An
extremely expensive and
full-featured front-loading
washing machine. Manufactured by
prestigious Swedish appliance maker
Asko in 1993 and 1994, it creamed all other washers in a
Consumer Reports test. This thing is so ingeniously designed and gadgety, it even has a
coin return slot, where it'll
automatically eject coins that you forget to take out before you put your clothes in.
Other features include:
An integrated high-efficiency water heater, with which you can vary wash temperatures from 64 to 206 ºF
Up to five rinse cycles per wash, for those garments filled with materials like Polarguard that can be really hard to get the soap out of.
Variable spin-cycle speed from 400 to 1300 RPM. The fastest speed makes drying almost unnecessary.
Automatic unbalanced load correction, which gives the garments a good jerk if it senses that they're imbalanced.
Locking double doors, the inner one seals the water in, and the outer one reduces the already non-existent sound. This protects anyone who could stick their hands inside a spinning load, and eliminates the pinching hazard associated with most washers.
This thing is about 40 percent more efficient to use than a typical top-loader, due to its front-loading design and powerful laundering ability. The problem with all this whiz-bang gadgetry is that it makes the washer relatively prone to break down, and when the model was available, it cost $1350. A matching (in price and gadgets) dryer was also available.