Washer Dryer - are there any decent ones out there?

[Growingatinyhumam]

Hello!
Baby no.1 due in January and wanting to invest in a tumble dryer to make washing baby clothes easier! My house is small so no really room for a stand-alone tumble dryer so thinking of a washer-dryer.

No one I know seems to have a good word to say about them. Has anyone got a good one and willing to share the model?

Seen a few with good reviews for around £900 and willing to spend this if I know it'll be reliable!

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MNHQ

I've had 3 to date (over 2 houses) and all 3 have been good.

They are SLOW. My current machine a wash can be 3hrs+ then 3-4 (ish) for drying. Although there are shorter cycles available, eco is 1hr 30 wash and 2-3 dry I think, but it is slower than a washer and separate dryer.

All mine can dry a sensible load of towels, or a set of super king bedding, which is a fairly full load.

If you dry clothes you do need to remove them, quick shake and back in or they will be super screwed up. But most people would do this with separate washer/dryer, so it's no different. Towels I just put through on one continuous cycle.

My current machine is hotpoint Aquarius wdpg8640 but it's fairly old (over 5 years) so probably not available now. Before that I had Zanussi which I had about 8 years and got rid of while it was still working (but sounding ropey)- so nothing super expensive.

I shall now hand over to 100 posts of people who hate them....

We have one and it's fine. Takes a long time to dry things and even then they're slightly damp. I only really use it for towels and underwear and then put it over chairs to finish drying. Ours stopped working for a while and we had to get a plumber out who told us that you're supposed to run a cleaning cycle every week and it was bunged up with fluff. I've not had a separate washer and dryer for 20 years though so have nothing much to compare it too!

I have one - it's grand for when I'm in a bind with washing but fast it isn't.

I’ve got a Zanussi one. I have never owned a separate tumble dryer and this one was in the house when we bought it 8 years ago. It is a bit slow on the drying but it does the job!

We have the Bosch serie 6 10kg washer/dryer, we are pleased with ours it was around £1000

I’ve got a Smeg - tbh, I rarely use the dryer function but when I do it’s pretty good.

We had a hotpoint. It wasn't too bad but it was very hot and shrank everything (possibly user incompetence on the heat setting I can't recall).

Separate is definitely better but I would have one again rather than be drierless.

I have a Samsung eco bubble. It’s great. I hour normal wash, 2 hour 90 degree wash. 1 hour in the dryer leaves clothes almost dry. Very happy with it.

Disclaimer - don't actually have one... But if I could afford it I'd buy a Miele. Parents had a Miele washing machine that was still going strong 18 years later (when they sold it with their house)

I think going for a more expensive machine is the right way to go OP, when we had ours delivered the guys said the cheaper models don’t last as long, or perform as well, they are performing two functions. We always had separate units in the past but due to a smaller kitchen we needed two in one. The Bosch dries very well. I also like that they is a light in the machine, as the drum is large, it’s easy to miss a sock or something when removing washing from the machine. Just bear in mind that with the 10kg machine, it’s slightly deeper in length, from front to back. Height and width is standard.

We had one but it went back after 6 weeks as even that broke town numerous times. The engineering said they go out more for the washer/ driers than any other model. We ended up getting separate and both lasted nearly 20 years.

I’ve used washer dryers for decades and they’re fine. You use them in a different way from separate appliances, for example the other day when it was dry and breezy I line dried towels and finished them in the dryer. Alternatively I tumble until nearly dry then finish on an airer. The only things I fully tumble dry are cotton or similar material underwear and light items like T shirts. If I had a baby or small child, and limited space I would find one very useful.
They are more complicated machines as they incorporate two functions but mine - relatively cheap - have typically given me good service for years.

We have a bosch washer/dryer and it has broken down once in 6 years. That was covered under guarantee luckily! They don't dry as well or as much as a normal dryer but I have a heated airer for stuff and an outside line when it's dry and not pouring with rain!

We're on our second washer/dryer. Absolutely no space for separates it's fine and does it's job. Brilliant when dc were tiny and we had tonnes of washing. Both times had hotpoint first one had better choice of drying cycles but they seem to start to deteriorate after about 5 years. Ours is just over 5 years and sounding a bit clunky. Though we haven't used the dryer in a long time due to energy costs.