On trial: Laurastar Smart M Ironing System

The luxurious Swiss ironing board – with its connected ‘assistant’ – promises perfect and professional results at home

Ironing is a household chore that (almost) all of us do. It’s not niche and, until now, it hasn’t been glamorous. In fact, I’m sure we have all experienced a cheap board and rubbish iron at some point in our lives. But family-owned Swiss brand Laurastar, a steam expert for over 45 years, is changing the way we iron, steam, and purify, thanks to an innovative all-in-one design. Intrigued to transform your laundry life? Read on.

Now this is a good story. It starts in the ’80s, when Italian fashion icon Laura Biagiotti invited her friend, founder Jean Monney, to Milan Fashion Week. While backstage, he saw all of the couture designs being steamed and wondered why this professional equipment was not available for the home. Later, he came up with his own product and dedicated it to Laura.

Put simply, it is an ultra-luxurious, all-in-one ironing board and steamer iron. There’s so much that makes it special (more on that next), but what makes it different from the traditional ironing board is its Active Table: an integrated fan and vacuum system that inflates and pulls air down to hold clothes flat to the board and prevent them from moving, which means you can iron items twice as fast.

Aside from the Active Table, the Active 3D Soleplate (the iron) holds fabric in place while distributing steam evenly to eliminate creases in one movement. And there’s no manual temperature adjustment needed – it’s automatic. With a traditional iron, you add water, the soleplate heats up, and the steam comes out, but with this system, steam is propelled from the boiler underneath the board, through the cord and into the iron.

I also love that it takes approximately just three minutes to heat up, and you can use the iron as a handheld steamer. It’s perfect to quickly steam jackets and blouses upright, so you don’t need to go to the dry cleaners as much.

An additional protective soleplate – to use on 100-per-cent silk items and printed T-shirts – is also included. You simply clip it onto the 3D Soleplate and go. Also included is one filter cartridge that clicks into the clear water tank – and you know when to replace it as the black colour fades to a pale orange-yellow (you can buy new filter cartridges here). There’s no need to buy fancy ironing water; tap water is recommended because the filter does all the work for you.

Laurastar knows this is an advanced product and has created a really helpful app with video tutorials on technique and fabric-specific care. Once you’ve set it up and used it once, you feel like a Laurastar laundry expert. The wheels on the base make it easy to move around, the height of the board is easily adjustable, and when it’s closed and put away, the width is a compact 21.8cm/ 8.6 inches, which is a big plus.

This feature is an exclusive Laurastar technology developed by the brand’s engineers in Switzerland. Steam is heated up under pressure to 160°C – well above boiling point – and propelled out of the boiler at a maximum speed. In the iron the steam is heated and dried again until released at a speed of 129km/h, ensuring perfect sterilising, ironing and steaming.

This steam kills 99.9 per cent of viruses, bacteria, dust mites and bed bugs, which gets a gold star from me. And fun fact: Laurastar Dry Microfine Steam (DMS) works up to 15 times faster than steam from standard steam generators. Impressive.

There’s definitely a lot to love, from the incredible amount of steam power to the integrated cord holder (so it doesn’t get in the way when you iron) and the hygienic effect of the steam, which kills 99.999 per cent of bacteria and 100 per cent of dust mites through the simple act of ironing.

I’ve taken half a star off because the powerful steam makes it quite loud to use, and it’s heavy; as a professional piece of kit, it weighs 19kg/ 42 pounds. An investment buy? Most definitely. But this is designed for people who care about their clothes and want to look as good as they can for a lifetime.

★★★★½