This week, I got a look at at the amazing Swash system, a machine is being billed as the only in-home clothing care system that works in just ten minutes. It’s not quite a personal dry cleaning machine; it doesn’t actually clean anything. But it does steam and freshen your clothes so you can get more wear out of those blazers and pants and dresses before dropping them off at the dry cleaner–and with better results than ironing or uh, hanging your oxford on a hanger over the shower rail and cranking the hot water to steam it, like I’ve been known to do.
The whole thing is made in a collaboration between Tide and Whirlpool, and they each know a little something about getting clothes clean. Which is why it seems like it’s going to be a big hit.
I didn’t try it myself–or I’d have been standing on a trade show floor in a bra, waiting for my sweater–but I did see a demo and was pretty impressed. It may take a little trial and error to get the hang of it, but looks relatively easy to hang all kinds of garments (save for silk, suede and a few other fancy fabrics), then attach “smoothing clips” (really, tension clips) to pull your clothing taut. When you close the door and turn it on, it basically releases a superfine mist on both sides from the Swash Pods, while heat circulates around the garment to tighten up the fibers and take out all but super serious wrinkles.
How nice to be able to freshen up my jeans and wear them as much as possible between washes so they don’t fade so fast. You know how you finally find that one perfect pair and you’ll die if they ever fall apart? Yeah, that.
The machine is quite compact when closed– just 30″ deep by 16″ wide so you can easily keep it in a walk-in closet or laundry room corner. Then you just need 54″ of room to slide it open, and a standard outlet to plug it in. There’s no water hook-up or anything.
As for those Swash Pods, you’ll need to stock up because they come in packs of twelve (you can choose three scents), and each one is only meant for individual use. That said, they’re pretty affordable at about $.50 each and hey, if you’re spending $499 on a home clothes cleaning machine, it’s a drop in the bucket.
Still, I admit I am thinking about the environmental factor; as with Keurig Machine k-cups, I felt better when I discovered reusable containers for the coffee. So maybe Tide will come out with reusable Swash Pod containers plus a refill bottle of the formula at some point?
Considering the price, the Swash machine is definitely not for everyone. But for the right person, it’s pretty amazing. If you’re a professional or just someone who owns a lot of nice clothes that needs caring for, it can be a huge money and time saver in the long run. I also think it would be awesome in an office environment, so when you have a surprise client visit (or surprise coffee visit on your dress, if you’re me), you can grab that blazer that’s draped over a coat hook and get it looking meeting-ready in no time.
Visit the Swash website to order the 10-minute at home clothes cleaning system, and to learn more.
sad, it looks cool, but the price, for what it does, is NOT worth it. I can do the same thing in my dryer on the steam cycle. If it WAS an actual dry cleaner, then we’d be talking business.