I knew it was going to be something that I’d have to upgrade eventually. When we moved into our house, the previous owners left their washer and dryer for us. While this was helpful, they were about 10 years old at that point. We got three years out of each of them before the dryer started to malfunction and it was no longer safe to use them.

When we were deciding on what washer and dryer to get next, it only made sense to look at a smart washer and dryer. One of the biggest flaws that I have is putting on a load of laundry and forgetting about it. While I could have used an NFC tag near the washing machine to trigger a timer, I did not, and I have had musty loads of laundry before. But with this smart home upgrade, that isn’t an issue anymore.

A smart washer has been a useful investment

Setting it up was incredibly easy

We opted for a smart washer and dryer from Samsung, as we have friends who have them and have been extremely pleased with them. I also knew that, despite our home being mainly run through Amazon Alexa, we could use a tie-in through Samsung SmartThings and be able to use it with our home ecosystem.

After getting them installed and hooked up, it was time to set them up on my smart home. Because I split my Wi-Fi and put all of my smart home devices on one band, I didn’t have to worry about it slowing down my network.

I had to download the Samsung SmartThings app, as this is the first Samsung device I’ve owned. The setup was smooth and quick, as both of them were added to the app within moments. All I had to do was scan a QR code and press two buttons on the machines and they were hooked up.

From the Samsung SmartThings app, I can control the machines as long as the Smart Control or Smart Monitor button is pressed on them. They have to be pressed, or I can’t use my phone as a remote control with them. I’m still able to press the physical buttons on them to make them work though.

Using the smart washer has eliminated my biggest fear

I was rather pumped to get this going

This has been my face too many times when taking my towels out of the washing machine. This is almost always because I left them in too long and the door was sealed for an extended period of time. When that happens, moisture builds up and bacteria does as well.

If you don’t want your clothes to smell bad when you take them out of the wash, you need to be on top of when the loads have to be switched. If you do this promptly, you shouldn’t have an issue with the smell. Of course, it’s possible that it will still smell and you might need to run a self-cleaning cycle or add some vinegar to a cycle to clean out the washing machine.

But, now that I have a smart washer and dryer, I’m able to just look at my phone and see what part of the cycle the machines are at. The SmartThings app gives me a rundown of the time remaining, part of the cycle (spin, rinse, wash, etc.), what cycle it’s on, and the option to pause or cancel it.

Getting push notifications to my phone that tell me when my loads are finished running has been a game changer. I’m rarely without my phone, so this has kept me in the loop when I’m working during the day.

I added more safeguards to the process

Now I can get alerted in multiple ways

As I’m frequently on work calls upstairs and my laundry room is downstairs, I don’t always hear the chime. This is notable because the Samsung washer and dryer have distinct chimes that go on forever (IYKYK).

That’s why the push notification has been very helpful. But, as I’m often busy during the day, I decided to put one more fail-safe into place.

As I mentioned above, I knew I could connect my SmartThings app to my Amazon Alexa app. I had to share the skill through the Alexa app, which was as simple as adding a new device.

You can go into the Alexa app, tap More, then Skills & Games, and then select SmartThings. It walks you through enabling the skill and then you can add the Samsung device via Add Devices.

Once I added my washer and dryer to the Alexa app, I can then see that they are powered on when I open up the devices list in the app. But, more importantly, I added the skill for Alexa to announce when the washer and dryer finish their load.

Alexa made it easy, as it let me pick any of my smart speakers to do this with. I chose two of the Echo Shows we have in the house, one upstairs and one downstairs. Now, when I’m in my office and I can’t hear the chime, I can either look at my phone for the push notification from SmartThings or listen for the announcement through Alexa.

I’m avoiding smelly laundry with this smart home upgrade

We added a smart washer and dryer to our home with the goal of keeping a better eye on when the cycles are finished. Not only do these Samsung machines let us know when they are finished by playing a loud chime, but they also send us push notifications to our phones. It’s been a wonderful addition to our home and has made laundry duty much simpler.