The nice thing about IFA 2015 is that it’s open to the public. Anyone with a ticket can walk around and marvel at the latest tech. This includes one 7-year-old I saw quizzing an Electrolux representative about the latest washers and dryers. That kid gets it. Laundry tech is cool.
That was especially evident this year. The Haier Duo washing machine won Digital Trends’ Home Appliance Award, because having two drums in a single machine is just a great idea. The top holds around 9 pounds of clothes, and you can fit 17.6 pounds in the bottom. There are lots of different programs you can choose from on the 7-inch LCD screen, which means you can wash delicates separately while your jeans are going through a more heavy duty clean on the bottom.
But that wasn’t the only impressive laundry appliance. Washing clothes in cold water saves energy, and detergent makers like Tide are starting to get on board. Whirlpool showed off its Hotpoint Natis machine, which removes 100 types of stains at 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius). It’s comparable to washing at 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius), according to the company, thanks to its 10 drum rotations and its “Direct Injection” technology, which premixes the water and detergent.
Bosch also showed off some interesting machines. Pushing its Home Connect that, per its name name, syncs up its Wi-Fi-connected appliances, it had smart washers and dryers on display. These machines can talk to each other, meaning once the washer figures out the size of your load, it can tell the dryer what setting it needs to get the job done.
Check out these and more innovations in our roundup of cool washers and dryers from IFA 2015.