When it comes to ironing, there’s been little to get hot and bothered about since the invention of the household steam iron more than 50 years ago. So perhaps Ehsan Alipour should have anticipated that developing an iron with a revolutionary design might cause a bit of commotion.
Take the stir that took place at a recent quilting convention. “I was doing a demonstration and [the crowd] was actually folding the order forms into paper airplanes and throwing them at me. They were screaming things like, ‘This is better than a Ferrari!’ ” says Alipour, MS ’02. “It was scary.”
Alipour, 40, is president and CEO of Oliso Inc. and the inventor of the Oliso steam iron, the first to lift and lower itself automatically. When not in use, the iron rests, soleplate parallel to the ironing board, on two heat-resistant stilts. When the handle is grasped, sensors make the stilts retreat into the soleplate, letting the iron descend and start its glide along the fabric. The technology eliminates the need to constantly lift the iron and rock it back to rest on an unstable end.
When the user’s hand isn’t touching the iron, its soleplate is about a half inch off the fabric, preventing scorching. (An automatic shutoff system further precludes burning.) The lifters also keep the iron from slipping off a jostled ironing board; at a tilt of up to 25 degrees, the prone iron will stay put.
Oliso claims that its hovercraft of an iron can reduce pressing time by up to 30 percent. And because the hot surface stays face down there is no danger of the cat (or the kids) brushing up against it.
The product has garnered rave reviews from people who do lots of ironing, especially quilters and sewers. It also has celebrity status among the blind and individuals suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome. People whose occupations require uniforms find the appliance particularly appealing.
“I have to iron a few times a week, so it definitely saves me a lot of time,” says Herbert Goodlowe, a police officer in Chicago, Ill. “And I was tired of ruining my clothes when I would leave an iron on for too long and burn through the fabric. You can’t do that with this one.”
Alipour was inspired to build a better steam iron as a graduate student in the product design program. After reading an article in a trade magazine about the lack of innovation in the iron industry, he spent months watching people iron and then interviewing them about their experiences. It soon became clear that the most glaring issues were the irritating need to lift the iron and the constant danger of it falling off the ironing surface.
Drawing on his electrical engineering background—Alipour had formed his own electrical lighting and design company a few years after emigrating from Iran in 1983—he developed an iron prototype that included the lifters and the hand sensor. He started a design consultancy after graduating from Stanford and then founded San Francisco-based Oliso in December 2004.
In January 2006, the Oliso steam iron won the prestigious Best in Category designation at the annual Housewares Design Awards, beating 300 other new products. It has been featured in Time and on Good Morning America, and makes regular appearances on the Home Shopping Network. With a list price of $119.99, it can be purchased online or at Bloomingdale’s, Fry’s Electronics and Bed Bath & Beyond.
Oliso has plans to launch an “innovative” consumer household product for the kitchen soon. As for Alipour, he’s still basking in the glow of his iron. Crazed quilters notwithstanding, he says, “This is every product designer’s dream.”
MARIE CANNIZZARO, ’06, a former Stanford intern, works at Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco.
