Freedom from ironing

BBC News: Design may be homeowners' choice.

A new machine which washes, dries and irons clothes could clean up for a Devon student.  Oliver Blackwell, who designed the WashDryIron, is exhibiting the machine at next month's Ideal Home Show.  The University of Plymouth graduate hopes the machine will become an object of desire because it saves about 10 days a year in ironing time.

The 23-year-old student's innovative idea was thought up for his final degree project.  He told BBC News: "There are thousands of exceptional students out there and I knew I had to come up with a damn good product idea to pass my finals.  A washing machine seemed quite obvious and almost everyone uses one."  The machine washes, dries and irons clothes in separate compartments and is said to eliminate colour runs, shrinkage and ironing.

Ironing is evil, tedious, and sometimes painful.  The WashDryIron is a big machine, wonder how it compares in energy and water efficiency to using separate machines?  It's almost impossible to find a combined washer/dryer in the US that doesn't cost the earth, and they're big ugly monsters.  What boggles me is the ten days a year I'm supposed to be spending ironing!