Review: LG Styler

“Can this cabinet replace an iron?” I hopefully asked the LG consultant who had travelled across the country to make sure I got off to a good start testing the styler, as the cabinet is called. I’m not a big fan of my iron.

“No, it’s a supplement,” he replied, but hastened to add that the styler can do so much more. He had one in his hallway, and in his family they used it for everything from wet footwear to the cosy blanket that his wife liked to warm up in the cupboard before wrapping herself up in it on the sofa. That last one sounded really cosy.

And in fact, the styler does have a special blanket warming programme.

But first, let’s be clear about what kind of product this review is about. LG’s styler is the size of a narrow wardrobe with a smoke-coloured mirrored door hiding an almost invisible control panel. It’s a rather elegant solution.

On the inside of the door is a trouser press and two hangers hang on a hanger bar inside the wardrobe. (A third can be purchased.) There is also a shelf. But in other words, the capacity is quite limited. When the cabinet is switched on, it is filled with steam and the hanger bar moves back and forth, which should “shake” the wrinkles out of the clothes.

At the bottom are two water tanks, one for refilling water and one that collects water from the cabinet. It seems a bit silly to have two tanks, but there are.

A small sheet of discreet fragrance is placed in a holder at the bottom of the wardrobe, and this is where the clothes get their fresh, clean scent.

Many special programs

The styler is equipped with a number of basic programs that can refresh clothes with steam and fragrance or simply dry them. But in addition, there are special programmes that need to be downloaded.

For example, there is a specific programme for sterilising dolls, which makes me think of the dolls I had as a child that were absolutely never sterilised. That was a different time.

Nowadays, according to the manufacturer’s website, if parents own an LG Styler, they can remove 99.9 per cent of all bacteria and allergens from their children’s toys, such as dolls. However, the styler can’t do much about the felt-tip pen lines that your little sister denied knowing anything about, but the BAF, British Allergy Foundation, has approved the product’s effectiveness against bacteria and allergens.

In order to download the programme to warm up the comfy plaid, I first need to download LG’s ThinkQ app, connect it to the styler and then find the programme in the list of almost endless options that LG has developed.

The app is a headache

LG’s app works well, but connecting it to the styler is a little tricky. The app itself suggests that I scan a QR code on the inside of the door, which I try, but it doesn’t work.

The next method is to search for the styler in the app. I switch on the cabinet and try searching both with and without the cabinet’s Wi-Fi signal turned on. The app finds nothing.

Last attempt: adding it manually. And now it works. But in the meantime, I’ve been thinking back to earlier when I tested the LG WashTower Compact and had exactly the same problems. Maybe LG should take a look at this detail in their otherwise very fine range of smart home products.

The styler can be controlled remotely

My new blanket heating programme can be started from the app if I enable remote start on the styler’s display. This invites you to put your own or your child’s duvet in the wardrobe before you leave home and start the heating programme from the app in the car on the way home. The same goal of having a cosy duvet waiting in the closet can also be achieved with the Delayed Start function on the styler’s own display.

It takes 30 minutes for the styler to warm up the blanket. This may sound expensive in terms of power, but LG’s representative promises that the styler is characterised by minimal power consumption.

There is no energy rating, but Trustedreviews.com has calculated that it costs between 0.2 and 0.5 kWh to run the different programmes. An average washing machine uses around 1 kWh per wash.

After the 30 minutes are up, the styler plays a little tune, which, according to the consultant, you can change or switch off completely. I receive a notification on my phone that the blanket is warm, and sure enough, there is now a nice and cosy blanket inside the cupboard. It’s by no means burning hot, but cosy and nice to wrap yourself up in.

Wrinkles or not

It’s time to test the big selling point of the styler: Can it remove wrinkles from wrinkled fabric?

I start with a cotton pillowcase and sheet. In hotels, bed linen is always ultra smooth, but in my house it’s wrinkled. Could the styler be the solution?

The bedding programme takes 1 hour and 33 minutes to complete. In that time, according to the manual, the styler heats up the water in its small water tank, fills the cabinet with steam, shakes the wrinkles out of the fabric and dries it again, I read as the machine starts humming.

With its dehydrator function, it can also dry wet outerwear or freshly washed clothes that shouldn’t be tumble dried. And if you leave the door open, it can actually act as a dehumidifier in the room where it is placed.

But perhaps it’s the dry cleaning function that is the most useful. I have a suit that I pay a lot of money to have dry-cleaned when I think it feels dirty and smells a little too much like me. I take it out and wait while the stylist works on the bed linen.

As promised, an hour and a half passes before the wardrobe plays its tune and sends me a notification on my phone.

The sheet and pillowcase feel warm and fluffy, and it smells good, but to the naked eye it’s just as wrinkled as it was before it entered the steam. The consultant was right that we can’t do without the iron, so we’ll probably continue to sleep in wrinkled bed linen.

Fresh suit

Most of the pictures on LG’s website show crisp white shirts and dress pants hanging on the styler’s hangers. The consultant told me that he always hangs his shirts and polos in there himself, and it makes sense that the stylist can actually shake out wrinkles in thin shirt fabric.

To be on the safe side, I try a cotton shirt, but again, the stylist has to give up. As with the bed linen, the shirt comes out pretty much as wrinkled as it went in.

With the suit, it’s a different story. It’s not wrinkled, but it’s certainly not fresh either. By the end of the programme, both the jacket and trousers smell pleasant and the fabric feels almost like it’s been freshly cleaned. The result is actually quite impressive.

The trousers have also been pressed, but a new crease has been added because the legs were too wide for the narrow trouser press. It takes a few tries to get them to fit, and there’s no doubt that slim-fit fans have an advantage here.

Conclusion

The LG Styler adds an element of luxury to everyday life. It’s easy to get hooked on throwing your clothes into the machine for a refresher, and it has almost countless useful features.

But we don’t quite make it to six stars because it doesn’t manage to remove all the wrinkles and creases in our shirts and pillowcases, and because the trouser press actually adds a new wrinkle to our trousers. It’s also a bit of a downer that the LG Styler is priced so high that it will be a major investment for most people