Roll up roll up, ladies and gentlemen! Your grandparents and great grandparents marveled at the newfangled machinery invented to replace the dreaded laundry washboard for good. Now it’s your turn!

No matter how grateful you feel towards your trusty washing machine come laundry day, perhaps you have been known to curse its inefficiencies too? Well, curse no more! Wonder instead at these new innovations and inventions designed to make doing the laundry a doddle.

Do Your Laundry on the Go

The current appliance buzz word is “smart”. And smart washing machines are here! Smart appliances can be controlled via mobile phones or tablets remotely – great if you forget to put your wash on before you leave home.

Pros

Credit: Samsung

• You can have your clothes washed and ready to be hung out as soon as you get in the front door.
• You don’t have to suffer through the noisy spin cycle; just set it for when you’re out.
• Smart washers can adapt the wash to the number of clothes that are in the drum, ensuring clothes are washed efficiently no matter the size of the load.
• Your machine can let you know when it needs cleaning or maintaining, which will help it last longer.

Cons

• All that clever tech comes at a price and a smart washer will set you back more than a run of the mill machine.
• Smart washers have handy features, but you can set timers, get notifications and adapt to different sized loads with ordinary washing machines. Begs the question, do you actually need a smartphone to control yours?

Wash Small Laundry Loads Efficiently

As they’re known for being a tech company it’s no surprise that LG’s washing machines have innovative technology. Their SideKick washer fits under a regular LG washing machine and lets you wash two loads at the same time, or even just a small load on its own.

Pros

Credit: LG

• No need to run the whole washing machine for a small load, just pop it in the SideKick for an energy-efficient wash.
• You can wash separate colours simultaneously or delicates separately so it’s easier to look after your clothes.
• The SideKick sits underneath your main washing machine raising the height of it, which means less bending down. Your back will appreciate that!

Cons

• At present these SideKick washers are only available in the US, but hopefully, we’ll see them across this side of the pond in the future.
• If your washing machine sits under the kitchen counter, you’d have to raise the counter to fit the SideKick in too.

Avoid Missing Clothes Out

Ever been in that scenario when you’ve put on a wash only to find you missed a stray pair of socks or forgotten to add the t-shirt you wanted to wear tomorrow? It’s very frustrating when you’ve missed an item, but Samsung has the answer! With their Samsung AddWash, you can just pop in stray items while the machine is running and don’t have to wait until the next wash.

Pros

Credit: Samsung

• You can add forgotten garments, detergent or softener through the door during the wash or a piece of clothing that only needs rinsing halfway through the cycle.
• Some models of the AddWash are also smart appliances so you can pause and change the settings of your washing machine using your phone.

Cons

• You get what you pay for when it comes to tech and the features of the AddWash are reflected in the price tag. You won’t get change from £1000 with smart appliance models.

Dry Cleaning Clothes

Clothes that require you to drive them to a store every time they need cleaning are very high maintenance. Sadly if you want to keep posh frocks and smart jackets looking their best the onerous trip to the dry cleaners is a necessary one. Unless you have an LG Styler, a steam cleaning closet that can deodorise and cleans clothes, even delicates.

Pros

Credit: LG

• Clothes can be cleaned without the unhealthy chemicals used in the dry cleaning process.
• Fewer trips to the dry cleaners are required!
• The Styler can be used to sanitise children’s soft toys and remove allergens from bedsheets too.

Cons

• This appliance doesn’t deep clean and remove stains to the extent of the washing machine. The days where you simply hang your clothes in the closet and they emerge completely clean and dry again are not here just yet.
• You wouldn’t be able to fit your whole wardrobe in the Styler, just a few select items.
• Once again price comes into the equation and with a $1999 tag, you can see why!

So we’re seeing lots of innovations to solve common washing machine problems, often with a price tag to boot.  But there’s still a way to go, we’ve still yet to see a self-folding tumble dryer or a self-cleaning washing machine. In the meantime, you can use our washing machine cleaner once a month and that’ll keep any build-ups of undissolved detergent and limescale at bay!

Which of these laundry innovations do you think would be most useful in your home? Let us know in the comments!

Tags: Washing Machine Innovations