Khalin
10-30-2004, 12:06 AM
is it a laundry "must-have"? Or should you pass?
Like a lot of people, I hate folding clothes. So anything that promises to make it neat and easy gets my attention.
When I saw an ad for a clothes folding mat, I bought one for $12.99 plus tax, so we could all find out -- Does it work?
Here's the promise: Neatly folded, uniform shirts, just like the pros do it.
Lay your shirt on the folding mat and fold right, fold left, fold the bottom, and Bingo -- a neatly folded shirt.
But Marichu Ferguson of Kent is skeptical. She's a folding perfectionist.
She takes special care to smooth out wrinkles, match seams, and get rid of every loose end on every garment. And looking at her work, we admit, she gets good results on her own.
Now, the folding mats are supposed to make it a lot easier. There are a number of brands on the market, and they sell for between $12 and $15. Marichu has agreed to try it out.
Right away, she has to spend of time adjusting and smoothing between each flip of the mat. The sleeves and shirt tails have to be tucked in by hand.
And while the mat seems to be doing a fairly good job, Marichu's not impressed with the loose ends.
"It doesn't fold right," she said. "And then you still have to adjust the sleeves."
Again, she's a perfectionist. But remember the illustration: Simply fold, fold, fold. Based on our experience, it isn't quite the same as the picture on the box suggests.
Marichu says there's no question the folding mat is easy to use, and it does fold in "relatively" uniform sizes. But when asked if she thought she could fold faster, she said, "Yes and I think I can fold it neater."
Marichu's recommendation? If like her, you already know how to fold clothes well, stick with what you're doing.
On the other hand...
"Well the only person I know who could benefit from this is somebody who doesn't know how to fold at all, because this will just give them an idea how to go about it," Marichu said.
Other consumers are more generous. They like the folding mats because even with the adjustments, you get everything folded in a uniform size, which makes for neater storage.
So they do work, just be prepared to do a little more smoothing and adjusting than the claims lead you to believe.
You also have to evaluate whether the uniformity and neater folding job is worth the money.
Like a lot of people, I hate folding clothes. So anything that promises to make it neat and easy gets my attention.
When I saw an ad for a clothes folding mat, I bought one for $12.99 plus tax, so we could all find out -- Does it work?
Here's the promise: Neatly folded, uniform shirts, just like the pros do it.
Lay your shirt on the folding mat and fold right, fold left, fold the bottom, and Bingo -- a neatly folded shirt.
But Marichu Ferguson of Kent is skeptical. She's a folding perfectionist.
She takes special care to smooth out wrinkles, match seams, and get rid of every loose end on every garment. And looking at her work, we admit, she gets good results on her own.
Now, the folding mats are supposed to make it a lot easier. There are a number of brands on the market, and they sell for between $12 and $15. Marichu has agreed to try it out.
Right away, she has to spend of time adjusting and smoothing between each flip of the mat. The sleeves and shirt tails have to be tucked in by hand.
And while the mat seems to be doing a fairly good job, Marichu's not impressed with the loose ends.
"It doesn't fold right," she said. "And then you still have to adjust the sleeves."
Again, she's a perfectionist. But remember the illustration: Simply fold, fold, fold. Based on our experience, it isn't quite the same as the picture on the box suggests.
Marichu says there's no question the folding mat is easy to use, and it does fold in "relatively" uniform sizes. But when asked if she thought she could fold faster, she said, "Yes and I think I can fold it neater."
Marichu's recommendation? If like her, you already know how to fold clothes well, stick with what you're doing.
On the other hand...
"Well the only person I know who could benefit from this is somebody who doesn't know how to fold at all, because this will just give them an idea how to go about it," Marichu said.
Other consumers are more generous. They like the folding mats because even with the adjustments, you get everything folded in a uniform size, which makes for neater storage.
So they do work, just be prepared to do a little more smoothing and adjusting than the claims lead you to believe.
You also have to evaluate whether the uniformity and neater folding job is worth the money.