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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

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Original poster

washer/dryers - are they really shite?

12 replies

CharlotteBronteSaurus · 13/10/2013 12:56

We've no room for a separate dryer currently, and I am getting sick of spending October-February with wet washing draped all over the house, and having to have the heating on just to dry the washing.

Our washer is pretty old, and when it dies I am thinking of getting a washer/dryer. But a few people have told me that they would never have one, as they always go wrong. Any thoughts?

OP posts:

17leftfeet · 13/10/2013 13:00

There's nothing wrong with them but most people don't use them properly

They are a totally different beast to a normal tumble dryer so if you hang your stuff out and then just want to finish it off in the dryer then they are pretty pointless

They are designed to wash and dry in one cycle which they do effectively

I used to have one when I lived in a flat and used to put it on in the morning before I went to work and leave it to do its thing and then come home to dry washing

StickyProblem · 13/10/2013 13:03

IMO they just never do the drying part successfully, and in the seven hours you are trying to dry a load the other loads aren't being washed. My mums swears by one of those heated airers, do you have room for one of those?

wickedwitchNE · 13/10/2013 13:03

Unfortunately I can't remember the make/model but we had one in our flat last year and I hated it. Washing was okay, though took a while, but drying was awful - a standard wash took at least 2 hrs to dry and came out ridiculously creased. Sheets, towels and jeans a no-no. Had been warned off them as well though...

Now have a brand new washing machine with a really good spin cycle and getting a heated dryer from Lakeland after Christmas. This may just be my experience though so just checking reviews online would stop this happening again!

Ladyface · 13/10/2013 13:04

My parents have had their Bosch one for over ten years and it is still going strong. However, it doesn't get used every day and they use the dryer on the cold setting then dry on airers for a shorter period.

BillyBanter · 13/10/2013 13:08

The only time I had use of one my clothes were also ridiculously creased.

There was a thread singing the praises of the lakeland heated clothes horse a few days ago.

haventgotaclue · 13/10/2013 13:17

The problem I have with mine is that the drying cycle creases the clothes really badly. I don't overload it so that's not the reason.

It means I only really use the dryer for towels which is a bit of a pain.

When we get out kitchen re-done, I'm making space for a separate dryer.

trinitybleu · 13/10/2013 13:20

Just got a Hotpoint one and it's good so far. I only tumble undies, towels and bedding though. Love being able to put it on and coming back to clean, dry clothes.

wheredidiputit · 13/10/2013 13:36

To be honest I only use the dryer for finishing drying.

I tend to do a wash and hang on an airer over night then just finish in the dryer for 20mins. In fact when my washer dryer breaks I will be replacing it with separate ones.

HorryIsUpduffed · 13/10/2013 14:34

We used to have one, but now have separate.

Because of work etc we tended to do all our laundry on one day - and nowadays I have sufficient quantities to want to do more than one wash in any session. Washer-dryers are only worth it if you've got time to do the whole wash-dry cycle before the next load needs to go in. I used to go mad waiting for the dryer to finish so I could wash the next load. Also, the capacity for drying was less than the washing capacity (6kg v 4kg) so you could never dry the whole load. All in all we had maidens/hangers of damp washing anyway ...

My observation of washer dryers is that the drying isn't very efficient. My standalone dryer is The Business.

trinitybleu · 13/10/2013 20:13

This one I have is 9kg wash, 6kg dry and it's not complained yet! Done a full set of king size sheets and what appeared to be a drum fully loaded with towels (4 bath sheets, 4 bath towels and some hand towels).

StupidFlanders · 13/10/2013 22:04

If you like to do a few loads of washing/drying a day it won't be suitable.

delasi · 13/10/2013 23:06

We have a washer-dryer and a separate vented dryer.

The stand alone dryer is much faster - takes about a a third of the time that the washer-dryer takes for a load. It also has more options for varying the heat and specifying the amount of time (and it's only a very basic dryer).

The washer-dryer works however and it will fully dry a whole load. My mum has always had washer-dryers and only ever uses the dryer for towels - everything else goes on the airer. Anecdotally, my family are convinced that washer-dryers break down much more quickly if you use the dryer function.

If I could only have a washer-dryer then I would probably still use it, mainly for sheets and towels as I find it such a hassle to try and dry those on an airer as there's not enough space and it takes ages. However I wouldn't really bother with using the dryer function for clothes too - as above, it just takes so long that if you wanted to tumble dry each load it would be an endless task. The only time I would change my opinion on that is if you had no outside space, very poor insulation, and were prone to damp/condensation/mould.

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