Smart Home Devices that Reduce Laundry Time

Treat this table as a way to narrow the question, rather than a reason to replace a working appliance. If clean clothes wait in baskets for days, none of these functions puts them away. Start with a laundry system for the whole household if responsibility for the next step is unclear.

2. Make a finish alert reach the person doing the next job

Samsung’s SmartThings support describes notifications when a compatible washer finishes, along with progress monitoring. Its remote-control instructions also require preparation at the machine, including loading it and enabling Smart Control. This is a documented function, not a promise that every Australian Samsung model supports the same controls. [S5]

Check your appliance’s Australian instructions first. If it supports completion alerts, connect it using those directions and check the relevant notification settings. Then run a normal load while someone is available to handle the finish. Confirm that the alert reaches that person before relying on it for a busy day.

Give the alert an agreed action: take the washing to the line, transfer permitted items to the dryer, or tell the next person it is ready. A message on the phone of someone at work is of little help when another adult is handling the laundry at home.

If your washer has no connected function, try a phone reminder based on the displayed finish estimate. It is an approximate reminder rather than confirmation from the machine. Either approach needs a named person, which you can add to your laundry day checklist.

3. Use automatic dosing to remove a repeated preparation task

Bosch describes its i-DOS system as automatically dispensing detergent. This is a separate capability from having a connected app, so check the exact appliance specification for dosing rather than assuming that a smart washer includes it. [S1]

For an existing auto-dosing machine, read the setup instructions before filling its reservoirs. Check which detergent is permitted, what initial settings are required, when manual dosing applies and how to clean the system. Keep those instructions accessible to everyone who uses the machine.

Consider a household that alternates between ordinary clothing and items needing different detergent care. Before relying on automatic dosing, establish how the machine handles that exception. Do not ask the next person to guess whether a reservoir should be bypassed.

The practical question is whether removing the measuring step is useful enough for your household. It does not remove sorting, loading or garment-care decisions, and this guide makes no claim about minutes or detergent saved.

4. Separate a convenient finish time from a shorter cycle

Bosch documents a Finished In setting that lets users select a wash end time. Check whether your own machine offers an equivalent and follow its instructions. Choose a finish window when someone can take over, rather than selecting a time simply because the control allows it. [S1]

Check what any energy mode does to duration too. Samsung’s Australian information says its AI Energy Mode uses cooler water and extra cycle time on eligible courses. An energy-focused setting therefore needs a separate timing check when you are working towards a clothing deadline. [S2]

Before scheduling, decide where the load will dry. If the rack is occupied or rain has removed your usual option, a neatly scheduled finish still leaves a problem. Use the wet-weather washing guide to work through the drying arrangement, then choose the wash window.

5. Check what connected pairs and combos actually remove

Samsung documents Auto Cycle Link for compatible washer and dryer pairs, with AI Control and Wi-Fi required on both. It passes a drying-cycle selection between supported appliances. You still move the clothes and check their care requirements before drying. [S2]

That may be useful if setting the dryer is the point where another household member gets stuck. Check both model numbers against the Australian documentation. Sharing a brand name is not enough evidence of compatibility.

A washer-dryer combo addresses a different task: a suitable combined load can wash and dry without being moved between appliances. CHOICE notes that washing and drying capacities differ and that the machine must finish both stages before it can take another wash. Separate appliances can wash one load while drying another. [S4]

For a small household, removing the transfer may be more valuable than processing several loads in succession. For a household working through a weekend backlog, the next-load delay deserves attention. Check the combined programme’s capacity and duration, including whether your usual load would need splitting.

If you are considering replacement equipment, also check the physical working space. The guide to making a small laundry easier to use covers the layout question. Leave room to load, unload and handle the clothing, as well as space for the appliance itself.

6. Keep the setup only if it helps an ordinary load

Before spending time connecting an appliance, check its network requirements where it actually stands. Bosch’s Home Connect guidance calls for a strong connection at the installed appliance and directs users to appliance-specific pairing instructions. [S3]

Try one supported feature at a time. For an alert, ask whether the right person received it and acted on it. For automatic dosing, check whether everyone understands the usual setup and the exceptions. For cycle sharing, check whether it removes a decision that previously held someone up.

Keep a short note of the problem and what changed. If another account, repeated reconnection or extra control steps become a nuisance, decide whether that feature is worth maintaining. You can keep using the ordinary controls according to the manual.

Choose one delay in your next load and try the matching feature you already own. Judge it by whether the next task becomes easier to complete, rather than by how many smart functions appear on the specification sheet.

How we checked this

Checked on 17 October 2026 against Bosch Australian feature and connectivity guidance, Samsung Australian specifications and official support, and CHOICE’s washer-dryer explanation. [S1-S5] Household setup and observation steps are editorial suggestions. Dovelyne did not test appliances, apps, reliability or time savings.

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