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Original poster

are washer/dryers rubbish?

38 replies

nasa · 12/02/2005 11:00

we have a space issue and might have to ditch the dryer in favour of one of these but does anyone have one? I've heard they're not so good?

OP posts:

lilsmum · 12/02/2005 11:03

nasa, i have one,it is rubbish for drying imo, and also the fact that you can only do one or the other is very time consuming because the dryer seems to take far longer than a seperate dryer iykwim, i have now bought a seperate dryer because of this, this may just be the one ive got though.

hth x

hoxtonchick · 12/02/2005 11:04

we had one pre-ds & it was useless. sorry. also, don't know if this is still true, but it could only dry half-loads, so you had to do twice as much washing...

Original poster

nasa · 12/02/2005 11:05

oh poo. I think can still do only half a load but then TBH the dryer we have at the mo can only handle half a load. Anyone else?

OP posts:

lilsmum · 12/02/2005 11:06

hoxtonchick, that is true...you can only fit in half of what you can with a seperate dryer, its a nightmare!!!

ScummyMummy · 12/02/2005 11:17

Absolutely rubbish, yes. Ours has been operating as just a washing machine for yonks as we got sick of calling out the engineer to fix the drying bit of it, which broke for the first time within months. I wish I'd believed mumsnet rather than the sales hype as I'd have saved myself £150. We have space problems too and I was seduced by the mere idea of not having so much wet stuff festooning all the radiators in the flat. Everybody warned me that this was a pipe dream so. to add insult to injury, I have only myself to blame. Sob!

SeaShells · 12/02/2005 11:22

We recently moved into a flat with a small kitchen and ditched our brilliant washer and seperate tumble dryer and forked out a fortune on a washer/dryer. I hate it! You do a wash, then you have to dry it in 2 lots, and it takes ages to dry, plus there's no heat settings so it dries very hot and shrinks things and crumples things terribly, we've ended up with washing drying all around the flat as it's quicker!

Original poster

nasa · 12/02/2005 11:27

oh dear [sas]
is not looking positive....!

OP posts:

joash · 12/02/2005 11:27

Absolutely useless.
We've had ours for three years now and had it repaired 34 times. It is currently in the 'repair' centre (onoce again)- whilst we have a basic loan machine.
The dryers don't dry anywhere near as well as conventional dryers, and I am informed by the guy who constantly repairs ours that, the dryer is one of the main reasons why so these machines have so many problems - it causes them to overheat. To use them properly, you are supposed to leave around 6 hours betwen drying somehting and washing the next load - but the manufacturers won't admit to it because they wouldn't sell any.
The only reason we haven't changed it yet is because of the impending house move, we're waiting until we move to get another.
Wouldn't touch another washer-dryer with a barge-pole.

Original poster

nasa · 12/02/2005 11:27

err not [sas]!

OP posts:

tallulah · 12/02/2005 11:33

Same here. We had a "decent" Zanussi one & had the same problems. It isn't much help having to wait through 2 drying cycles before you can do the next wash load. Ours blew up in the end & would only work as a washer. Got a lovely miele washing machine instead & put stuff on the line/radiators to dry.

Original poster

nasa · 12/02/2005 13:11

right, I think that's decided then!

OP posts:

piffle · 12/02/2005 14:20

absolute shit imho
we have one and it melted all the duvet buttons, scorced another item and ruined my jeans
it also creases to the point where ironing gives you shoulder dislocation- we have a washer dryer and we have just bought a tumble as well

Roobie · 12/02/2005 14:25

We desperately need a dryer but as we didn't have space and had heard that bog standard ones were crap we opted for a top of the range Miele washer/dryer. It was pretty expensive, about £1,400 I think but it certainly did the job! I say 'did' because we moved shortly afterwards and inherited a lovely new kitchen with separate washer/dryer so it is currently sitting in the garage!

Snugs · 12/02/2005 14:26

nasa - if space is the issue, have you room to go up rather than sideways? We have our tumble dryer on top of the washing machine - had to lose one small wall cupboard but worth it to keep the dryer.

noddyholder · 12/02/2005 14:28

we have one and it is great!We have previously had seperate which were also good but this one has been really good so far We have had it 6 months and it is an indesit

Cristina7 · 12/02/2005 14:52

We have a Miele. It's very good, no repairs so far in 6 years. It sees a lot of use, at least once a day. It only takes half a load for drying but that's OK as often there are things in the washing that I wouldn't dry in the tumbler drier anyway.

Original poster

nasa · 12/02/2005 16:13

cristina/roobie - which model do you have?

OP posts:

expatinscotland · 12/02/2005 16:25

Mine is pants. But this is also a rental flat so we're not bothered. We never use the dryer, though.

MancMum · 12/02/2005 17:01

mine too is fab don't agree with any of the negative comments we find it fast and the drying works well - I never bother taking 1/2 the load out just dry a bit longer if needed.. would totally recommend it if you are short of space... I am not and would not change for 2 separate ones... it is a zanuusi turbo dry - not sure if they still make them as mine is 8 years old and still going, despite the fact that it is used 2 times/day

doggiewalker · 12/02/2005 17:05

Pretty useless compared to a separate one, but if you've only got the space for this then it'll be better than nothing. I've got sep ones now but when I had a w/d half the load used to get put on radiators or an airer so was hanging around the house.

One of the problems was that once the dryer was turned on the door locked for the requisite 3 mins (or whatever) so if you found that odd sock that you'd dropped on the floor you couldn't just open the door and pop it in!

WestCountryLass · 12/02/2005 21:12

Ours is shite, it was never any good at doing either job. Blody thing. It finally gave up the ghost last week and I now have a standard washing machine - yay!

With mine, you could not let it go from wash cycle to drying without taking everything bar one apir of pants out as it would never dry it and everything would end up with that nasty damp smell.

Demented · 12/02/2005 21:28

Ours was rubbish (Philco, I think), did neither job properly.

We now have a Miele washing machine and it is fantastic so it may be worth splashing the money on a Miele washer/dryer.

HunkerMunker · 12/02/2005 21:33

We have an Indesit WDE12 and I don't use the dryer all that much. It's a good washing machine and the dryer is OK (I never do a full load of tumble-drying though). If you tumble to full dryness, it does leave it quite crumpled, which I'm told separate ones don't.

If I'd had separate ones before, I'd probably be disappointed with it, but I haven't so I just like that it washes and then dries when I want it to. Plus there's a dishwasher in the space that a separate tumble dryer would be in - not a hard toss-up between appliances there - dishwasher wins hands down every time in this house!

Gwenick · 12/02/2005 21:40

We bought our Servis Washer/Dryer almost exactly 4yrs ago - as some one else has said it does take longer as you can only do one thing at a time. BUT it's been great - still going very strong and although we've had one or two problems, they've all been minor things which DH was able to fix.

I would AVOID getting a hotpoint though, my mum's had 2 of those and both been uterally cr*p

stupidgirl · 12/02/2005 21:44

Mines an Indesit WD10 and is rubbish. I don't use the dryer to dry, I hang my washing and then tumble for about 10 minutes before folding. The washing machine is ok, but the dryer is useless. I can't tell you how many times I've chucked in a load of dry clothes to tumble and had them come out soaking wet. And it always happens when it's something you want to wear.

I wouldn't recommend

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