Corby 7700 Trouser Press

Author's product rating:   

Performance	Good
Ease of use	Very easy
Durability	Everlasting
Cleaning & Maintenance	Very easy
Value for money	Good

Advantages:	keeps your suits tidy and puts the creases back in your clothes
Disadvantages:	can put creases in the wrong place if you don't put trousers in carefully

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

No-one who has ever stayed in a British hotel can surely be unaware of the Corby trouser press. I do wonder if there are any other manufacturers apart from Corby who make trouser presses. The three words are synonymous.

The Company

John Corby Limited is the company that makes the Corby trouser press. It was established in 1930 by John Corby in Windsor, England and originally made valet stands. A valet stand is wooden frame for putting a jacket on and hanging trousers overnight, so you could put them back on again in the morning. That'll be an over-engineered bedroom chair then, basically! But John Corby took them to a new level by adding a pressing area and lo! The first Corby trouser press was invented. They stuck a plug on them during the 1960s, so they were electrically heated. In 1977 John Corby Limited became part of what is now Jourdan plc. The company relocated to Andover, Hampshire in the eighties and the sales and marketing aspects of the business still operate from there, though actual production is now done in Peterlee, Co Durham.

The company of course still specialises in the manufacture of Corby trouser presses and they have now added ironing centres to their portfolio - that's a corby trouser press with an iron and board attached - a brilliant addition to a large hotel room. They also have a fairly wide range of guest amenity products for hotels - things like bathrobes, shower curtains, hospitality trays, hairdryers etc - many of the extras you expect to find in nice hotels.

The Trouser Press Concept

Basically, for those of you who've never encountered one, the trouser press is an electrical device which can be wall mounted to save space, or stand freely on the floor, often with a jacket hanger attached to it. This mean that a gentlemen traveller can arrive home from work, or into his hotel room, remove his jacket and hang it up, and pop his trousers in the press before bed, set the timer and wake up in the morning to a pair of trousers beautifully creased down the front, and free of creases from wear, like behind the knee.

If you wear a suit every day it is great. As a girly, who doesn't therefore always wear a trouser suit, I still love them, for casual trousers and straight skirts too - they can go in flat and the press will remove those crease lines across the top of the thigh that sometimes appear from sitting. In hotel I sometime pop teeshirts in and other things that look a bit sad after they have been in a case - basically anything you can't be bothered to iron, but would like a bit better looking!

Why is it better than an iron?

Well, the first thing is that you don't have to go to the effort of ironing - you just pop your trousers in it and wait. The other major advantage is that the way the heat is applied means that wool does not go shiny, as it can when you iron.

The Corby 7700

This particular model is one of four different types that Corby make. They make a fifth which is an ironing centre.

The four models range in price from around £79 for the basic model, to £200 for the top of the range "Statesman" model which is elegant in real wood veneer. Actually of the four of them I do think this 7700 is the best buy. It is not much more expensive than the basic model, at £109, but has three timer settings 15mins, 30 mins or 45mins. It is the only one of the four they sell to have a 45min setting, and I find I use that, as 30 is not always enough for stubborn creases, though of course you can always press the button for the second time on the 30 min setting if your trousers are not quite perfect.

It also has an LED display which tells you how much time is left, which is useful if you are scooting around doing other things and it has a nice deep tray on the top to pop the contents of your pockets in beofre hanging up your trousers, and a tie bar that pulls out.

This model also comes in a wide range of colours, so you can have something that tones in with your bedroom or hotel room. Whilst trouser presses are useful they are not exactly beautiful, but they do look better toned in. You can have pine, black ash, beech, chrome, mahogany, walnut, white, maple or oak EFFECT. The Statesman is the one that looks loads better as it is actual wood, but it is twice the price, so you'd have to care a lot!

The trouser press switches itself off after the time is up, and you can also manually overide it and switch it off early if you want. You do have to watch when putting your trousers in it that you smooth down carefully the bit you want flat or you might get creases where you don't want them!

CONCLUSION

Most of us, whilst using a Corby in a hotel, might not think about having one at home, but if you wear a suit every day, and only have three or four suits to rotate round, as is the case with many men, then one of these at home will stop you needing to iron your trousers often and make them shiny, or dry clean more than you need to just because your clothes are creased, rather than not very clean.

If you had one in your bedroom, and got into the habit of popping your trousers in every night, you might just find that it pays for itself in less frequent dry cleaning and better life to your clothes, as trousers will seat more slowly, and hang better, especially behind the knees. And surely any time not spent ironing has to be a good thing!