LG WM3575CV Washing Machine Review

It's said you can either do things quickly, cheaply, or well. Yet the LG WM3575CV (MSRP $1,099 in gray or $999 in white as the WM3575CW) can do all three. At the forefront of its impressive feature list is TurboWash, which is a spray pattern and detergent release that can clean a normal basket of laundry in just 30 minutes.

With the WM3575CV on your side, you could turn laundry day into laundry hour. Everyone hoping to cut down on chore time—a.k.a. everyone—should keep the WM3575CV on their radar.

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Design & Usability

A new coat of paint, but still an LG

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Lacking any sharp edges or angles, the LG WM3575CV's design gives off smooth vibes. The slickest part of it all is the glass door that opens up to the 4.5-cu.-ft. drum. That stainless steel drum is coated with tiny, bubble-like indentations that LG says help clean your clothes without tearing them apart. There's also a magnetic stopper that keeps the door ajar, allowing excess moisture to evaporate and preventing that mildew smell many consumers complain about.

On the exterior, the control panel has retained the unified design language of previous models. A ring of bright LEDs surround the cycle dial, and highlight the slate-gray powder coat of the chassis. The only difference you'll probably notice, if you're jumping up from a cheaper machine, is the WM3575CV has more cycles than your typical washer. But don't worry: All the additional cycles are decipherable, like Wool, Permanent Press, and Towels.

The WM3575CV is also equipped with NFC smart options, which allow you to diagnose a broken washer over the phone or download new cycles to your machine with a smartphone.

Performance & Features

Living up to its pedigree

We have high expectations for LG's lineup of front loaders. In fact, in 2014, we awarded LG Best Washer of the Year, and a washer based on an LG won Best Value. The LG WM3575CV has a lot in common with the popular, now-discontinued WM3550HWCA—so it has a lot to live up to.

First off, the WM3575CV's Heavy Duty cycle eviscerated stains in our tests. It's easily the best cycle on this machine, blasting away soil in just an hour and 45 minutes, and using just 9 gallons of water. But if time is of the essence—or if you want a cycle that's gentler on your clothes—then you may want to switch to the Normal cycle. By enabling TurboWash, LG's time-saving water jet mode, the WM3575CV can wash a standard 8-lb. load of laundry in just 30 minutes, using just 10 gallons of water.

To put that in perspective, consider a traditional top loader like the Whirlpool WTW5000DW, which uses 44 gallons of water and a full hour per Normal cycle. In that time, the WM3575CV could wash two loads of laundry using half as much total water, and with better stain-lifting results.

This LG also has a few neat extras to make laundry chores easier. Fresh Care, when activated, will tumble your laundry for up to 19 hours after a cycle has finished, preventing a musty smell from settling into your clothes. If you're prone to forgetting about your laundry, or want to start a load before you head off to work, this feature will be a welcome convenience.

There's also a dedicated button for Cold Wash. Under the right conditions, washing with cold water is just as powerful as hot, and saves energy too.

For in-depth performance information, please visit the Science Page.

Warranty

LG washers are covered with a three-part warranty. The most comprehensive leg applies to the first year after the date of purchase, covering parts and labor for any defects in material or workmanship. For the next nine years after that, LG will cover only the cost of parts for the motor. Finally, for as long as you own the machine, LG will replace the stainless steel drum, but you're on the hook for installation labor—which could be significant.

Why We Like It

Another win for LG

The WM3575CV is yet another triumph in the long march of front loader excellence from LG. It's a display of all that is good about this much-scorned technology.

This model has excellent stain removal capabilities for its relatively affordable price, and it uses about half the water of its top-loading cousins. On top of all that comes TurboWash–a spray pattern and detergent dispensing system that lets the Normal cycle handle a full load of laundry in just 30 minutes. If you want to save even more money, check out the WM3575CW—the same washer with a white finish and a lower price.

Speed, power, price—this washer has it all.

By the Numbers

Call us crazy, but we think you should only trust a review if it's based on fact. On this page, we'll go through the empirical data that formed the foundation of our review of this LG.

Cleaning Performance

Cleaning performance is about stain removal. We use mechanically coated stain strips to simulate various substances that can dirty your clothes, such as cocoa, red wine, and blood. After they're pinned to towels, we place the strips in eight-pound loads of laundry and wash them in select cycles. Once each cycle's finished, we take the strips and scan them with a photospectrometer. A computer then determines how much a stain has been lifted.

The Heavy Duty cycle was by far the strongest contender. It had a 4% edge over Bright Whites, the next best cycle. Heavy Duty even worked well against sweat and oil stains, usually the staunchest enemies of clean clothes. The Normal cycle came in third place, removing 9% fewer stains than Heavy Duty.

The WM3575CV had the easiest time against blood and cocoa stains, sure signs of a good temperature profile (adding hot water at the right time, to avoid denaturing stains too early). Oil and sweat stains proved tougher to remove, but, as mentioned, the WM3575CV's high-heat settings fared better than other washers in this price range.

Efficiency

Accounting for national costs and use patterns, we estimate this LG will use about $31 worth of water and electricity a year—about half of the average top loader's costs. However, we also need to account for what happens after a wash cycle ends. How long your laundry spends in your less efficient dryer depends on the amount of water your washer spins out. The WM3575CV spun out 49% of excess water on average, which is adequate.

Clothing Wear & Tear

Your clothes wear out a little bit every time they come out of the wash, so you want a washer that isn't too rough with your laundry. To test this, we use mechanical action strips that fray in a predictable pattern, allowing us to quantify how much damage each wash does.

The WM3575CV is in the middle of the pack: We counted an average of 49 frayed threads across all cycles. Heavy Duty was the most harsh, with 61 loose threads, and Delicates was the least with 27.