Fagor Driron Review
Fagor Driron
If, like me, you rely on the services of your partner or the local dry cleaners to ensure you don’t hit the streets looking like a cousin of Wurzel Gummidge, you’ll be delighted to know that help is at hand and comes in the form of Fagor’s Driron.
Looking rather similar to a fridge freezer in both size and appearance, the Driron, pictured below,
doesn’t offer the finish one expects from a skilled launderer but can achieve perfectly good results once you’ve mastered the operation techniques required.
The freestanding unit comes complete with a comprehensive instruction manual and DVD allowing the user a virtual demonstration on how best to operate the appliance.
Add to this the ability to remove unwanted wrinkles from dry garments that require de-creasing after long periods sitting in the wardrobe and you have a versatile machine at your disposal.
Measuring a nominal 600mm in width and at a height of 1860mm, the fluff free Driron is accompanied by a number of innovative accessories designed to provide an effective result. These include sleeve-straighteners, tenter clips to hold shirts, skirts, dresses and trousers in correct alignment and a slide out top basket for drying smaller garments such as socks and underwear.
A series of foldaway bottom rails allow you to place household linen such as pillow cases and towels in conjunction with shorter garments such as shirts and skirts. In the folded position the linen hangers allows lengthier items such as dresses and trousers to be ironed.
Using a condensation system that extracts the humidity from the fabric during the drying process, excess water can be drained using a waste system similar to that required for a washing machine but for the purpose of my own testing and perfectly sufficient for most users, water can be collected via an easily removable water container placed handily at the front of the appliance.
Driron, available in a white finish, has 4 programmes that allow the drying/ironing of newly washed clothes, ironing of dry clothes and the airing and deodorisation of existing contents of your wardrobe.
As for its place in the home, I see the Driron sitting comfortably aside the washing machine in a kitchen or Utility room and given its purpose, the Driron can not only act as a replacement for the tumble drier but has the distinct advantage of reducing wear and deterioration on clothes or fabrics as each of the items are not in contact throughout the drying process.
I have to say that, after the kind folk at Fagor loaned me the appliance for the purpose of testing, it did take me some time to understand how to achieve best results but having mastered this, using the DVD as my guide, I’m confident that, for the loan period at least, I will not suffer the mocking glances my attire used to generate.