That darn all in one laundry unit....

Ok my wife and I have about had it with laundry.  Who is the matermind behind these horrible all in one washer/dryer units?  This person needs to be taken out back and not shot but tarred and feathered then drawn and quartered.  But only after having to do laundry for a house full of kids.    The  hotpoint new unit in our rental house does fine washing but drying well one pair of jeans or one sheet or one towel at a time isn't exactly efficient.  We're having to line dry everything inside.  (Our lease forbids outdoor line drying.)

Ok done with my venting now, I'm stepping away from the soapbox.  But any advice here would be appreciated. 

 

Could you perhaps wash at home then take to a laundrette to dry? Or maybe buy one of those retractable laundry lines - attach to one wall, then an opposite one when needed. They usually have 4-5 lines so there's quite a bit of space. And when you're done with laundry it retracts to give your space back. As well, could you purchase your own units? Perhaps a top and bottom washer/dryer? Hmmm . . think that's me out of ideas. Hope you find a solution soon!

I expect space is a premium hence the combo unit? We had that problem in our 2 bedroom flat in Exmouth. But we bit the bullet and bought a used dryer. We couldn't afford a new one or even a used 'condenser' one so we had to make sure we could put it near a window and stick the venting tube out it. We covered it with a pretty tablecloth and used it to store other things on top!! Best thing we ever did. 

I've heard nothing but bad things about the combo units - there are lots of threads on here about clothes drying though so have a look and see if there are any other tips.

I hate them too, they don't dry anything.   My mum swears hers works really well which is kind of odd as she's always hanging stuff out on the line!

Who is the matermind behind these horrible all in one washer/dryer units?  This person needs to be taken out back and not shot but tarred and feathered then drawn and quartered. 

Not sure what the problem is.
I have one, and it works fine...
The only advice i can give, which you may have already tried, is that you wash your load, then remove half of it before drying.  It's really important not to overload it.

We almost bought one of these things to save space but my sister in law whom works at Currys talked us out of it. She said they wash just fine but you MUST take half the wet clothes out and dry half at a time otherwise your stuff will take hours to dry. What a waste of time!

I thought ours was the only one like that. I as well aint use to the 2 in 1 washer/dryer. I hang it on the line to dry now unless its one shirt. I dont even try drying jeans lol

I dont bother putting jeans in either, but i put everything else in... half a load at a time.  It's really not a bother once you get used to it.

When I moved here my husband had a Zanussi all in one and things took forever to dry.  It's since broke and we bought a Hot Point all in one and it works like magic. I didn't mind that things took longer to dry and still don't mind things take a little longer to dry especially as I came from living in an apartment in the Bronx that didn't have a washer or dryer and I had to lug bags of laundry down 5 flights of stairs every week!!!

If you already have Economy 7 electricity, then you can save substantially over a year by running the dryer at night (12 -  7 a.m. winter,  1 - 8 a.m. summer).

For example, a 3kW dryer run for 2 hours per load, based on a tariff of 7.54 pence per unit day, 3.13 pence per unit night:

Day:    7.54 x 3 x 2 x 1.05 = 47.5 pence per load.
Night:  3.13 x 3 x 2 x 1.05 = 19.7 pence per load.

If you were one of those families running one load every day, that adds up to more than £70 per year saved.  In fact on some of the day tariffs which charge more per unit over a certain amount per billing period, the savings could well be greater. and keeping dryer usage to the night tariff might help reduce the cost-per-unit for other appliances too.

You would also be doing your bit to help the utilities to distribute their load more evenly and run more efficiently.   About the worst time to start turning on a dryer in this respect is when you get home from work around 5 or 6 p.m.  -- the time when electrical demand normally reaches its peak.

I gave up on using the dryer portion on our combo unit.  We can't hang clothes out either so I just got a deluxe airer from Argos.  It is by our French doors and seems to always have clothes on it.  First thing in the morning I wash a load and by evening it is dry. 

Now that we've been in London for two weeks, I can share your sentiments that the dryer portion of these all-in-one machines are worthless!   I've tuned on the dryer to maximum time (120 minutes dry-time) and the clothes still comes out damp, even at half a load!  We've given up and now I just dry the clothes for about 30 minutes to squeeze out the excess water, and then line-dry them on the collapsable rack.  walking past all our neighbors windows, I've noticed just about everyone has the same clothes-filled drying racks in their living rooms!

Yup...line drying (or rack drying) is the norm in flat living in London.  Even with just two of us, at least someone is drying something.  You just get used to it.  The delux dyer from Argos with the arms to hang shirts on is GREAT!

http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=3801&productId=157889&clickfrom=name

If a decent dryer is important to you, there are several Whirlpool models now sold here which will take up to a 22 lb. load.  For example:

http://www.ogormans.co.uk/whirlpoo6.htm

At 27" wide, 29" deep, and 42" high though, your biggest problem might be finding somewhere to fit one of these in a typical British house.  

The higher power of the heating elements also means that you can't just plug in to a general-purpose wall outlet.  You would need to have a dedicated circuit installed specially for the dryer (just like you have in the States).

I sympathize!  When I did my first load of laundry, and realized that the load wasn't drying, I took out everything but two pairs of boxers.  I let it run for TWO HOURS and the boxers were still damp!!  Now, I never use the dryer feature.  I hang everything in the bathroom to dry. 

We're renting a flat and have no place for another dryer, so I guess I'll have to suck it up until we buy a place to live and buy our own appliances.

The other thing I hate about our washer/dryer is that it only washes hot.  The lowest I can turn it is 30 degrees.  Is this usual for washers in the UK?  In the US, I washed everything on a cold wash and cold rinse.