do washer dryers dry clothes??

[div22c]

I bought a Hotpoint Aqualtis washer dryer thinking it would solve all my drying woes. But it never seems to dry my clothes out. And if you include drying, all the pre-programmed cycles are over 3 hrs, which sounds really long. Once I selected "cupboard dry" and threw in a load. 3.5 hrs later I pulled out a soaking wet, steaming hot bundle of clothes with faded colours and ruined elastics. What am I doing wrong?

I thought they were well known for not drying properly. I know mine didn't when I had one but admittedly that was a while ago but I believe my brother has encountered similar problems with his.

Could you try putting less clothes in? I know that might mean interrupting the machine mid cycle if you've just washed them but it might help them get properly dry.

I wonder if an ordinary tumbledryer works better because there is ducting to take the water away. I don't know. Just pondering.

They are not great. And you can't dry a full load. My mum has one and it takes forever to dry stuff.

What you could try is once your washing is done, put it on a spin cycle to get as much water out as possible and then dry half the load.

I've never found that washer dryers dy as well as tumble dryers. Maybe you could try smaller dry loads or longer dry times.

They aren't as good as a standard tumble dryer, maybe because they condense the water out of the damp air rather than just venting it outside, but they will work if you follow the instructions. An extra spin before you dry clothes can also help.

I have had nothing but trouble with my hotpoint washer dryer and it's been repaired 4 times in a year! The 1st problem was that it didn't dry the clothes at all( sounds like your problem) and there was a fault with it and needed a part to be replaced, it wasn't heating up or something, the other problems were due to the tumble cutting out mid cycle, that had something to do with the filter being clogged with limescale.. if it's still in guarentee i'd definately get the engineer out to check it.. I only bought a hotpoint because they always had a good reputation but they are now indecit..

Tbh, it isnt whether they dry well...the question is do they dry at all? My clothes came out dripping wet and steaming hot from the 'cupboard dry' cycle. Also many of the preprogrammed cycles are wash + dry cycles...so does that mean i just put in less clothes for the wash and dry combined? I havent ever tried to dry/ semi-dry clothes in it since that fiasco. I could buy a tumble dryer separately but if I can I would prefer using the existing machine ...save both money and space. BudaIITH - will try your suggestion and report back.

We have one (in house when we moved in). I don't use it much - tend to dry them on airer and maybe shove them in to do a bit of drying if necessary. I don't ever use wash and dry cycles.

sorry should have said , once the 1st problem was solved it does dry but like everyone else has says , only small loads and drying towels takes forever! i'm dreading the winter as we wont be able to dry outside and have no central heating, thinking about buying one of those electric airers.. really miffed about it though as the only reason i bought the washer dryer was for the drying element of it.

never thought the machine might be faulty d'oh! i thought i was doing something wrong! will def check my guarantee/ warranty tonight when I get home

I have the same machine although I use that setting.

I tend to wash all the washing then dry, as you cant dry a whole wash load.

definately worth a try

If they are literally dripping wet, it sounds like they aren't being spun, rather than it being a problem with the drying part of the cycle. Does it spin them ok on other cycles when you don't select the drying?

It does sound like a fault!

You can only dry half a load. The clothes need space to dry in iyswim.

Mine never did. Bloody useless thing.

I couldn't use the drier setting on my old Bosch washer drier - everything stank of hot rubber and it never worked particularly well. And yes, you have to dry in two halves of a load - otherwise there's no room for anything to dry.

mine has a 6kg capacity for washing but only a 4kg capacity for drying so you do have to remove some if you want the clothes to dry properly. I only use the drier when desperate as it uses up lots of electricity. If your clothes came out soaking it suggests they werent spun properly before drying.

Totally agree with NoahAndTheWhale.
Its the only way to use them!

I had one when I was first married 20 years ago - the only way it would work was if I did washing and at end of washing cycle took out 50% of the cloths and then dryed the remandeder later

It lasted 5 years and blew up, I am now on my third machine which I got two years ago and have seperate dryer. my washing machine does 1400 spin and soemtime I spin twice on a 60 minute wash making it 15 minute extra spin to get extra water out and then 30 minutes in dryer so a 1 and three quarter hour program for dry clohtes

feeling like a real dope now :-) wish i had bought separate machines. i had given up on my washer dryer for drying and just line dried (on an indoor airer in wet/ cold weather). with a toddler prone to spilling all sorts of food and drink, dont think thats feasible any longer. will try dividing up the load. thanks v much ladies

Mine is a Miele and was v expensive but it does dry well (bone dry). I don't use the drying cycle much though and only use it for things like sheets.

Maybe some of the filters need cleaning if the washing is so v wet.

Mine has an 8 min programme called Smoothing which leaves clothes v wet but boiling hot and (if you put them on a hanger immediately) crease free! I don't iron anymore. I put only five items in at a time on this prog but as it's only 8 mins it's not too expensive.

I love my Miele washer/dryer.

It could be that the condenser tube is blocked. When the machine's drying, there's a constant stream of cold water through a tube in the back for the steam to condense onto. If it's blocked (and washer dryers are notorious for blocked condensers, because they don't have a lint collection thing like a single tumble dryer) your clothes will come out boiling hot, but dripping wet.
If you can see the water as it runs out of your kitchen waste pipe, turn your drier on and see if there's a constant trickle of water. If there's no water, the condenser tube is blocked. I used to find with my last machine (that did this on a regular basis) that a few runs through a high spin cycle would normally shift the blockage. I'd tend not to run washing and drying cycles together either, just in case, but to wait until the wash had finished, then start a spin cycle to run into a dry cycle if that makes sense.
Now I have a new Indesit washer dryer, after my last one, which was a Hoover, btw, broke, and the dry cycle on it is quite frankly amazing. Does towels in an hour.

We have one and it works fine. As others have said, you don't dry the whole laundry load, as the washing needs space to move around, but that's fine. Ours has never done the hot/wet thing - that definately sounds like a fault, which WDBSA seems to have identified.

hmmm...possible though this happenned when the machine was brand new and had been used just a couple of times. after ruining a whole washload of clothes, i just never tried it again!

My dad has a washer dryer; he never uses the dryer function because it doesn't dry. He has a separate dryer. One of my gym friends has just today complained that her DH replaced her washer with a washer/dryer and the dryer is shit- and that's a new one.

Yours doesn't sound right at all.

I never wash then dry as a washer/dryer just doesn't function that well.
I have mountains of stuff drying on airers and then only use it for almost dry things.