Can a robot fold laundry yet?
In demos, yes. In a home that bought one, there’s no public evidence yet. Here’s where each robot stands.
As of October 30, 2026.
The short answer
Not on its own, and not yet in a home. In August 2025, Figure AI showed its humanoid folding towels “fully autonomously” 2. LG showed its home robot, CLOiD, doing laundry tasks at CES in January 2026 3. But of the eleven home humanoids in my Registry, only two have deliveries to buyers confirmed by the press, and neither is sold for laundry 1.
Robot by robot
| Robot (company) | Laundry | Can you have it at home? |
|---|---|---|
| Figure 03 (Figure AI, US) | Folded towels autonomously in an August 2025 video; Figure says the same platform can move from logistics to household chores 2 | No: no price and no orders announced 1 |
| CLOiD (LG, South Korea) | Shown doing laundry tasks at CES 2026 3 | No sale date; LG’s CEO said real-world testing would come around 2027 4 |
| NEO (1X, US) | “Laundry” appears on its order page next to Expert Mode, in which an expert from 1X can remotely supervise tasks NEO can’t do yet 5 | Preorders open; US deliveries planned for 2026; it arrives with “basic autonomy” 5 |
| UWORLD U1 (UBTech) and Bumi (Noetix), China | Not marketed for laundry 1 | Yes, in China: the only two with deliveries confirmed by the press 1 |
What it means for a family
If a robot folds your laundry in the next year, a person somewhere else may be guiding it. That’s the model 1X describes for the tasks NEO can’t do yet 5. Before you buy, ask three things: which tasks the robot does by itself, which ones need a remote operator, and who sees your home while it works.
Who folds the laundry is not a small question. Chapter 3 of The Tireless Parent is about the housework nobody paid for, and what we hand over when someone, or something, finally does it.
Sources
- Hugo Alder · Home Humanoid Registry · hugoalder.com · 2026-10-28
- Figure AI · Helix learns to fold laundry · figure.ai · 2025-08-12
- LG Electronics · LG CLOiD at CES 2026 · lg.com · 2026-01-04
- The Korea Times · koreatimes.co.kr · 2026-01-08
- 1X · NEO order page (accessed Oct. 30, 2026) · 1x.tech · 2026-10-30