries that I appreciate all the more because I provided them for myself.The iS6 has a few quirks that take some getting used to. The feature that turns the steam on and off according to which way the iron is moving seems wrong, at first, but once you get used to the feature it begins to make sense. The "origami" board cover does not, that I can tell, have any useful function apart from ironing. The water filtration system looks rather fussy to me, and I'm glad that my water is soft enough that I don't need it. The iron does take a few minutes to heat up.
A**R
Beware of the pitfalls:
NOISE. Don't believe that the LauraStar systems are any quieter than any of the others you may have heard about that are noisy. On the company's website there is a press release with a claim that they are very quiet. The demo video is misleading - you only hear the steam (which you experience with any other steam station too), but not the pump pushing the water or the fan that pushes the air blowing up the ironing board or pulling your clothes down to the board. You cannot hope to watch TV or listen to the radio at normal volume while ironing. Earphones might help. If you're sensitive you may get a headache from the steady noise level. The on-again-off-again motor noises were so bad, we immediately returned the system, and took the hit of the "restocking fee" of 15% plus more than $150 for the privilege of shipping and insuring it at our cost, to avoid a claim on the other end that it arrived damaged. The website of LauraStar's US distributor says customers have two weeks to return systems without charge, but we ordered by phone after having trouble with the dealer network (see below).HEIGHT. The ironing board is so compact, that it doesn't lower closer than 32 inches to the floor. For someone who is around 5'2" in height or less, the height of the board makes ironing very tiresome for the arms. You can't alter anything on the system to make it go lower.US DEALER NETWORK. On the LauraStar-USA website, there is a map of the US with dealers marked all over it, giving the impression that there is wide support throughout the country. We called five of them on the east coast - we were willing to drive 100+ miles to see the machine in action and order one. None of the five had any goods in stock. One listed store in North Carolina got on the dealer list after the owner had ordered a machine for her private use. A shop in New Jersey claimed it had stock - but when we arrived after a long drive from Virginia, there was just one older model on the floor (which wasn't the one we asked about on the phone). While we were in the store, the proprietor made us a good offer for the one we came to see, which we accepted. He then telephoned what he said was a warehouse nearby where stock was kept. We thought we could stay overnight nearby and collect the machine we wanted the next day. That failed - it appeared to us that the distributor was closed on Saturday. So we then bought into the idea of letting the dealer call on Monday, when the local warehouse would be open, from where the shop owner said he would have the system shipped and pay half of the freight cost. We found out later, when we called to get a freight tracking number, that the call was actually being made to the national distributor in Oregon. There would have been no way we could have had a machine during our stay over the weekend. Eventually, the dealer cancelled our order with no notice or explanation, which is how we wound up calling the US distributor in Oregon on our own.The advantage of this system is continuous ironing since there is no time lost for the cooling off and/or reheating. You just refill the water tank as often as needed.All in all, the experience was poor, the concept is good, but the product needs improvements.
A**R
Not worth the premium over S4e
This is by far the best iron I've ever had! It makes ironing so effortless. One pass with the iron, and your clothes are wrinkle free. This cuts down my ironing time significantly. The steam pressure is unbelievable. The downside to this, is that you can hear the pump. The noise doesn't bother me, but I can see how you would not want to iron in the middle of the night. It is not silent like other "normal" irons, but the performance of those "normal" irons are nowhere near as good as this one. Trust me on that. Another great thing is that clothes stay smooth after you iron them. I noticed that with my old iron, if I iron my clothes ahead of time, they get wrinkled again after a few days in the closet. This does not happen with the Laura Star iron.The product description states that this has a retractable cord, but it actually does not. That was one of the main reason I chose this model instead of S4e, so that was a real bummer.The other "upgrade" is the auto steam mode. This also is sub-par. In auto mode, the steam is triggered if you push forward the iron a certain way (the trigger is in the handle), so it's a hit and miss. The manual mode is very easy to use, and actually gives you better control of the steam on/off. The only two reasons to buy i-S6 instead of S4e are not worth it. Save your money, and buy S4e instead.
M**M
Easy to use
This is truly a professional iron for your home. Easy to use too
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