Never Iron Naked

There's A Reason They Call It A "Mangle"

Over at Leslie's blog, she references one of the weirdest appliances I have the pleasure to own.

Behold the Ironrite Model 88, aka the Mangle Iron.





I lifted these pics from eBay, where the wood-cased model in question was selling for about a C-note. Mine looks much better than this one, due to fairly frequent applications of furniture polish and my strict policy of never, ever ironing anything at all. Hey, I'm wrinkled, but happy.

The Ironrite works by heating up an ironing plate, and having a rotating roller drag your clothing along that plate, and coming out wrinkle-free.

Now, I'm not sure of what automatic safety devices are installed in Mangle Irons, but I'm guessing that since most of them were made in the 30's & 40's, there wasn't much thought given to stray appendages being hauled into the pressworks. Hence, the title of the post, Never Iron Naked!

I've used my Ironrite as a minibar, a TV stand, a bookshelf, and a serving table. Mostly, though, it's a conversation piece, where I throw back the lid and ask "So, guess what this is!"

Hmmm... y'know, the cats are looking awfully wrinkled. I bet if I set it to a low heat setting, they'd feed right through!