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Original poster

Who has a combined washing machine/tumble dryer - are they really as crap as people say?

51 replies

AlwaysWantedToBeATenenbaum · 29/12/2018 14:01

We have quite a small house with a tiny area beside our downstairs bathroom where our washing machine usually is. I have a 2 year old DS and a little girl on the way and I’m sick of our clothes horse forever sitting in the kitchen so we thought a combined washer/dryer is the answer. However everyone and their friend keeps telling us how shit they are. Can anyone who has one tell me what they’re like? Thanks!

OP posts:
HermioneWaslib · 29/12/2018 14:03

I mean they’re not as good as a stand-alone washer or dryer but sometimes what you need is both! We had one and it was fine.

I’d hate to tumble ALL washing with it though - could a ceiling airer be a better solution?

Hengine · 29/12/2018 14:04

I know they aren’t as good as 2 separate machines but my washer/dryer is definitely better than a washing machine and a damp house full of clothes horses!
It’s been a massive improvement for us. I did get an expensive one though after reading lots of reviews

melissasummerfield · 29/12/2018 14:04

When we lived with PiL they had a combined one ( expensive one too ) and it was rubbish, think all day to dry two towels, and even then stuff never felt completely dry. Have you got room to stack a dryer on top of your washer?

Hengine · 29/12/2018 14:05

I do still hang some washing up but towels and sheets in the tumble dryer cut down the space needed

RedRobin87 · 29/12/2018 14:06

We have a washer dryer and ended up taking a cupboard out in our kitchen to make space for a separate dryer as the washer dryer was so bad.

It's fine for washing, absolutely useless at drying. It took forever and everything still felt damp.

Have you got a garden shed you could put it in? Lots of people do that if they don't have room inside

IHaveBrilloHair · 29/12/2018 14:07

I loved mine, only reason I don't have one now is I couldn't afford one.

WhirlwindHugs · 29/12/2018 14:08

Yep.

However we haven't got rid of ours as being able to tumble towels and sheets etc saves on space and time hugely. It's been repaired at least once a year since it was 2yo. I don't think they can cope with a family with kids level of use.

Our bugger is leaking again, we have moved house and have a bit more space, so I'm thinking about getting a washer and dryer separately now.

Schmoobarb · 29/12/2018 14:09

We had one, it was awful. Never again. You obviously can’t wash and dry at the same time, the tumble dryer capacity was less than the washer so you had to take clothes out after washing before drying and the clothes all smelled funny and not fresh after they can out. We didn’t have much room either as we had a tiny kitchen we had to stick the tumble dryer in the living room and just move it to the back door to vent it when we finally got separates. It was still better than the washer dryer.

Hellomumsne · 29/12/2018 14:09

My Hoover one is pretty good but I only use the dryer on the odd occasion to dry a few pillow cases, sheets or towels. It usually sets to about 3 hours but if you only dry what you need it's quicker. But it's great to have when you really need to dry something. Just not for all your laundry but I wouldn't dry all laundry anyway.

oldfatandtired1 · 29/12/2018 14:10

The washer on mine is fine, the dryer’s rubbish. I don’t have enough room for 2 separate machines though so I’m stuck with it. There’s only me at home now so it’s OK.

HirplesWithHaggis · 29/12/2018 14:11

It's some time since I used one (at work, but it was a domestic machine) but it annoyed me that the drying capacity was only half that of the washing capacity, and it didn't automatically switch. So you couldn't put a load on and come back to it dry.

Stephisaur · 29/12/2018 14:11

We have one. It works fine.

We don’t use the dryer as often, but when we do it does dry everything in a few hours. We hang sheets on doors though to air them out afterwards as they come out quite humid.

thisisjustdaft · 29/12/2018 14:13

We have one because like you, we don't have the space for separate machines.

The drum is smaller, so you can't do such big loads, and obviously you can't be washing one lot and drying another.
Ours dries well, although again because of a smaller drum, things like sheets can come out rather crumpled due to being a bit cramped.
I tend to only three-quarters dry things and then finish them off on a clothes horse and/or by ironing.

thewreckofthehesperus · 29/12/2018 14:15

We had a washer/dryer and it was useless. Have separates now and would never go back!

Squeegle · 29/12/2018 14:15

I think I had a good one once- I can’t remember what brand it was. For all the people saying they are ok, what brand is yours?

EnlightenedOwl · 29/12/2018 14:16

used to have separate then moved house and no room for separate dryer washer dryer only option. Its ok. Some things still come out a bit damp so finish them off on clothes horse/airer. Pain if you have washing waiting to go in but you need drying to finish also it doesn't dry same amount in one load as wash load mine is 7kg wash 5kg dry. (I think without looking).
also this is a bit restricted there are only 3 drying programmes and two are for over 2 hours!

Schmoobarb · 29/12/2018 14:16

Mine was a Bosch

Thesnobbymiddleclassone · 29/12/2018 14:17

I've always had one since moving into my own place and never had any of the issues people talk about.

You can easily use together or as one or the other, I find it simpler than moving washing about and my new one bought 4 months ago didn't cost that much and has a large 9kg load.

Thesnobbymiddleclassone · 29/12/2018 14:20

Mines also a hoover one. Does a quick was of 44 mins then I sent it to dry for an hour.

In that time I can easily get on with other jobs that need doing.

Beccatheboo · 29/12/2018 14:20

Couldn’t live without mine! Small kitchen so also no room for separates but there’s no way I could dry everything for four of us on an airer. Even though I’ve bought relatively expensive machines they are not long-lasting so make sure you get a decent warantee period. I’m waiting for a second replacement machine in two years! Luckily Bosch have great customer service and when the machine is working properly I think it washes really well and I have no problems with drying (just reduce the amount). The only negative having a combi is not being able to wash and dry at the same time when we have loads of holiday washing or sheets.

XmasPostmanBos · 29/12/2018 14:23

What I found was the dryer couldnt do as big a load as the washer so you would either have to do a small load or take out half and dry it in 2 lots. This may not be the same for all washer/dryers of course.

RandomUsernameHere · 29/12/2018 14:26

They are fine for washing, not as good for drying as a separate dryer but much better than not having one at all.

GrouchyKiwi · 29/12/2018 14:36

We had a decent one in our previous house. I think it was a Zanussi. I liked being able to put on a wash and then come home to a dry load of washing.

Limitations are that you can't wash as much in one go as in separate machines, you have to make sure you don't include things that can't go in the dryer in your normal wash if you're doing it all in one go, and the dryer takes a lot longer than a separate one.

But they're great space savers.

picklemebaubles · 29/12/2018 14:37

You can only tumble half a load, so it isn't as efficient as it should be...

That said, it's better than no tumble dryer at all. You need to think about the venting. Stick a dry towel in when you tumble to speed things up.

SackOfSprouts · 29/12/2018 14:38

They’re dreadful. I had one when I lived in a flat pre-DC and it was so shite I gave up using it. My mum & stepdad have a supposedly top of the range one on their holiday rental and it’s useless. It takes 3 hours to dry sheets.