WashPass by Candy is the automated washing service your clothing needs | WIRED

Oct 17, 2024

Laundry is a key task for any household, even more so amid the recent pandemic, but perfectly clean clothes can be elusive. According to recent research by Candy, 73 per cent of people report that their washing results are below expectations, often due to uncertainty over which programmes, detergents and additives to choose.Candy estimates that you'll get 70 per cent better washing results with its premium detergent tanks than the traditional leading brands, based on its lab performance tests. That performance increase is down to the disaggregated chemistry of the detergent, which makes for a rather sophisticated system.

The dynamic auto-dosing system takes the best mix from four ingredient 'tanks' and adds them to your laundry at the best time during the stages of the washing cycle, depending on each load. Think Inkjet printer cartridges and you've got the basic concept. For instance, if your lingerie is taking a tumble, the system will automatically add a delicates-friendly formulation to the start of an extended, low-temperature cycle. That means they're active for longer on the fabrics, without mechanically stressing them, giving you the short-term benefit of a better wash and the long-term benefit of clothing that lasts.

It could also stop us from thinking about irritating odd jobs like figuring out how much powder or how many tablets to throw in to each wash or the panic of running out of detergent altogether. Yes, we will still have to load the clothes ourselves but everything else is handled in the background via the WashPass by Candy system: automatic and personalised reordering of detergent tanks, maintenance of the smart washing machine.

Subscribing to your washing machine might sound a bit odd at first glance but it's where the smart home is heading. Candy sees it as a logical extension of its brand values of building smart and accessible technology for the home, with a bit of Italian flair thrown into the designs for good measure.

WashPass by Candy aims to reduce hassle – never a bad thing – and even simplify the laundry process with everything from a wide, tall door fitted in the top half of the 9kg machine (think about it) to Snap&Wash, a feature which lets you take a picture of your washing bundle to activate the correct washing program. What a dream if you never quite stopped scrunching up your face in confusion when faced with a jumble mixed fabrics and colours. It also offers no less than nine rapid wash programs to save your bacon when you're on a dramatic countdown to leave the house wearing cleaner-than-clean clothes. The drum has a top speed of 1200 RPM and it's rated A+++ for power efficiency.

By now the setup should be sounding familiar to any early adopters with a fully automated smart home controlled by Alexa and Google Assistant. The Wi-Fi connected WashPass machine can, of course, be controlled via voice assistants too and the principle is not too dissimilar from what we're seeing with self-charging robot vacuum cleaners and smart fridges, ovens and appliances. There are certain elements of the chores that we humans simply must still take care of as we wait for Jetsons-style robot arms but for the price of a Netflix subscription, everything else can be handed over to the app. Simply remove that folder from your overworked brain.

Candy is the first to experiment with a subscription washing service but the model is fairly easy to get your head around. WashPass by Candy costs £69 to set up then you'll pay £6.90 a month as a subscription plus £0.80 per wash. That includes the price of the Candy washer itself, which is worth over £500. Think of it like an iPhone contract but with slightly more socks involved. A small price to pay for freeing up crucial brain space to continue your newfound lockdown extra-curriculars. Less time fretting about the laundry and more time brushing up on Mandarin for work or completing the 100 best films of the 20th century.

Sign up now to try WashPass by Candy before your friends cotton on. After a few, simple steps to register, the Candy smart washer will be delivered to you, together with the first set of detergent tanks.

This article was originally published by WIRED UK