When I was about three-years-old, Father Christmas came to visit the house I lived in with my parents and grandparents. My dad was nowhere around that day, but I do remember Father Christmas coming into the room with his big red coat and long white beard.
I remember it because I was terrified! I screamed and cried and clambered up onto my Yiayia’s lap to try to get away. It probably wasn’t the plan my poor dad had when he dressed up in my cousin’s red coat and cotton wool beard. The grown-ups all thought it would likely be a lovely idea creating memories to treasure. The memories stuck alright, albeit for the wrong reasons.
Of the gifts I received that year I remember clearly my favourite being a toy ironing board and iron. The iron was a particular novelty, being a miniature version of the one my nan used to use, except mine had a suction cap you would stick to the wall, the skirting board, or my grandad’s forehead as he tried to nap in his chair.
I was always very watchful when my Yiayia (Greek for nan) ironed. She would set her board up behind her armchair in the living room just a little to the side of the adjoining kitchen door. And then she would begin. And nothing in the ironing pile was missed.
When I say nothing was missed, I mean nothing was missed.
Every item of clothing was ironed down to socks and underwear. Every tea towel, dishcloth or flannel was firmly pressed and flattened into shape. I always watched at how expertly she removed the creases from everything that came to hand. I was never allowed to get too close in case I got burnt. The compulsory distance I had to maintain together with my Yiayia’s seemingly effortless expertise resulting in the transformation of a crumpled pile of fabrics into a neatly pressed stack of items made it seem like such a novelty to me. I couldn’t wait until I had my own real iron!
Of course, then I became the grown-up and became the owner of a real iron. It didn’t take long for the novelty to wear off and ironing quickly became a chore rather than the pleasure I had always envisaged it as being when I was a child.
As my family grew, so did the laundry pile. Now we go through approximately 5 loads of washing a day. That’s 5 loads in a 9kg washing machine making a total of approximately 63kgs of washing a week.
Can you imagine that ironing pile?!
Returning from camping doesn’t help that figure at all. I mean, just look at what the previously empty bin looked like last time…
There is a laundry basket somewhere under there
That, my friends, is Mount Washmore.
Hikers and mountaineers have surrendered the challenge of reaching the summit of that lot.
In case you need it pointing out, that is a lot of ironing.
And, unlike my Yiayia, I don’t bother with the undies or the socks either!
And I have other things I would rather do with my time.
Because life is too short for ironing.
And that’s where Philips’ range of PerfectCare Elite steam generators come in.
You see, the clever folk over at Philips realised that we grown-ups had more important things to do with our time than to spend it flattening our fabrics.
“Hoorah for Philips!” you may say.
Oh yes, but let me explain why.
No, they didn’t convince parliament to pass a law to make wearing clothes illegal for all, which is probably not a bad thing glances down.
They did create a range of products proven to be the world’s fastest and most powerful steam generator irons on the market. [ i ]
Tell me more! How can the PerfectCare Elite Silence save you time ironing?
The short version, given that we’re talking about saving time, is that the range is quick, efficient and requires less effort and thought on your part.
Trust me.
The more informative and detailed version that Philips would probably prefer me to share would probably be more like this:
Now, I tried out the PerfectCare Elite Silence which has been proven to save an average of 40 minutes ironing time based on an average 120 minutes worth of ironing [ii]. Less time ironing means more time for other stuff. That doesn’t sound bad at all to me. But how does it work?
As you will soon gather, the Philips PerfectCare Elite Silence is not just another steam generator or iron. To begin with, there’s no temperature dial at all meaning you can’t adjust the required temperature in order to iron between different fabrics.
You can’t adjust it because you don’t need to.
This is because of the OptimalTEMP technology it uses.
“Ah, of course!” you say to your screen as you read this.
Then you turn to the kids and ask them, “Optiwhat?”
Or was that just me?
OptimalTEMP means that the PerfectCare Elite Silence never changes temperature. Instead it uses smart chip technology which ensures that the soleplate stays at one low, constant temperature at all times. You don’t have to spend time adjusting a dial to find the right temperature for delicates and you don’t have to waste time waiting for it to heat up or cool down accordingly depending on what needs ironing next.
But surely a low temperature means it won’t remove creases effectively?
You’d think that, wouldn’t you?
The Perfectcare Elite Silence tackles the stubbornest of creases thanks to its powerful steam output. In fact, the steam is so effective that a hotter temperature on the soleplate isn’t necessary at all. You can even steam vertically making it useful to give hanging shirts or curtains a quick decrease when you need it.
As you don’t need to adjust the temperature, you no longer need to work out piles of different types of fabrics before you begin. Just grab them out of the basket as they come and get ironing without worrying whether you’re next item is denim or silk!
With the combination of the constant low heat and superb steam power, the PerfectCare Elite is able to lay claim to having the fastest ironing experience [i i i].
But will losing the ability to manually control temperature result in me ruining my clothes?
Not at all. In fact, Philips are so certain that they’ve put up a no-burn guarantee on all ironable fabrics ironed with the PerfectCare range. If you can iron it, the PerfectCare range won’t burn it. And you don’t have to worry about getting distracted and leaving your iron sitting soleplate down on the board, returning to a black scald mark… or worse. Hands up anyone who has done that? (Puts own hand slowly up).
So that’s how it saves time!
Well, yes.
That. And also all this…
The PerfectCare Elite Silence comes with a hefty 1.8 litre water tank that you can fill up straight from the tap meaning you don’t have to fiddle with jugs or bottles, and you don’t have to make several trips back and forth to top up with. The tank also has an indicator which lets you know when it needs refilling.
The iron itself is tremendously light to hold meaning less weight to manoeuvre and therefore less effort on your part. I think my Yiayia would definitely have liked the light weight of the iron itself. She would very well have celebrated by ironing more socks.
In addition, the iron also possesses Philips’ revolutionary T-ionicGLIDE soleplate technology. Its patented new coating combined with the carefully designed shape and vent holes creates more evenly distributed steam distribution resulting in faster, more efficient ironing.
It steams vertically so you don’t have to remove curtains from the rails or shirts from the hangers if they just need a quick de-crease.
Descaling is quick and easy. Just turn the switch at the bottom of the base and allow to drain.
If making ironing faster, easier and more effortless isn’t enough, and as well as backing it up with a no-burn guarantee, Philips have also taken safety as a top consideration.
There is a handy safety lock on the base allowing you to lock the iron safely into place when not in use, meaning it won’t accidently get knocked off. The appliance also automatically shuts off after not being used for ten minutes – a great energy saver!
As if all that’s not enough, you can also benefit from the its silencing technology which keeps the sound of the appliance down so you can hear more cries of, ‘Have you finished yet?’ or ‘Can I have…’ or, more worryingly, the sound of suspicious silence after the little ones have disappeared out of your sight and into another room.
Want to see how it works? I gave a Facebook Live demonstration of the PerfectCare Elite Silence from our kitchen to allow you to see it in action for yourself. Take a look here…
With 40 minutes knocked off an average 120 minute ironing pile, it looks like we’ll certainly be benefitting from the added #GiftofTime. For us, less time in the house means more time out of it, travelling, camping and generally discovering more of the big, wide world.
What would you do with your added #GiftofTime?
This post has been brought to you in association with Philips.
Oh gosh this looks and sounds fab! I absolutely loathe ironing, anything to make it a quicker process is a winner in my book. Going to add this to the list of things we need for our new house xx
I can’t believe that, when trying out the vertical steam function on our curtain, I was honestly impressed and blurted a genuine, ‘Oh WOW! Look at THIS’ to Cait!
Surely ironing has to be up there on the list of worst chores along with cleaning the loo and scrubbing the oven! Good luck with the move to your new home too, Keri!
Hey, wait a minute…are all those 9 kids yours 🙂 ?
Yes, plus another four!