We know washers and dryers aren’t normally exciting, high tech, or even worthy of attention, until they’re broken. But with as little thought as most people want to give to washing clothes, GE has figured out the perfect equation to make a washer and dryer lust worthy – just make them simpler to use.
Image Courtesy of GE
The latest GE Profile washers and dryers make doing laundry even easier by taking one major step, adding detergent and softener, out of the laundry process. When equipped with GE’s SmartDispense pedestal, you can literally pile the washer full of filthy clothes, click a button, and return to clean clothes, without pouring, measuring or adding anything.
If that sounds like the ultimate in laziness, it is. Of course, if you’re slightly ashamed of that, GE has another trick up its sleeve to justify your purchase: it’s actually more efficient. Rather than pulling the laundry trick we learned in college (when in doubt, pour in more) the newest Profile system measures and dispenses detergent and fabric softener based on load size, water hardness, soil level, and fabric type. No hassle, no waste, no problem.
The Profile stores detergent and softener in pullout drawers underneath the washer, which houses three enormous reservoirs. Each has a tap attached to the back for the washer to siphon out what it needs, and a screw-off lid for easy refills straight from the ordinary detergent bottles you buy at the store – no specialized refills here. GE even claims they hold enough to do your wash for up to six months without refilling them.
Image Courtesy of GE
Besides the automatic detergent dispensing, the latest Profiles come with a number of other high-tech touches as well. For instance, a built-in LCD screen allows users to easily preselect all sorts of special treatments for different types of laundry. You can choose from 40 different stains settings to get a particularly tough spill out, or let the dryer know not to melt your lightweight synthetic running shorts by specifying the material. You can even preprogram them to run at a certain time of day.
And though they wouldn’t be the first washer/dryer combo to make a bold style statement, GE’s Profile series come clad in quite striking exterior finishes to match their hopped-up interiors. The front-loading doors have changed from regular circles to an edgier triangular shape, and buyers can order them in three paint schemes that look like they’re lifted straight from a Lexus brochure: champagne, vermillion red, and white.
The washer and dryer sell for $1399 and $1199, respectively, but you’ll need to buy the optional SmartDispense pedestal, which runs for another $589, to take full advantage of the machines’ features. A simpler storage drawer can be had for $249, if automatic isn’t your thing. GE’s website has more information on the GE Profile Frontload Washer and Dryer.
