Laundry is good with LG’s SteamWasher

One of the perks that comes with living beneath my parents is being able to take advantage of the appliances that are shared by the house.

They just renovated the laundry room and took the opportunity to dump the dryer (that came with the house), sell the washer, and get a new washer and dryer set. They chose LG’s Large Capacity SteamWasher and dryer, which are energy AND water efficient. To use these appliances, a more expensive “high efficiency” laundry detergent is required, and is inserted into a little plastic container in a drawer, which also holds bleach and other unnecessary ingredients.  However, with the money you save on water and energy use, a couple of extra bucks on detergent should be no problem.

Being a green hippie deep down, I am completely stoked about this washer/dryer set. It only uses electricity when you turn it on, and of course there are options for cold/warm water, 2nd rinses, and spin speed.  Best of all, it’s QUIET and it doesn’t shake the earth like our previous washer did. When the cycle is done, a nice chiming song comes on. My small load of whites only took 30 minutes and used so little water that the clothes smelled exactly like detergent without being soapy.  And I’ve never met a person who didn’t like the smell of clean laundry.

Tip: Never use warm water – it doesn’t make clothes get any cleaner than cold water, and uses more energy (= more $).

When it came time to dry (it was not a sunny day out to be able to hang dry) I reduced the drying time to 30 minutes, and on medium-high heat, that was perfect and my clothes STILL smelled like detergent.  Again, almost silent, and then a nice chime (no more loud buzzzzing) when the load was done. Total wash & dry time = 60 minutes. This is the amount of time it would have taken for me just to dry one load.

If you’re thinking of changing your appliances, definitely go high efficiency whether or not you like the LG brand. They are more expensive than the regular washer/dryers we grew up with, but times are changing and if you can save money long term while saving the earth, then life’s all good.