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Original poster

To give up on a washer dryer?

66 replies

MotherOfBeagles · 01/06/2017 12:44

So first is an apology, i'm posting for traffic out of desperation!

Our crappy zanussi washer dryer has finally given up the ghost leaving us in the lurch. I'm now frantically trying to find a replacement and my dh is freaking out at the cost of a halfway decent washer dryer. So now i am wondering if we should just give up on the dryer and just get a decent washing machine!?

We have a tiny new build house with absolutely no room for two seperate units so needs to be either all in or just a washing machine. We also have two beagles which add greatly to our washload and are currently expecting our first child. We do have outdoor space to dry and a pretty decent airer (not heated but willing to look at these if theyre any good) but dh is worried about heating costs spiralling if we dont have a dryer.

Can anyone offer any help or advice? Do you have a fantabulous washer dryer you can recommend or am i crazy for thinking about giving up on a dryer with our first kid on the way?

OP posts:
thecapitalsunited · 01/06/2017 13:59

I have a washer dryer and when I move to a house I'll replace it with separates but there is no way I'd just have a washing machine.

I usually dry on a drying rack and only use the dryer function if I need to such as when I wash my mattress protector. I only have one so it goes back on straight away. I also dry towels because who doesn't want fluffy towels?

My washer dryer is an AEG with 8kg wash and 6kg dry. It washes very well and dries acceptably. It's not enough of a compromise to make it worth switching to a machine which can only do washing. Even if the drying function is a bit lacking at least I have the option.

Ollivander84 · 01/06/2017 14:04

I have a heated airer and love it. Every time I do a wash I make sure to wash a towel or sheet and drape that over the airer. Everything mostly dries overnight (Lancashire here and not allowed a washing line in the garden and no room for tumble dryer!)

FlyingElbows · 01/06/2017 14:21

This would be my one bit of advice for anyone starting a family... buy the biggest capacity washing machine and separate tumble dryer you possibly can. It's my number one, no compromise domestic deal breaker. Mine are stacked with a pull out shelf between them for folding. I actually love them. My dryer has a shelf for shoes and a light so you watch stuff if you're really bored!!

Remember tumble dryers do not necessarily need floor space they can go on top of the washer or a worktop or a table or anywhere really. There's no way on earth I could do a family's worth of laundry in a combi. We're in the West of Scotland so the weather's not brilliant but I also make as much use as possible of my Brabantia wall fix washing line which is just a brilliant invention and means I can hide the washing round the side and not have a whirly in the middle of the grass. I'm a bit obsessed with washing being user friendly!

Groupie123 · 01/06/2017 14:27

Can you stack the units? I have a small new build too but that's what we do.

Smurfy23 · 01/06/2017 14:30

Have you got a garage or somewhere that you could put the drier?

ScoobyDoosTinklyLaugh · 01/06/2017 14:30

We've got a samsung Ecobubble washer drier and I think it's good. I normally do a big wash (9kg machine) and then take out all the things that I don't want in the dryer (undies/woolies/dead synthetic stuff) and hang them up and then the remaining load will dry in 2 hours in the dryer. Its fecking huge though. Beast of a machine. It was quite pricey too.

Original poster
MotherOfBeagles · 02/06/2017 16:24

Thanks all, we bit the bullet and just got a washing machine with a crazy good spin. Also ordered a lakeland electric airer so hopefully between outdoor washing line, normal airer, radiators and the electric airer should be not a problem.

Thanks to all those with ideas about where to put a dryer but there is literally no room, we have a garden office which is now being turned into our spare/storage room so that the actual spare room can become a nursery. So absolutely no room at all for a dryer in there. Tiny box kitchen means no room to stack.

Definitely vindicating my dislike of buying a tiny new house! But alas it was my dh's choice as we weren't married and had only just met when my now dh bought this house. I'm definitely getting the final say on the next one! lol

OP posts:
PersianCatLady · 02/06/2017 17:01

Unfortunately there just isn't space for any unit that cant be folded away like an airer
When I lived in a flat, I had a small tumble dryer and I put it in one of the bedrooms so that the vent house could go out of the window.

PersianCatLady · 02/06/2017 17:08

So absolutely no room at all for a dryer in there
Not even a small one like this?

To give up on a washer dryer?
PickAChew · 02/06/2017 17:12

My Siemens washer dryer has been great (with an extended warranty - they all need the best warranty you can afford!) but we bought a standalone dryer as soon as we could conjure up the space. A washer dryer was great when the boys were small, but it reached the point that their clothes were only getting bigger and no cleaner (both have SN!) and I was unable to keep on top of the laundry unless the weather was properly hot.

StepAwayFromTheEcclesCakes · 02/06/2017 17:56

line dry in spring / summer, radiator dry in winter, big loads... take to nearest launderette to dry.

PickAChew · 02/06/2017 20:42

Practical, Step.

My nearest laundrette is a £5 return bus ride, plus long walk away. When our old washer dryer broke and I had to use it few times (DH dropped me off on a Saturday) I worked out that with what it cost to use the washers and dryers there, I could buy a top of the range Miele every 6 months for the amount of laundry we generate between us. That's without factoring in lost afternoons, sat in a launderette, not getting other stuff done.

I'd rather be without a dining table than a dryer of some sort if space was very tight.

As for drying on radiators, it's generally not recommended and disastrous if you have a fairly old house.

howabout · 03/06/2017 11:19

My Morrisons has a tumble dryer. Drop off the load for drying if you really need to, do the shopping and collect it on the way out Smile

Ski4130 · 03/06/2017 11:26

We've got a washer but no dryer and manage just fine. We used to have a washer dryer and when it died I vowed we wouldn't get another, it was awful (we've had 3 washer dryers - Fisher & Paykel, Miele and AEG and they've all been utter rubbish) I've now got a Miele washing machine, heated airier and ordinary airier and cope fine with 3 kids (2 of whom play muddy sports) and a husband who also plays muddy sports. We've got room for a dryer in the garage, and the plan was always to buy one but we haven't needed to. I always open windows and let air through the house though, as I'm paranoid about mould/damp etc when drying clothes inside.

PookieDo · 03/06/2017 11:30

I have a washer dryer and the only thing it is good for is the 30 min drying cycle for slightly damp clothing. So I dry it almost dry then give it a very last heat to finish it off.

I'm in a flat and have no garden and no central heating (storage, which you cannot hang clothes over, only nearby).

We do just make do with a wonderful laundry arrangement of as much on hangers on curtain poles as possible (this is honestly ingenious and saves space AND ironing, large things over doors and over the shower. For a few days each week it is like living in a laundererette!

The heated airers I have heard really good things about - if my dryer ever breaks that's what I will get

LadySalmakia · 03/06/2017 11:33

We've got a washer and no drier and have had combis in the past. They were crap on the clothes, they're too hot and only really suitable for pants and socks.

I don't really like having washing all over the place but don't really have much choice, we just put up with it - I did think about buying our own little dryer but like you there's just no room.

Would be very interested in recommendations for those heated airers, though - anyone got a good one?

PersianCatLady · 03/06/2017 11:42

as much on hangers on curtain poles as possible
I hope that your curtain poles are really well fixed to the walls because they are not intended to support the weight of curtains and a load of clothes.

If you are renting I would not allow your LL to see you using curtain poles for this purpose.

It is so hard to keep on top of washing and drying especially when you are tight on space.

trinitybleu · 03/06/2017 11:44

I currently have a Hotpoint which does 9kg loads and a 1600 spin ... it dries really well but had 12 engineer visits in 12 months for a noisy spin after the heater element went. Finally got that sorted but in the meantime, I also got a Samsung Ecobubble. It's a 8kg and 1600 spun too. That is fine for drying socks and pants, but with larger things like sheets and tablecloths it tends to wrap them into a ball so the middle doesn't dry.

I don't dry clothes (jeans, tops, school uniforms) anyway as I fear the shrinkage so I have them side by side (had 2 spaces but was using one for feeding the cats!) and use the Hotpoint for big items, gardening clothes, mucky cloths etc. and the Samsung for underwear, plus clothes I then hang up on doorways to dry.

PookieDo · 03/06/2017 11:49

Yeah I make sure they are secure I am not about to hang a load of washing on a wonky curtain pole that could fall down!
But what choices do you have in a flat with no garden? Confused

A few of my friends have the Lakeland dryers and swear by them

Intransige · 03/06/2017 11:52

We have no dryer but we have a big dehumidifier in the summer house - a load of washing spun at 1200 will dry overnight often, unless it's really wet weather so damper air. Faster in the house where it's dryer.

Violetcharlotte · 03/06/2017 11:53

Our washer setter is completely pointless and rubbish! I just use as a washing machine now. It's annoying as I haven't got room for a tumble dryer. It's fine in the summer but means an airer in the house in the winter. I'm planning to buy in of those Lakeland heated ones for next winter.

Towels and bedding are the biggest problem in the winter, I tend to pop them in my mums tumble dryer one a week.

PookieDo · 03/06/2017 11:54

You could put something on top of doors to hang clothes on as well - on hangers to make more space

To give up on a washer dryer?
FastAbsorbingCake · 03/06/2017 12:02

I have a Hotpoint washer/dryer and its great, its also over 10 years old, and they don't make it anymore, so no help.

However re:Lakeland heated dryer, its fab!!

Big fan, I bought it as we tend to have a laundry backlog, especially in the winter, so this meant I could do load 1 hang on dryer, and then tumble load 2

Buy the cover for the dryer, makes a big difference, and buy from Lakeland, it might be a bit dearer than other places but their customer service can not be faulted.

'We' (that is DP was being a dickand somehow managed to whack it with his weights) damaged on of the clips on the dryer, I called and asked if/where we could get a replacement, explained that it was totally our-his fault and they replaced ours............Shock, they are fab.

LadySalmakia · 03/06/2017 12:23

Thanks, I'll look into the lakeland one - our big airer is on its last legs anyway.

RNBrie · 03/06/2017 12:28

I bought the cheapest washer/dryer I could find and pay for decent insurance with no excess. It breaks down three times a year and is usually repaired in a couple of days. I have three small dc in a small house and don't think I could manage with no dryer at all, especially in winter.