Will the Kogan Hands-Free Automatic Ironing Machine replace your iron or garment steamer when it comes to tackling a basket of creased shirts? Definitely not. However, it does a decent job at taking the wrinkles out of a shirt or pair of trousers with little effort from the user. It is also a handy way to quickly dry a single item, as you can take garments directly from the washing machine, still damp, and have them crease-free and dry within 20–30 minutes.
If you enjoy ironing or you iron more than a few items at a time, this is not the solution for you. But it could be just the ticket for the occasional or lazy ironer who needs to do one or two shirts every once in a while. One word of warning – despite claims of being quiet, this device is as loud as a stick vac so you might want to step out of the room while it works its magic.
Star rating: 2/5 if you do a lot of ironing, 3.5/5 if you’re just an occasional ironer
The Kogan Hands-Free Automatic Ironing Machine includes a main unit to blow hot air, three specially shaped nylon material casings and a central bracket that can be attached in various configurations to dry and take creases out of your trousers, shirts and even wet sneakers.
The main unit is about the size of a large toaster and produces a stream of hot air to inflate the casings. Perforations in the material allow the hot air to dry the clothing. There is only one speed setting and you can set the appliance to operate anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours.
Setup and storage
This isn’t a particularly complex machine, and the instructions were well laid out and illustrated, making it simple to understand.
The unit can be pulled apart and put back in the box for storage very easily, making it an ideal solution for occasional use.
This device only produces hot air, so you’ll need to add water for it to work properly, by using steam. But unlike a traditional iron or garment steamer, you don’t add water to the appliance, instead, you’ll need to dampen the clothes themselves.
If you’re grabbing damp clothes out of the washing machine, you can simply put them straight on the casing and turn the machine on. If you are working with dry clothes, then you will need to dampen them first with a pump spray bottle.
2. Insert the central bracket
The standard central bracket with hanger section attached.
Once you have your damp clothing selected and ready to be ironed, the next step is to insert the central bracket into the centre of the unit.
If you’re doing a shirt, you use the entire bracket with the two central rods and the hanger rods attached at the top. If you’re doing jeans, you’ll only need the two central rods (not the hanger section) so that you can slide the trouser legs over the them.
For shoes, you won’t need to use the central bracket at all (more on this below).
3. Choose your casing and put garment in place
The next step is to choose the appropriate “casing” for the garment. The casings are essentially large plastic shapes with holes in them that sit inside your garment, inflating them with hot, warm air. Once you’ve applied your casing, you’ll need to put the garment in place over the top of it before switching on the unit.
Shirt casing
The shirt is placed on top of the casing.
The casing for shirts is likely to be used the most often. It is shaped like a raincoat with perforated holes to let out hot air while the arm sleeves are sealed. The casing is placed over a hard plastic bracket, followed by the shirt.
Once the machine is turned on and hot air blows, this creates an unusual (and frankly hilarious) flailing figure that is reminiscent of the promotional balloon figures commonly seen in car sale yards. Clip-on weights are supplied to put onto the bottom of the shirt and keep movement to a minimum.
Cotton/polyester blend shirts generally take around 20 minutes.
Trouser and jean casing
Getting a pair of wet jeans over the plastic casing can be tricky.
The casing for drying and ironing trousers and jeans must be placed over the central bracket, then you’ll need to carefully slide both individual legs over the two central rods of the bracket. The setup process is quite fiddly as the wet jean legs need to be carefully slid over the rods to ensure the casing isn’t damaged.
Jeans may take an hour or more to be dried and ironed depending on the level of creasing or dampness.
Shoe casing
A strange sight, but this setup will get you a dry pair of shoes.
There is also a casing included specifically for drying your sneakers and it does a surprisingly good job. This is the only casing that does not require the central bracket to be placed over the hot air blower. You simply stretch the casing over the lid of the unit and place the end of each sleeve into the wet shoe and, in time, you will get a dry pair of sneakers.
The manual warns you not to use leather (real or faux) or memory foam shoes, so it’s mainly a solution for wet mesh material sneakers.
Should you buy a Kogan hands-free ironing machine?
Whether you should buy the Kogan ironing machine really depends on the sort of ironer you are. If you like ironing (I hear there are such people) and enjoy working through a basket of laundry relatively quickly, then this simply is not for you.
The setup isn’t too onerous if you’re just dealing with a single item, but doing multiple shirts and trousers quickly becomes finicky compared to an iron, steam station or garment steamer and it’s also a lot slower than manual ironing. If you have a basket full of shirts to iron, at 20 minutes per shirt you’re looking at hours of attending to this machine.
It has the benefit of being hands-free and relatively foolproof once you’ve done the set up
However for single items, it has the benefit of being hands-free and relatively foolproof once you’ve done the set up. Once you get the machine going, you can get ready for work, have breakfast or do anything other than ironing a shirt.
That said, unlike the quiet pursuit of ironing, this is a very noisy machine so it could be very irritating if you are in a small apartment. This is probably another reason it’s more appropriate as a once-in-a-while appliance rather than something you want to have running for hours a day.
The best irons in CHOICE testing
CHOICE experts have been testing irons, steam stations and garment steamers in our labs for years, so we know a thing or two about which appliances will get your shirts crisp and your linens smoothed. Read our advice on how to buy the best iron and check out our expert steam iron reviews to figure out which appliances are worth spending your money on.
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Denis Gallagher is a Senior project officer for Digital home products and also works on test projects for the laundry and fridge labs. He produces tests for gadgets, phones, cameras and home entertainment gear as well as TVs, washing machines, dishwashers and fridges.
Previously at CHOICE, Denis worked as a Content producer for digital products. Prior to CHOICE, Denis worked as an Assistant editor on Golf Australia magazine and Editor for Multimedia and Videocamera magazine.
Denis has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New South Wales and a Diploma of Journalism from Macleay College. LinkedIn
Denis Gallagher is a Senior project officer for Digital home products and also works on test projects for the laundry and fridge labs. He produces tests for gadgets, phones, cameras and home entertainment gear as well as TVs, washing machines, dishwashers and fridges.
Previously at CHOICE, Denis worked as a Content producer for digital products. Prior to CHOICE, Denis worked as an Assistant editor on Golf Australia magazine and Editor for Multimedia and Videocamera magazine.
Denis has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New South Wales and a Diploma of Journalism from Macleay College. LinkedIn
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