“Yesterday LG Electronics the South Korean manufacture unveiled their ‘Steam Direct’ washing machine at the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park. Girls were on hand with piles of creased shirts to demonstrate how the machine can ‘bring dry-cleaning to your home’ and remove creases from your garments, eliminating the need for ironing.
But the results were not quite as miraculous as hoped. The first attempt to ‘iron’ a shirt, using a 20 minute cycle which blasts the garment with steam, was only semi-successful. While the shirt emerged less crumpled than when it was put in, the sharp creases left from being folded in the packet were still visible.
There was much grumbling by the Korean executives overseeing the event and the shirt was taken away. When it re-emerged, the creases were gone, presumably thanks to some good old fashioned elbow grease? The shirt was then scrunched by hand and popped back into the machine, this time producing a perfectly wearable crease-free shirt.
One drawback is that a full wash, dry and iron cycle takes two and a half hours. The technology was developed from industrial cleaning and took three years to develop. Steam is used in the cleaning process as well as in removing the creases. When the appliances cleaning cycle ends, a steam generator kicks in for 20 minutes. It blasts the clothes with hot damp air to even out the creases and wrinkles.
The use of steam cuts down on power and water consumption and will appeal to the environmentally conscious, especially in the current drought. LG claims the machine uses 35 percent less water and 21 percent less electricity than conventional models. The price starts at £900 for the standard model rising to £1,300 for the ultra-stylish model with patterns emblazoned on the front. It goes on sale in June and comes in black, white, cherry, rose and aqua blue. (Source – Daily Mail)”
The above was submitted by Martin Russell earlier today, but there’s more to this story…
Some weeks ago, after recieving the press release about the launch of the LT SteamDirect washing machine with claims attached of 99.9% of bacteria killed in the appliance I requested the information to support these and the other claims made by LG from LG themselves. The didn’t answer me.
Instead they passed the enquiry to their PR agency, which struck me as a bit odd as it really is a technical enquiry, who to date have also been unable to come up with any evidence that the claims are in fact true. So despite assurances in the press release that this is an “all singing, all dancing” machine there is no evidence forthcoming to support the claims made so far as I am concerned.
There is no evidence to support the reduced consumption on water or electricity nor is there any indication of the benchmark used to determine the claimed reductions. So they couldhave compared it to a 1990’s Hoover for all we know, which would produce results like these.
All in all it seems a bit of a swizz trying to blind consumers with dubious claims in an effort to something which may look and sound cool but isn’t ultimately as well performing as it first appears.
LG also did not offer a machine for test unsurprisingly.
So, before you splash out over £900 on a washer with gimmicks, just ask LG for the proof to support the claims of the product’s performance. After all, you wouldn’t buy a car without knowing how well it performed would you?
