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In 2022, Bosch is innovating with a product that could not be more atypical: a pocket clothes freshener designed to eliminate bad odors from textiles. We spent a month with the FreshUp, here are our impressions.
Lately, we have received several devices intended to delay the washing of clothes. After LG and Samsung’s respective Stylers (these versatile wardrobes that are used to refresh clothes), here is a new UFO in the linen care sector. We owe this innovation to Bosch which, with its FreshUp, offers a pocket clothes cooler! No more cumbersome than a pair of glasses in its case, the FreshUp followed us wherever we went for a month.
The FreshUp is suitable for the vast majority of textiles.
We therefore subjected it to numerous olfactory tests, including: a move, two “frying parties”, four summer evenings and a dozen sports sessions in the middle of all this agitation (yes, yes).
A nomadic and autonomous device
Designed to accompany the user wherever he goes, the Bosch FreshUp is above all a nomadic product. This small device is only 16 cm wide and 6 cm long, it weighs just 200 g, which is really little more than a large smartphone. Once stored in its travel case, it is easily confused with a sunglasses case. Stored loose in a particularly cluttered handbag, confusion was not uncommon.
Its use is simplified to the extreme since it has only one button which is used to turn it on. Under the FreshUp, we find the action zone of the plasma with a width of only 5 cm. Simply slide it over the part to be treated, exerting light pressure to trigger the ionization process and get rid of odors. Most textiles are compatible with the FreshUp: cotton, wool, polyester, cashmere, linen, silk. However, Bosch advises against using its refresher with certain materials such as leather, fur (natural or synthetic) or even on pieces with a lot of decorations (pearls, sequins, sequins, etc.).
The FreshUp runs on a Li-ion battery, and according to the spec sheet, its runtime reaches 60 minutes from a four-hour charge. Good point, Bosch chose a universal charger, equipped with a USB cable – Micro USB, which avoids multiplying the useless catches which clutter the cupboards.
Plasma to break up odorous molecules
The innovation of the FreshUp lies in its technology which does without detergent and steam to refresh the linen and which therefore prefers plasma technology. Thanks to its effect, “charged particles by ion separation dissolve the bonds of single odor molecules“, says the manufacturer. This method would also make it possible to destroy many pathogens (viruses and bacteria), which is not a small asset in these times of pandemic.
The Bosch FreshUp uses plasma technology.
As the plasma spreads its effect, the FreshUp’s LEDs light up purple. For this, it is necessary that the lower surface is in contact with the linen. When the LEDs are white, the device is ready for use.
Amazing results
For the sake of our test, the FreshUp closely followed the adventures of some people on the team, starting with the ordeal of moving the writing of the Digital, in the middle of a heat wave. After numerous fillings and lifting boxes, the device underwent its first test: to rid a cotton t-shirt of the smell of perspiration. No duration of use is recommended and the process must be continued as long as the odors persist. Three round trips on the fabric are enough to erase the impregnated odor. To our surprise, it is replaced by another that is not especially more attractive: a chemical smell, similar to that which one might find in a laundry. And the least we can say is that it is tenacious and hangs on the textile for about 30 minutes. The result is just as effective with cigarette odors: the plasma succeeds in eliminating tobacco odors with ease, continuing to spread its tenacious odor.
The device is also suitable for upholstery.
We had more fears with the smells of frying, which resist despite hours of ventilation. And it is this aroma that has caused the most trouble for the refresher. We had to iron the cardigan five or six times per side with the appliance to partially deodorize the linen. Indeed, afterwards, the fabric still smelled a little of the smell of grit mixed with that delivered by the plasma. After about thirty minutes at rest, the two mixed smells ended up fading, and we were finally able to breathe.
Finally, we subjected the FreshUp to contact with a (synthetic) sports t-shirt which absorbed the sweat of a cyclist from the editorial staff (having traveled 13 km under a blazing sun) and the result is once again without appeal, the smell of perspiration has completely disappeared.
Conclusion
If that wasn’t clear, it should be clarified that the FreshUp is limited to odors and it is not about washing clothes. Indeed, the plasma will not be able to do anything against stains, even light and not very encrusted. Nevertheless, its effectiveness is such that it can objectively delay laundry washing sessions and as everyone knows, the multiplicity of washes alters the quality of textiles. In this, the FreshUp wins its daring bet.