A mangle is a machine which is designed to press laundry. Originally, mangles were used to help press the water out of laundry, to ensure that it would dry more quickly when hung to dry. In the modern eras, mangles are usually used to press dry laundry flat, and they are common in industrial laundry facilities which handle things like sheets; using a mangle is far more efficient that pressing by hand. Smaller mangles for home use can also be found in some regions of the world.

The first version of the mangle was the box mangle, developed in the 17th century. A box mangle consisted of a heavy box on rollers which was painstakingly pushed across wet laundry to press it. Using a box mangle required at least two people, since the box was typically weighted with bricks or stones, making it impossible to move alone, and it would have been a grueling task.

In the 18th century, the first form of the modern laundry mangle emerged. A mangle has two large rollers which are turned by hand with a crank or by an engine, while laundry is passed between the rollers. Historically, such mangles were often powered with steam engines, once the steam engine was invented, and they would have been noisy, hot, and quite dangerous for their users; most modern mangles are electric, a significant improvement.

When used to process wet laundry, a mangle can cut down on drying time significantly by squeezing out as much excess water as possible. For pressing things flat, mangles may be heated so that they will create crisp, smooth creases, and it is not uncommon to see a pressing mangle with a steam attachment for setting pressed seams and creases. In many cases, a pressing mangle is used with a clean sheet to wrap the object being pressed, to ensure that it stays clean.

Modern mangles are much safer than their historical counterparts, but it is still a good idea to be careful, especially around an industrial mangle. These machines can easily severely damage extremities, and users have been severely injured when their hair has been caught up in the workings of the mangle; in some cases, a mangle can actually pull someone's scalp right off, which would not be a pleasant state of affairs.