Whirlpool LRF4001RY Fabric Freshener System, Removes Odors, Relaxes Wr
by WHIRLPOOL
|
List Price: Our Price: $167.00 You Save: $82.99 (33%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
|---|
Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Whirlpool LRF4001RY Fabric Freshener System, Removes Odors, Relaxes Wr
Customer Review: I love it!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm very surprised to see anything negative about this unit. It's my favorite thing.
I've been wishing for an old-fashioned airing closet for years, and the Fabric Freshener fills that function beautifully, and more. It relaxes wrinkles and removes odors in about 1/2 hour- hands-free. It works better than the shower and costs much less to operate. It gives you that outdoor fresh smell even in inclement weather. Oh, how I wish I'd had this when my smoking parents were alive! I used to unpack anything clean one item at a time, hang it it front of the bathroom window for a full day and keep the bathroom door closed. My post-Christmas unpack went on forever. Even the laundry didn't always remove the smoke smell. The Fabric Freshener definitely would.
The degree of success you're going to have with this unit will depend on the fabric. Rayon was made to be aired. Most lighter weight fabrics do well. I have one "suede-cloth" suit that I freshen successfully, but I think that's about as heavy as I would go and expect success on the wrinkle front. Some fabrics are resistant to steam "de-wrinkling" and that's that, but most do well. For mustiness, I've found no limits.
The unit came with two big weight clips meant to go on the bottom of pants. They work well, but you have to be careful not create even more wrinkles with the clips. I mislaid them immediately and didn't find them for months. (Hanging on a pair of pants I rarely wear.) I didn't particularly miss them.
One weakness in the unit is that it doesn't come with hangers. Obviously, you need to use all-plastic hangers, and they have to be sturdy. It's not that easy to come up with something for your pants to hang from.
There's also the height issue. It opens to 57", which seems plenty tall, but some of that is motor and handle, then there's the space the hanger takes - I can clip my pants to a hanger and have them hang straight, but I'm 4'11". A taller person would need to fold them over a hanger.
You also need to understand that it will NOT remove the soil. So be careful - it's easy to get carried away with your perky-looking, fresh-smelling, worthy-of-a-commercial outfit and overlook the grimy collar and gruesome cuffs!
My husband picked this up for half-price. When I learned that half-price was 100 bucks, I gave deep consideration to the potential pleasures of spouse-smacking. I probably could have just freshened my clothes with the steam coming out of my ears. He convinced me to give a try, though, and I've been thanking him ever since. It has paid for itself several times in dry cleaning bills, not to mention the environmental savings.
Customer Review: Died after 9 months
Summary: 1 Stars
What a lemon! This items worked when, when it worked. It now has completed stopped responding. Whirlpool says "call an electrician". Yeah - $100 service call on a $200 item. Customer Review: It cut my dry cleaning bill by 60%
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought my freshener in February 2007. My intention in buying it was to be able to treat my dry clean clothes at home and get more wearings out of them before having to send them to the cleaners. It has definitely performed well in that area. It does a good job on business-type jackets, pants, and dresses. Linen doesn't always come out as wrinkle-free as I would like, but it's typically good enough for at least one more wearing. I haven't had much luck with shirts or blouses. Prior to buying the FF, I used Dryel in my dryer. I've definitely been happier with this - since it uses only water, you're not left with that unique (and strong) Dryel smell. Also with Dryel, if you didn't get the clothes out as soon as the dryer finished, they'd look worse than when they went into the bag. If you forget about the items after the FF finishes, it's not a big deal since they're hanging up already. Still, I want to make it clear that it's intended to freshen the clothes, not replace the dry cleaner. In other words if you're expecting that machine from The Jetsons where you throw the dirty shirt in and get a clean pressed shirt out, you will be disappointed.
Now, the reason I gave it four stars instead of five is because I'm on my second one. I used it for nine months before deciding to put it through the vinegar cleaning cycle. I had read in several places online that many of them stopped working after that, so I had put it off instead of doing it every six months as directed. I ran it through and sure enough it stopped taking in water to create steam after that. We won't even go into how steamed vinegar made everything around it smell. I tried cleaning it out and using a shop vacuum thinking it was clogged with no luck.
I decided to call the Whirlpool support number that came with it even though it was long past the limited warranty period. I got a voice mail and left a message with my name, phone number, and serial number. Based on everything I'd read, I expected to get either no response or an unhelpful one. I was pleasantly surprised when my call was returned within 20 minutes, and the representative offered right off the bat to ship me a brand new one. She let me know that this was a one time replacement and to not do the vinegar cleaning cycle, even though the manual called for it. She said as long as I only used distilled water it would be fine. The new one arrived about a week later, and I'm now back in business. UPS should be picking up the old one today. I shipped both vinegar cups back with it.
One more point for my review - after the first one broke and I was debating what to do about it, I decided to run a report in Quicken to see how much I'd spent on dry cleaning to see if it really did save me any money. From March to November of this year, I spend almost $400 on dry cleaning. During the same period in 2006, I spent nearly $1000. That's what made me decide to call the help phone number. Even if they hadn't done anything to help me, I would have replaced it, since it essentially paid for itself in three months.
Customer Review: WHIRlPOOL IS ABANDONING THIS PRODUCT!!!
Summary: 1 Stars
WARNING! Whirlpool no longer services nor supplies parts to service the fabric freshener! Mine broke after about 8 months. It gave me one flashing light which means the boiler has failed. I contacted both a local repair man and Whirlpool corporate offices and the woman simply said, "I'm sorry sir, we no longer service or supply parts for this item." I was left with no alternative! I've now gone to the extent of taking this thing apart by myself, but the engineering inside looks so flimsy-no wonder it failed so soon. This item was awesome... but only while it lasted!Customer Review: Great Concept, Didn't Work, Terrible Service
Summary: 1 Stars
Product never worked from the day it was delivered. As a constant business traveler, I love the concept. I'm hoping this was just one of a bad batch or something. Unfortunately, the service for this item was horrendous. It took weeks to get a response from their phone center and email. When I finally spoke with someone, they were worthless...just tried to rush me off the phone and never offered to replace it or help in any other way. Very disappointed. I don't understand why I can't find something similar by another (better?) manufacturer.