My family recently took professional photos in hopes of using one for our Christmas card. We were trying to find the right combination of outfits and couldn’t land on one until the morning of the shoot. Unfortunately, my shirt was one that had been jammed in between some other items in my closet and it was as wrinkled as could be.
Having purchased a Samsung smart washer and dryer in the past year, I figured I should see if I could get the wrinkles out in the dryer. I knew if it didn’t work, I could always fire up the trusty iron. But if I could avoid having to take the time to iron my shirt, I could spend it elsewhere, such as getting two small kids ready. What I didn’t realize then was how much a Samsung washer and dryer offers in the Samsung SmartThings app.
A Samsung smart washer and dryer has been a game-changer
I couldn’t be happier with the purchases
The lady who lived in our house before us left us her washer and dryer. A nice gesture that we appreciated because, with all the moving expenses, we didn’t exactly want to shell out for new appliances as well. They were a bit old but they still worked fine. We had them for about three years before the dryer began smoking.
Rather than pour more money into fixing an old machine, it happened around President’s Day and Lowe’s was having a huge sale on washers and dryers. We settled on Samsung ones that are SmartThings-enabled machines, meaning they can be controlled through our smart home. We knew this would be a good boost to the value of our home too.
At first, I thought this was going to be cool because the Samsung laundry chime is iconic and loud (IYKYK), so I’d know when my clothes are done. But the more I dug into Samsung SmartThings, the more impressed I’ve been.
For one, the smart home automation of connecting my washer and dryer to my Amazon Echo speakers to make an announcement any time the washer is done is so helpful. While that chime is loud, sometimes I’m upstairs and can’t hear it all the way downstairs. This ensures I can get to the laundry and get it out before it starts to mold.
The second is the fact that there is a little + button among the dials on the washer and dryer. This signifies other cycles that are available to users that don’t show up on the machine itself. When I went to try to get the wrinkles out of my shirt, I didn’t see a wrinkle setting available. So I opened the SmartThings app to see what was available.
The downloaded settings in SmartThings give me more
They provide more than what’s on your dial
Whether you’re in List View or Map View in SmartThings, you can click on a device to access its features. Both my washer and dryer show up in SmartThings and there are multiple settings to adjust.
You can see if they are turned on, how much time is left in the cycle, and what the cycle is. This is ideal for any time I’m upstairs and can’t make it downstairs to see how much time is left.
When you click into the different cycles, you’ll see the ones that are available on the dial on the machine. But there are several other ones that you can download to your SmartThings app, which then relays that temperature setting and run cycle to the washer or dryer.
While using my dryer, I added the Wrinkle Away setting from the downloaded portion to try and get my wrinkles out. This adds steam to the drying process, similar to how a steamer would. This is an under-the-radar improvement that I wouldn’t have realized existed had I not been looking for a wrinkle setting.
This is meant for clothes that are already dry. You wouldn’t use this setting with damp clothing.
After 20 minutes of Wrinkle Away, my shirt was noticeably less wrinkly. While it wasn’t perfect, it was much more efficient than me taking out an iron or a steamer and doing it myself. Another great part about adding a downloaded setting is that it stays in your drying options from then on for easier access in the app. You don’t have to go in and download it again.
More special settings hidden in SmartThings
There are levels to the drying
Ever heard of Dry Recipe? I hadn’t either until I started using the SmartThings dryer settings. This allows you to base your drying settings off of what you’re drying.
It gets more granular than just choosing Delicate or Heavy Duty like you might with the dial. This lets you vary it from T-shirts to shirts to blouses, providing adjusted drying levels for each.
You can even dry curtains more effectively with this kind of setting. There is also a dryness level setting to give you the exact amount of warmth for your clothing. This is more effective than choosing it through the dial, as there are clearly laid out descriptions of what each drying level means.
I also love that you can find out how much energy each device you have is using. I get to see how efficient the washer and dryer are running every month just by opening the app.
My dryer is more complex than I realized
Samsung SmartThings provides an even deeper layer of features within its app than I see on some of my devices. It helps save me from using my iron or steamer. If I didn’t have either of those handheld tools already, I wouldn’t need to buy them. I’ve found it’s important to do a deep dive into the SmartThings settings to see what else I might be missing.