Decent washer dryer for older relative and carers

[sw1rl3d]

Currently sorting my partners mum's house out while she is in hospital.

Her laundry currently gets dried on a line in the attic up some very steep stairs and her washing machine (over 40 years old!) only works on one setting and has shaken the floorboards loose with its vibration so we are looking at a replacement.

She will be initially cared for by carers, hoping she can get some independence back as her mobility improves.

I am looking at washer dryers so a load can be finished in one go without needing to be switched to a different machine, partly to save heavy lifting if she gets back to doing it herself, partly to save the carers time and avoid wet washing sitting in the machine going musty.
It will also free up circulation space in the kitchen as there is only space for one built in unit, which will give more room for her walker.

She lives alone and has lots of clothes and spare sheets etc so a long cycle isn't an issue.

However this plan only works if there is a machine that can do a decent job start to finish.

Any recommendations or thoughts on my plan?

Would be interested to hear if it would make a carer/cleaners life easier or not

I've got a Beko one and it's fine.

They're not as good as separate machines IMO, but I've the same problem as you with space. They spin as part of the drying cycle at the start which means clothes dry more creased than in a regular tumble dryer, which tends to get rid of creases, I find.

If you use the "cupboard dry" setting for the drying cycle it takes less time, BUT you need to get the washing out straight away when it finishes and shake it out in a room with an open window (for the residual steam to escape) and pull the creased things straighter a bit by hand. They come out feeling damp but shaking them gets the steam out so they feel dry and can be put away.... If you leave it in the machine until later the creases will set in and the residual steam in the machine goes back into the clothes, so they feel damp and need drying out before putting away. You don't get this with the "extra dry" setting but the cycle takes longer and you get more creases.

There's a useful cycle where you can tell the machine to "wash and dry" so you can literally leave it until it's finished, then put the clothes away, takes 4hrs approx.

You need to watch out for the fact the machine can wash more than it can dry. So if you put on a full load you either need to remove a few items before drying the load or expect it to not come out fully dry. If you only half fill the machine it'll wash and dry with no problems or intervention needed. So maybe a note on the machine for the carers?