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This section continues buying advice for washing machines

Opinions are based on my personal 30 years experience of repairing and selling washing machines, which may help you decide on which new washing machine to buy.

 

Washer-dryer, or separate washing machine and dryer - which is the best?

Separates are definitely best because the work load is shared between the two machines, and you can be drying one load whilst washing a second.

Washing clothes, and tumble drying clothes, are two totally separate jobs, which need different sized drums. In order to wash clothes effectively, the clothes need to rub against each other. A washing machine's drum size is designed for this to happen. Conversely, to tumble dry clothes effectively, the clothes need space to fall through the hot air. This is why a tumble dryer has a larger drum than a washing machine.

So how do washer dryers work?

Combined washer-dryers have exactly the same sized drum as a normal washing machine, so with a full load, in order to get the clothes to fall through the hot air you just have to take some of the washing out first. This is where the inevitable compromise lies (as with most thing's designed to do more than one job) If you are washing a small load, then you can allow the washer dryer to continue onto tumble dry straight after the final spin, but of course you would have to wait until they are finished (which takes longer on a washer dryer) until you can start washing a second load. Bearing all this in mind, washing and tumble drying a full load of towels or sheets, where you would need to remove half the load after the main wash and then tumble dry in two separate loads, you can imagine this is going to take several hours.

Are washer dryers less reliable than a washing machine?

They should be, they have more parts and do more work. To expect different is unrealistic. According to Which? washer dryers do break down more than washing machines, but they don't appear to qualify this by saying whether they break down any more than a washing machine and a tumble dryer. For all we know, a washer dryer may not on average break down any more than the combined separate machines together. My feeling, to be fair, is that they probably do, but not excessively so. The Which? reliability reports do seem to unfairly compare a single machine doing two jobs with a machine doing only one.

There is a common belief that if you have a washer dryer and it breaks down you lose two machines, which is used as a good reason to avoid them. But logically, what use is a tumble dryer if your washing machine has broken down? And if the dryer part breaks down on a washer dryer, it's rare for it to stop the washing machine working, so this worry should be discounted.

So why bother with a washer dryer?

If you don't have any room for a separate dryer, then a washer-dryer is far better than nothing at all. Many people are quite happy with their washer dryer. As long as you accept their limitations they are OK, but buy a separate washing machine and tumble dryer if you can afford to - and you have the space of course.

Compare washer dryer prices (using Kelkoo)

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Should I buy a reconditioned washing machine?

Reconditioning washing machines is a good idea, especially in these throwaway times. Unfortunately though, economics are affecting the viability of reconditioning washing machines. As many new washing machines continue to get cheaper (and less repairable) it becomes more expensive to recondition them to a high standard, and less attractive to buy one reconditioned. For example, you can currently buy a decent new budget washing machine for £199 with a 2 year guarantee and free delivery (see link at end of this article)

Having said that, there are 2 scenarios where a reconditioned washing machine may be a better alternative.

  1. If it is a much better quality washing machine than the new budget washing machine and has good after sales backup
  2. If even £199 is too much, ether because of current finances or the circumstances surrounding the washing machine requirement

1: Reconditioning quality washing machines such as Miele and Siemens etc. should be perfectly viable and if someone did, I would recommend them over buying a cheap washing machine (if the price was right). But the cost of spare parts for these washing machines, and the lack of discarded examples to strip for parts (because they last so long and there are relatively few sold) mean it's not really viable. I don't know of any company reconditioning real quality washing machines.

2: If you want to spend much less than £199 on a washing machine you are likely to need to buy second hand or reconditioned. To my knowledge, no one truly reconditions a washing machine like you could in the 1980s and early 1990s. ( I used to recondition Hoover washing machines, and would always fit, a new armature in motor, drum bearings, door seal, control panel and trims, drain hose and any other part that was worn such as suspension, pumps etc.) To recondition a modern Hoover washing machine like that would cost more than I could buy a brand new one for. Many "reconditioned" washing machines are now just washing machines that have been repaired (sometimes for as little as possible using second hand parts).

Reconditioning washing machines on a large scale though, may produce reasonably priced cheap washing machines if you can't run to £199. I will be seeking out and linking to examples soon.

If anyone knows of a good source of properly reconditioned good quality washing machines please Contact me.

Tricity Bendix budget washing machines

 

Further buying a washing machine advice

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