My Whirlpool Duet Washer Is Smarter Than Me!

With a newborn in the house (two weeks old today), I went from a normal handful of loads of laundry per week to doing a load almost daily — just to keep the necessities (sheets, onesies, swaddles, etc) clean. Oh, I forgot how much dirty laundry such a little person makes!

In my sleep-deprived mind set, it is good to know that my Whirlpool Duet Washer is smarter than me. No really, it is. Let me explain.

I previously wrote about how much I love the precision dispensing feature on the washer, it is so nice to not have to think about adding detergent I just pop in the clothes, choose my setting and hit start. Smart washer proof #1, it adds the right amount of detergent, every time. Smart washer proof #2, it tells me when it is running low and out of detergent. Seriously, how great is that.

I have been using my new washer/dryer for about two months now, and one of the most important things to me is to keep this washer clean and free of the musty smell that can develop in front-loading washers. I didn’t know how to care for my first washer, and that musty smell made me NUTS! I learned the hard way that once you get the stink, it is really hard (if not impossible) to get rid of it. So this time, I am determined to keep my washer smell free.

I do everything by the book, I wipe the washer dry after every use (especially the seal) and I leave the washer door open to air out. But I also know that it is important to clean my washer. Well, guess what? My smart washer tells me when it is time to clean my washer. Yes! It actually tells me on the screen that it is time to clean my washer (smart washer proof #3). Oh, and if you ignore the suggestion, it continues to suggest a cleaning until you do it. Love it!

My washer requests Affresh cleaning tablets, which I have had a hard time finding locally, but I was finally able to find them on Amazon. I have run the cleaning cycle twice now, and so far so good — plus they smell really good. There are also Affresh Grit Grabbers too, which I recently purchased, but I haven’t tried them out yet. Frankly, the Affresh tablets are a little on the expensive side, so I think I will try the Tide Washing Machine Cleaner next time (Affresh is about $3.50 per cleaning, Tide is $1.50).

Another problem we moms run into are stains. Smart washer proof #4, the Whirlpool Duet Washer offers stain management suggestions right on the display screen — in multiple steps including what setting and temperature to wash the soiled garment on. Stain assist includes tips to deal with kids stains, beverages, foods and household.

Overall, I think my washer is smarter than my dryer, but my dryer is pretty smart too. Forget having to search for the manual to figure out what each of the dyer settings mean, the color LCD display offers information about each setting. It even tells you the types of laundry that should be dried with each option. I don’t use a lot of the specialty settings, but I did recently use the “pillow” setting, and it worked like a charm.

Yep. My washer and dryer are smarter than I am, now if only all of the electronics in my house would remind me to do things!

Disclosure – I wrote this review while participating in a test-drive campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Whirlpool and received a complimentary Whirlpool Duet washer and dryer to facilitate my review.