For many of us, folding laundry is one of the most tedious chores around the house. And while washing machines and dryers have made cleaning clothes easier over the decades, there hasn’t really been an innovation that takes the monotony out of folding.

But a solution could be in sight!

American-based FoldiMate Inc., has plans to begin production of a folding machine about the size of your washer or dryer in 2017. Costs will range between $700-$850 for the machine that will uniformly fold shirts, pants and towels.

Also on the horizon is the Laundroid from China-based Seven Dreamers. While not yet on the market, this folding machine will first be marketed to nursing homes, hospitals and hotels, also sometime in 2017. The cost for the refrigerator-sized machine has not been released.

Put simply, this is an exciting innovation. Just like we moved from beating laundry on rocks to wringing it through a tub to the current array of machines that clean on command, the folding machine has the potential to take us out of the Dark Ages of folding clothes. It’s not Rosie from The Jetsons, but just imagine putting your clean laundry in the machine before bed and waking to a stack of neatly folded clothes.

If you look at the evolution of the television or any other major electronic device it our homes, technology moves swiftly from introduction to household acceptance. While the cost of a folding machine may be prohibitive at first, it won’t be long before these devices are affordable standards in many homes.

Until these become standard in-home appliances, though, we have to make do with the available laundry shortcuts. Wrinkle sprays and fabric softeners help with the look of your laundry, and folding boards like you find on Amazon help. Our tips like color-coding socks for each family member and buying socks in bulk make keeping track of socks easier, and simple organizing tips can make the laundry room more user-friendly. If you’re really curious (and talented), there’s even a link to a YouTube video that shows you how to pinch a T-shirt in places that results in an origami-like folded shirt.

For more laundry tips and tricks, be sure to visit our blog posts, and, as always, give us a call to help with all your organizing needs!