Is this thing for real? Do they really make ironing boards with a suction/blower motor built into the board? Well it turns out that they do, and this “Laurastar Go” is my first ever dealings with such a device, so needless to say I was excited to see what could possibly make this thing worth the £695 price tag (at time of review).

I’m ignoring the slightly patronising subtitle of “Your First All-in-One Ironing System”, as it reminds me of a Tomy My First Train Set… And having watched the short promotional video with the horrendous Euro-dance soundtrack, I suspect the marketing team need to take a step back.

Size-wise, despite its functionality, it is actually fairly self-contained. I won’t say it’s featherweight because it isn’t. You wouldn’t really want to be lugging it around all day. At the end of the day, it is a decent-sized board with the iron attached, including an integrated steam generator and the motor for the suction/blower function, so it’s got a fair amount of stuff to build into the frame. In all honesty, you’re probably best making sure you have somewhere to store this that’s almost right next to where you deploy it, as it becomes too much of a faff to hulk it about.

I rather like the styling of the iron itself, as it is akin to old dry-irons. I like this approach as it makes the iron itself nicely balanced and well weighted. It allows you to be quite nimble with it. The top handle is flat and the rear cord doesn’t get too in the way of your wrist or forearm, like some other irons I have used in the past.

One curious thing about this iron, is that the power consumption at 1800W compared to fairly high-end irons, is actually quite low. Fortunately, it didn’t impact on its ability to turn in great ironing performance helped by the “active table”, but what I will say, is that it takes an age to heat up. In these days of impatience, people tend to think that in the flick of a switch, something will be ready for action. Not so with this Laurastar Go - which perhaps should be

Is this thing for real? Do they really make ironing boards with a suction/blower motor built into the board? Well it turns out that they do, and this “Laurastar Go” is my first ever dealings with such a device, so needless to say I was excited to see what could possibly make this thing worth the £695 price tag (at time of review).I’m ignoring the slightly patronising subtitle of “Your First All-in-One Ironing System”, as it reminds me of a Tomy My First Train Set… And having watched the short promotional video with the horrendous Euro-dance soundtrack, I suspect the marketing team need to take a step back.Size-wise, despite its functionality, it is actually fairly self-contained. I won’t say it’s featherweight because it isn’t. You wouldn’t really want to be lugging it around all day. At the end of the day, it is a decent-sized board with the iron attached, including an integrated steam generator and the motor for the suction/blower function, so it’s got a fair amount of stuff to build into the frame. In all honesty, you’re probably best making sure you have somewhere to store this that’s almost right next to where you deploy it, as it becomes too much of a faff to hulk it about.I rather like the styling of the iron itself, as it is akin to old dry-irons. I like this approach as it makes the iron itself nicely balanced and well weighted. It allows you to be quite nimble with it. The top handle is flat and the rear cord doesn’t get too in the way of your wrist or forearm, like some other irons I have used in the past.One curious thing about this iron, is that the power consumption at 1800W compared to fairly high-end irons, is actually quite low. Fortunately, it didn’t impact on its ability to turn in great ironing performance helped by the “active table”, but what I will say, is that it takes an age to heat up. In these days of impatience, people tend to think that in the flick of a switch, something will be ready for action. Not so with this Laurastar Go - which perhaps should be called the Laurastar “Pause” or

This is a difficult thing to review. It is a very expensive iron (and board) with functions you will probably never have come across and is a bit 'ooooh, really, hmm, how does this work'.The idea of it is with the integral blower/vacuum ironing should be simpler and quicker and to some extent it is. It comes more or less ready to use. It is quite heavy too.Nothing, no amount of ironing in the past, prepares you for this machine. I've never needed a manual to look at while ironing but I did with this. You can even see videos on YouTube. It seems such an odd thing to use.The board has three settings for height and has an integral drawer for the storage of the iron. You need to let the iron cool for two hours before putting it in the drawer after use. This can be a nuisance if you are keen to get it folded and put away. (It does flatten for easy storage.)The iron has two settings and comes with a special sole plate for ironing wool and delicates. It won't sit upright on its heel as other irons do but they provide a rubber mat that it happily sits on, though it can move around a bit as you put the iron down and pick it up while ironing.After using this for a couple of weeks I would say on the plus side it is sturdily made. With the blower on your iron just glides over material, but make sure you set the garment for ironing straight on the board.However, I also find it can completely steam up my glasses occasionally. Don't get fingers too close when using the steam (makes sense) which can be easy to do. Or it is for me. Sometimes delicates slip onto the floor as the blower deflates if you don't have your hand on it. While it is warming up for use it sounds like a noisy kettle. But worse than all this it takes ten minutes to heat up before you can use it. This I find very frustrating but I suppose you get time to sort out the socks and fold up the towels and knickers. The worst thing would be if you went away and forgot. There is a safety cut-out though if it doesn't get used for a while. There is no