That Time I put a Bear in the Washing Machine: Review: LG 17kg Sapience Top Loader With Smart Inverter

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Do you ever have the experience of your clothes coming out of the washing machine in a worse state than they went in? Um, this has been my experience lately. Fluff that sticks to dark fabrics, stains that just won’t go, and time wasted in rubbing, cleaning and soaking before actually putting it in the machine. Today we will review the LG 17kg Sapience Top Loader Smart Inverter washing machine, learn some maintenance and water tips as well and also find out how I landed up putting a teddy bear inside to go for a spin too.

We have a brown bear in our house which lives in Nicky’s room, but actually this bear was a special Valentine’s gift my husband gave me many years ago. He holds a heart in front of him which says “I love you.” So he’s a pretty special bear.

Over the years this bear has been everywhere and collected a lot of dirt and dust. His state is not dissimilar to “Teddy B” in the Doc McStuffins story “All Stuffed Up.” The toys are playing hide and seek when they discover this bear that makes them sneeze. Doc McStuffins is quite clear on what is wrong: he has a bad case of the “Dusty-Musties” and needs to be put in the washing machine for a clean.

So we decided our bear also needed a clean. Nicky was at first excited, then a bit apprehensive when he saw Teddy going round and round.

“Do you think Teddy Bear is going to be ok?

“I don’t think so..” he says.

Nevertheless, we did this on a Wednesday when Nicky has swimming so off we went while Ted was going round and round and as soon as we got back Nicky went straight for the washing machine to see if Bear was ok.

Yes he was! And he was clean! In fact he did some celebratory throwing of the bear, so much so that I think Bear is going to need another wash pretty soon, in a rather nifty washing machine.

So why do I think this machine is so wonderful? Below I will list some key features which I liked.

Energy Saving with Smart Inverter Control

A conventional LG model uses 104.38 watt hours, while the Smart Inverter uses 66.77 watt hours. That’s a 36% saving in your electricity consumption.  This test was done on a normal cycle with a 7.5kg load.

If you’re wondering what’s so special about Smart Inverter technology, here is a quote from the LG blog:

Inverters change the power provided to a compressor and motor through voltage and frequency in order to switch their speeds at any time. This enables both powerful output and delicate control, making it possible to spend the minimum amount of energy necessary for the operation without any waste. Inverter electronics also create less noise compared to constant-speed electronics.

Two additional functions which this washing machine has which utilise this way of thinking are:

-When you have a power failure, the machine is able to continue from the point you left off.

-When not in use it has a stand by function so that very little electricity flows through the washer.

Smart Motion 

There are three kinds of motion for optimised washing by fabric type.

-Agitating (powerful washing)

-Rotating (getting out those tangles)

-Swing (delicate wash)

Turbo Drum

The powerful wash of the LG Sapience Top Loader works because of the rotating drum and pulsator occurring in opposite directions. This really removes the dirt.

Punch +3

If you look at the bottom of the machine you’ll see a central circle and three outer ones. These are the streams of water which move the laundry up and down for an even result.

Deep cleans intense dirt with the Auto PreWash function/ Soak Wash

I really like this function a lot. The LG Sapience Top Loader actually has a few options if you want to really soak that dirt out or prewash it.

–Soak Wash: for thick, heavy clothes which are really dirty. Select your program (Normal is fine, it won’t work on Wool, Quick Wash, PreWash + Normal, Tub Clean mode). On the Wash button select Soak.  Add laundry, detergent and Start.

-PreWash + Normal. This one uses the normal cycle but gives it a bit of a soak in the begining which helps.  It treats an immediate stain.

So for instance, when Nicky plastered himself with chocolate mix from the Cake in the Mug in the LG Smart Inverter Microwave, I could pop it in the machine on this program. From being covered in brown it was transformed back into white.

Side waterfall reduces detergent residue

One of the things I really hated about my previous machine was that it collected fluff, particularly on dark materials. This LG 17kg Sapience Top Loader has a very clever “side waterfall” effect where water streams from slots in the side, which enables the best mixing of the detergent with the water. After reading the manual I picked up another tip about this: they also say that a residue called “scrud” results from mixing your normal detergent with fabric softener.  You can get around this by using your fabric softener sparingly, a thinner consistency, and also cleaning your machine and dispenser regularly. (See tips at the end)

I had a green sheet left over from my old machine with lots of residue on it. I popped it in the machine and all the white fluff is gone. Hooray!

The side waterfall function mixes the detergent with the water more thoroughly, so less fluffy residue. #LGSmartInverter Share on X

Silent Wash

If you’re needing to do some urgent laundry at night but don’t want to wake a baby, or a lightly sleeping child, the silent program is for you. At 45 decibels, it’s softer than a human conversation or office background.

The only thing to bear in mind when using this program is that it will take longer and the laundry will have more moisture because the spin rmp is lower than a normal spin.

Smart diagnosis

Like the LG Smart Inverter Mircowave, the machine will actually tell you what’s wrong. You can either dial the call centre and hold the phone up to the machine while pressing the “water” button for 3 seconds, or you can use the LG Smart Laundry App for similar results.

Child Lock

A very useful function for all those curious kids out there that like to press buttons. All you have to do, while the machine is going, is to press the “Rinse” button for 3 seconds and you’ll see the “CL” letters flash as well as a red lock on the screen. It will carry on being locked until the end of the wash, or if you want to unlock you hold “Rinse” down again for 3 seconds.

Tips: How to be Water Wise:

Let’s not kid ourselves. A washing machine can really use a lot of water, but there are ways you can be smart.

• Upgrade your washing machine. As technology improves, washing machines are becoming smarter and using resources wisely. You’ll also find with a bigger machine doing less loads will save water. Fuzzy logic also senses the right water and time for your wash.
• Use the appropriate function. Use the program that will suit what you are washing, and resources will be correctly allocated. The LG 17kg Sapience Top Loader with Smart Inverter has a “Quick Wash” function  for when your clothes are lightly soiled and under 2kg.
• Use buckets during the Rinse cycle. My mom is in PE, where they are having a severe drought. She  fills 5 round buckets, 1 oblong bucket, 2 plastic bowls and two 5L bottles during the rinse cycle. She then uses these for flushing the toilet.  Use the pause/ start button in between buckets so that you don’t spill.

Tips: How to Look after your machine:

• Avoid “scrud” (waxy build up) by using your fabric softener sparingly, not overfilling the dispenser, or splashing, cleaning the dispenser, using the 5th cycle with hot water if you’re using cold water, and using thinner fabric softener.
• Tub Clean: Select the Tub Clean program from the program menu and after ten minutes add oxygenated bleach (about 300ml) inside the tub, not the detergent box. Do this every month.
• Clean detergent box regularly after each wash.
• Clean lint filter after each wash. (Very easy to remove and wash in this machine)
• Use Air Dry program to stop the tub getting moldy once a week. It is preset to 30mins for this function. (You can extend the time to a longer duration for synthetic items too.)

For more information you can check out the Smart Inverter here.

This post was sponsored by LG. We also received the washing machine.