Washer dryer? Are they worth it?

[Liveyourbestlife123]

Hi all, just as the above really. I am soon to move into a small rental property and space is limited. The will be myself and my two children. What are your experiences of a washar dryer? Are they worth the extra money? are there particular brands you would avoid? Would you just not bother and stick with an airer and a standard washing machine? Thanks in advance for your opinions.

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MNHQ

We have one because we literally do not have space anywhere for two appliances. Ours is a John Lewis and it's honestly been brilliant. Couldn't be without it now. You do need to take out a few washed things in order to dry successfully, but to me that's a small sacrifice. Hard recommended from me, IF you do your research and get a reliable model.

No they're useless. Better to buy a little separate vented tumble drier you can put elsewhere and hook the pipe of the window when you use it. My daughter has a heated drier rack thing, but brings her sheets and towels over to us to put in our drier in winter/when it's raining and can't hang them outside.

I had one , it was awful. For some reason it would take forever for the clothes to dry

We're on our second. Our first lasted about 5 years probably could have got a couple of more years out of it but we could afford to replace it at the time so we did.

We don't have space for a separate dryer anywhere. We've had no problems, it dries fine does take some time but better and quicker than leaving on an airer and no damp/mould form drying washing inside. We mainly dry PJ's and underwear as I find drying does shrink clothes slightly. Does what we need it to - I don't like drying bedding and towels in the dryer so I avoid it if I can so can't really say if it's any good at that. We are on our second hotpoint washer/dryer.

I have one in a flat i let out. Got it four years ago and it was brilliant and actually much better at drying than my standalone machine at home. A young family live there now and they've never had a problem with it. Can't remember brand but it wasn't cheap.

I had a Candy washer/dryer and the dryer was completely useless. Even after an hour the clothes would be slightly 'steamed' with a burnt odour. I used it around twice in 15 years.

I have an Indesit one in a flat and it’s fine. DD has an AEG one and that’s fine too! They take a much smaller drying load but at least you get fluffy towels. DD doesn’t have room for an airer. Our flat would but we prefer the washer dryer. They are not going to wash/dry as well as separate appliances but they save space. If you rent you cannot replace radiators. They also produce solid towels! The modern washer dryers are fine!

Ours is a miele. Expensive but awesome and really handy for towels and bedding. You do have to reduce the load a little to get it to dry but we have had ours ten years now and it's still going strong

We recently got a Hoover one and I'm impressed with it.

The washing options are just as good as standalone. The drying does take a lot longer - like 3hrs for a load to dry - but it's worth it for saving the space. We don't have any outdoor space to dry things as we're in a flat, and through the winter it's very difficult to dry clothes through just hanging it up on a clothes horse.

I'd recommend them if you've got limited space and need a hand to get stuff dry.

If you only have one appliance space I would get a washer dryer instead of just a washer. I like mine for bedding (superking bedding here - don't want to dry that on a radiator!) and towels. I find it either shrinks other stuff or doesn't dry it properly.

We've had two in the past and they don't last years and years and I find they washing element is ok but the drying bit isn't as good - jack of all trades I guess.

When we have our kitchen done I've made space for separate appliances but if we weren't doing that and our washer dryer broke, I would buy another washer dryer.

Oh and to add, we never put ours from wash straight to a dry (which I had been excited about doing) as it needs a shake first. It gets stuck to the side of the drum.

I had a zanussi washer/dryer. Pros: it lasted ten years and was great when short of space. Cons: never really dried properly and had to do a full drying cycle so not so energy efficient. Now I have space I’ve gone for a separate washer & dryer but at the time (living in a small flat with a baby & toddler!) it did what I needed it to.

Ive had one before. Due to space it was washer dryer or just washer.

I never used it to dry clothes as did find things came out very creased.

However, it did help with towels and bedding in the winter when they take days to dry on an airer and you end up with washing everywhere. So was still useful.

Now back to more space and have them separate side by side.

Modern ones from higher quality manufacturers are fine. My cheap Indesit is 7 years old without any issues. I would expect 10 years out of it confidently. A Miele should last very well. I’m hoping DDs AEG lasts well too. It’s reasonably quiet and produces fluffy towels!

I have a Miele WD and they are known for their longevity.
It was expensive, true, but we bought it in 2008. The salesman said It would last for 15 years. It has had a couple of minor things go wrong, (one totally my fault) but their service system is good and no more expensive than independent repairers. It's still going strong.
Ours had a five year guarantee but i believe they come with a 10 year guarantee these days.

The main issue people have with them is that you can't dry a full wash load, you have to do half a load at a time. So if you're doing a full wash and dry cycle it will obviously take longer.
But my Miele is extremely efficient for washing, the dryer vents to the outside so no condensation, and I never, ever do any ironing. It has an eight minute anti-crease cool down and if you remove clothes as soon as it's finished, you only need to fold them. (But NB DH sends his shirts to an ironing parlour. He is fussy about them. I don't care as long as I don't have to iron them. )
I will get another one when (if!) this one dies.

Ours has been great for kids clothes, towels etc. Don’t dry adult clothes in it though. Has lasted about 7 years and is currently sat in the middle of the kitchen with me taking it apart to try and fix as broke a few days ago. If not I will definitely get another one.

We have a Miele washer/dryer. It’s been going strong for nearly 10 years. I love it.

However I don’t often use the dryer other than for bedding and towels.

Don't get one. They're really crap. Mainly because they take forever to dry, they use water & the clothes come out all screwed up. I have one in my new build house & I hoped the historic bad reputation had changed. Sadly no. It's not a cheap one either. I never use the dryer part.

I wouldn't be without mine. I'd far rather have a tumble drier but don't have the room. I hate having a clothes horse up as an almost permanent fixture in the winter. I bought a heated one & it was crap so I got rid of that.

If you're short of space I'd definitely get one

I have one. I like it.
I don’t use the full dry function which is 2-3 hrs long.
Instead I do a wash, then use the 30 min express wash and dry function. This works much better for me.

Don't get a Samsung, mine was rubbish for the cost. At least two goes in the dryer to get rid of the damp. And small loads only. I got rid of it and stack a seperate washer/dryer on top of each other.

I'm not keen on mine but if you're looking to save space then it's an option.
I have a Bosch.
The wash cycles are quite long. There's a fast cycle option which is helpful and seems to do the wash fine. You can only do prewash with one particular (very long) cycle option which is annoying if you tend to prewash muddy or mucky clothes.
The cottons cycle completely destroyed the clothes and sheets, put holes in everything.

The dryer is crap.
You can ask it to run until your clothes are dry using a sensor. This cycle will run for HOURS and destroy the clothes. You can't easily shut it off and open door mid cycle.
Alternatively choose to run for a set duration but only for 15 mins (doesn't even heat up in that time), 30 mins or for multiples of 1 hour. Ie you can't choose 1.5 hours only 1 or 2.
Takes a long time to dry anything.
I put hardy things on for 2 hours (pants socks tea towels). Then do separate drying loads for the clothes where I dry for 1 hour then hang them to finish drying.

Words cannot express how much I hate this £680 machine.
Bosch Serie 6

Like you, I’m a single parent with two children, and I’ve always had washer dryers as have had small kitchens, and been very happy with them. They’ve never been expensive brands. However, people don’t realise that they need to be used differently than you would use separate washing machines and dryers.

They don’t work well with big loads, so never exceed the recommended load. In Summer, dry outside as much as possible and use the dryer to finish off. In winter, I use mine in conjunction with a dehumidifier and airer in the bathroom overnight, the dryer removing the remaining moisture in the morning.
My washer dryers have always had a lot of use, and I’ve had my current Indesit (about £450) for six years now. The only thing I object to is the wash cycles and for anything other than tea towels (90 degree wash) and towels (60 degree wash), I use the Jeans wash (yes, a jeans wash) at either 30 or 40 degrees, taking either just over or just under an hour. There’s also a 35 min express wash and dry, which is quite good for two or three light items.

I have a beko washer dryer for lack of space. I wouldn't have bought a separate dryer even if I had space as don't use it enough. I've had it a year and a bit now and it's been absolutely fine. It has separate dry cycles as well as wash dry cycles so can get bits out before I dry them if I want to. It's been very useful and dries properly. It also weighs my washing and adjusts the time of the cycles so I don't waste water if I don't have a full load (but need to emergency wash all of DSs pants if he's had a bad potty training day)