Whirlpool Launches New Wrinkle-Removing ‘Swash’ Machine

Wearing wrinkled clothes is a major fashion “faux pas,” but unfortunately not everyone has time to iron their clothes before heading out to work in the morning. And to make matters worse, some garments – depending on the fabric – may require professional dry cleaning. Well, Whirlpool and Proctor Gramble (G&B) recently launched a revolutionary new machine that aims to solve this problem.

Known as the SWASH, this consumer-grade machine removes wrinkles while leaving clothes smelling fresh and clean in just 10 short minutes. According to the product’s official website, it uses a combination of high heat and a freshening solution (Swash pods) to eliminate wrinkles from garments.

“Introducing SWASH™, the only in-home 10-minute clothing care system. It’s designed to fit your life, so you can say goodbye to excessive washing, drying, steaming, ironing, and dry-cleaning and say hello to living life unhampered.”

To use the SWASH, you pull out the center console, hang a single garment inside (note: it’s only designed for use with a single garment), insert your Swash pod, and press start. 10 minutes later, your garment will be wrinkle-free and smelling fresh. The SWASH has received mostly positive reviews.

This machines takes a similar approach to the single-serving Keurig coffeemaker, which have become increasingly popular as of late. Rather than pulling out your iron and ironing board to de-wrinkle a single shirt or pair of pants, you can hang it in the SWASH machine. It’s a quick and easy way to freshen a garment without the hassle of ironing or taking your garment to the dry cleaners.

But there’s more major drawback that will likely turn some people away from the SWASH: it’s price. The machine alone is priced at $499, and that’s not factoring in the cost of Swash pods (usually about $7 for a dozen). On the other hand, a traditional iron and ironing board costs about $50 bucks. Will consumers spend the extra money for the “hands-off” convenience of de-wrinkling and freshening their clothes?

Video: How the SWASH 10-Minute Clothing Care System Works

http://www.youtube.com/embed/EJtZiGb5nEU

Check out the 1-minute long video above to see the SWASH machine in action. In addition to revealing the device’s basic design, it also shows how it works from the inside. A shirt is placed inside the SWASH, a freshening pod is added, and then it blasts the shirt with heat and the freshening solution.