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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Washer dryer or tumble dryer?

17 replies

Jmcd2020 · 04/08/2019 15:14

First baby due in October and starting to worry about the amount of washing over the winter months. I have a washing machine but no tumble dryer. Do you think I should try and find space in my house for one (no garage but could try and squeeze an integrated one into kitchen cupboard) or invest in a dual washer dryer?

OP posts:

Aquamarine1029 · 04/08/2019 15:16

Separate dryer, definitely.

Henlie · 04/08/2019 15:19

Yes, definitely separate ones. We had a combined washer/dryer once (over 15 years ago to be fair) it was bloody awful.

HappyHammy · 04/08/2019 15:19

separate, if either the washing bit or the dryer bit of the combined washer dryer go wrong then you're left with nothing. congrats on your pg. yoiu might need a condenser dryer but I don't know if they are safe n cupboards, I think they need quite a bit of ventilation.

ComtesseDeSpair · 04/08/2019 15:20

Am told by everyone who had one that washed dryers are rubbish and often malfunction. Don’t think I’ve heard anyone say anything good about them.

What extra will you need to wash that will need drying, though? Surely not clothes, as tumble drying destroys them, and baby bedding isn’t so difficult to air dry. Just worth thinking about as it’s easy to think you “need” a dryer and then rely on it once you have it, but it may not actually be an essential.

Original poster

Jmcd2020 · 04/08/2019 15:22

Ah okay so maybe there is no need to get one at all then? I was just thinking about the loads trying to get dried over winter. I would probably use it for towels, bedding and underwear etc rather than clothes. Perhaps I will leave getting one for now...!

OP posts:

MereDintofPandiculation · 04/08/2019 15:23

Tumble drying doesn't destroy clothes (apart from a few fabrics needing special treatment) and is invaluable for getting things dry quickly.

It doesn't have to be in the kitchen. You might be able to put it in the bathroom or a bedroom.

BadBadger · 04/08/2019 15:24

Go separate. Combined ones are awful. We've gone back to separate ones now and had to find the space, I could dry things faster on a radiator than how fast the washer dryer would, and that was when it worked properly, constantly failed during a cycle.

BlueSkiesLies · 04/08/2019 15:24

100% try and find space for a TD

BlueSkiesLies · 04/08/2019 15:25

Also modern TDs with sensor dry and delicate settings do not damage the majority of clothes

Soontobe60 · 04/08/2019 15:25

I have just been investigating this very issue for my DDs. She's moved into a new house with no room for a dryer. Believe it or not, she's struggling to dry her washing at the moment due to the amount of rain we are having! One solution is to get a dehumidifier with a clothes drying function, which is what she's done. They are supposed to be efficient in that they will dry a load in about 4 hours, reduce condensation, and cost miles less than a tumble dryer to buy and run.

Original poster

Jmcd2020 · 04/08/2019 15:30

@soontobe60 a dehumidifier with clothes drying function is an excellent idea, I didn’t know such things existed! Thanks 💐

OP posts:

GrasswillbeGreener · 04/08/2019 15:31

See how you go without it. Clothes airers / over radiator airers / airing cupboard if you have one. Our "speed it up in emergencies" option is a fan heater aimed at a clothes airer. We are lucky to have a loft room with windows on two sides, that we can mainly use for clothes drying (moved there when youngest was a small baby), but didn't have a dryer before that either.

Angeldust747 · 04/08/2019 15:35

Condenser dryer then you don't need to vent it externally and it can go anywhere really. Whatever you do don't get a washer dryer they are awful

Cornettoninja · 04/08/2019 15:36

I second the dehumidifier suggestion if you’re short on space.

I wouldn’t get a combined for the simple fact it ties up the whole machine as long as a complete wash and dry would take rather than having a load dry whilst the next washes. I tend to have a ‘wash day’ though so I get proper loads done in separate colours.

I’ve never heard anything good about them either tbh.

DragonTrainer3 · 04/08/2019 16:16

We inherited a very expensive Bosch washer dryer when we bought our flat, but the dryer bit is rubbish and clothes come out creased and with wet patches.

We've got a condenser dryer instead now, which works much better. When the wm/dryer goes belly up, we'll just get a normal washing machine.

fedup21 · 04/08/2019 16:19

We had combined one-it was dreadful. Used to be on for hours and the stuff still wasn’t dry-it must have cost us a fortune in electricity!

It was an Ariston brand-we used to joke that it went on and on and on...!

TipseyTorvey · 04/08/2019 16:28

Combined machine is like those horrible shampoo'n'conditioner combos in the 80s. Pretty rubbish at both tasks. We now have a dryer stacked on top of the washing machine which is a condenser type and it's brilliant. Rarely have to iron now either so added bonus. I am guilty of using it even in the summer but as I work ft I really don't have time to faff about hanging things outside for them to get rained on then hanging them up inside again.

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