clamps are employed for feeding items of laundry to a laundry treatment machine , for example . there are well - known arrangements where the items of laundry are fed from a laundry hamper , dryer or the like to a mangle feeder using clamps in a largely or entirely mechanized and automated manner . however , it has been shown that the handling of the clamps in such an arrangement is relatively complicated and thus time - consuming . the invention is therefore based on the object of providing a clamp that can be easily actuated and which can enhance performance and reliability when items of laundry are fed , for example , to a mangle or the like . this is achieved by configuring at least one clamping element of the clamp as a clamping lever having an insertion aid with guidance means for the sliding insertion of a section of the item of laundry into a clamp mouth .