Comments on: All-in-one washer/dryer

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:25:31 +0000

I just did my first two loads of laundry with the LG, titanium (very sharp looking) all-in-one washer/dry combo and it was amazing! I’m in love and it’s life-changing! Yes, it has it’s limitations but realize whether or not you’re this machine’s target audience! For example, it’s perfect for someone like me who is single and lives on the 21st floor of a Chicago condo building where a dryer vent hook-up is currently not allowed. Like some of the other comments, you need to be patient and a little creative – change your laundry “habits” and be prepared for a 3 to 4 hour time frame – but who cares, go do something else without the hassle of having to make six(6) trips up n’ down the elevator making sure that someone doesn’t throw your clothes on the counter because you didn’t move or pick them up on-time. Also, think about the idea of ‘Community’ laundry rooms (i.e., we have a woman in my building that washes her BIRD crap off in our laundry units – you have no idea what people are using those machines for and your clothes are spinning around with their disgusting items!). How many times have you found someone else’s “hair” in there? This unit also has a great ‘cool-down’ feature that keeps clothes from wrinkling until you get home to handle them. I did spend $18 on a must-have drying rack that I can keep out-of-view in my walk-in closet. The clothes come out slightly damp from the ventless drying cycle but, actually, that’s perfect. You’re able to stretch them out, when applicable, and place them on the drying rack and in less than 15 minutes, they are dry. This machine is pretty new to the market-place so I did spend the extra bucks for piece-of-mind on the extended warranty. I would recommend NOT ordering this directly from the manufacturer – instead, purchase from an authorized dealer so you have a “face” to work with if something does go wrong. Another must-have is the “Portability Kit” so you can easily hook-up to your kitchen or bathroom sink and roll the unit around your condo/apartment w/ease. I was able to get started after about 15 minutes of set-up time. The sink adaptor is not perfect – there’s a slight amount of leakage but unless someone has a better solution, that I think that’s to be expected. Anyway, highly recommended for the right situation – Good Luck!

By: Ed

Ed — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 02:02:50 +0000

I owned a Quietline and would buy another single washer/dryer unit. It lasted close to 7 years. It had some problems with the dryer element and a few other fixable issues. The saving grace was the fellow that supported the service of the machine via phone. He is articulate and understands the machine.

I am now considering the LG unit because Quiteline is now made by Thor. They don’t have the computerized version like LG yet. I like the LG reviews so far.

SIDE NOTE: For folks that love towels that come out warm and fluffy, the single “combo” unit is not your machine. If on the other hand you’d like to help conserve energy and $, consider the alternative – a single unit that requires you to understand it’s limitations. It’s like comparing an all wheel drive vehicle to a rear wheel drive sports car. The sports car just won’t go up snowy hills, period. The combo units won’t work that same as a conventional washer/dryer pair. Once that concession is made the savings speak loudly. So you develop a new habit. I started a load of clothes (again, understand how the machine works best) and didn’t expect the load to be finished like the conventional washer. I ALWAYS had something else to do while the load was running. It just requires a new habit of not requiring clothes to be washed and dried in an hour. I would come back when it was finished and if needed, would hang the clothes up if I wanted to run a second load. Okay, there were clothes hanging around overnite. If you heat during the winter thats a good thing, it puts moisture in the air.

If that’s not your style, pay for two units. You’ll be musch happier.

I just wanna know if the LG will last over 5 years without breaking.

By: WilliamB

WilliamB — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:51:39 +0000

Great concept, lousy execution.

There are inherent problems with the concept, the main one being that you do a new wash till the previous load is dry. Another is that if it breaks, you’re out both a washer and dryer. I don’t see any way around this and if you like in a really small place, it’d be worth it.

But there are unnecessary problems in execution. The one that made the machine unworkable for me is that the dry cycle took well over 90 min. The next biggest problem is lack of control over the cycles and times. I couldn’t just fluff, or spin something, or, or, or.

For these reasons, it doesn’t work for me.

By: Washer Woman

Washer Woman — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:06:40 +0000

My quesion is:
Re: the LG washe dryer models (I have a WD 14331(6) AD)
How do you use the dryer function alone?? This is driving me crazy. If I put somethign through and it isn’t quite dry how do I then put it through another dry cycle without having to wash the load all over again??
Help!

By: Renee

Renee — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:18:45 +0000

My in-laws have one of these in there motor home which they lend us sometimes. It is wonderful. Yes it is very small. I did loads every day so I never had piles of dirty laundry. I don’t think I would want one for at home though.

By: GCB

GCB — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:38:21 +0000

I have this unit and it’s great, when it works. Just drop the clothes in in the morning, set the delay, and grab them that evening. It’s a different type of lifestyle, where you are continually doing laundry, but since you are not home it’s ok.

Unfortunately, this model does seem to have a maintenance problem. Combo units? +++! The LG Steam Combo Unit? ….

By: Anton

Anton — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:46:55 +0000

I agree with Bob.

Sorry, not so interested in idle speculation, or I had one of these 20 (or 15 or 10) years ago type comments (none of which are this machine or even the brand in question). Geez, it’s like asking for a review on a Honda Civic and you get people saying, ‘Oh I used to drive a Fiat in europe, and compacts stink’ or ‘well I owned a Corolla and it was okay’ or ‘well I like to ride my bike’

Seems to me that of the people who actually own one and responded, it’s a pretty good machine.

So after sifting through all the tripe, I’ll buy one of the 4.2 cu ft units.

By: Tim Stanley

Tim Stanley — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:02:31 +0000

I just moved into a converted condo. The old units had no washer/dryer because there was no venting. This machine makes it possible to have an ensuite washer/dryer. Its a brand new LG. Small loads, but if you live on your own its perfect. 4hrs for a normal load, to be washed and dried. Clothes come out completely dry…. but WRINKLED! Im gonna try the downy wrinkle releaser that someone mentioned aside from that, looks like ill be hang drying along

By: Jamie

Jamie — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:55:06 +0000

Can’t speak to the long-term maintenance, as my Splendide 2100xc is new to me. But I love it! We live on a boat and there simply isn’t room for many alternatives. The bonus to this model is that it is vented to the exterior so the moisture escapes somewhere other than inside the boat. I would say it actually dries too well and I’ve had to trim the number of minutes on the dryer cycle so it doesn’t bake the clothes. I like the fact that I don’t have to move the laundry from washer to dryer. And it’s incredibly quiet.

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:04:20 +0000

Boy, certainly a lot of speculation (“I’ve heard parts a nightmare or impossible to find”) and negativity about all in ones. I have heard many good things about the LG model. With a little more research I may go for it!

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:01:16 +0000

I’m an American in England, and I’ve owned the combo machine for nearly 10 years now (a different brand though) and I *never* use the dryer. There’s no point because it essentially steams everything. Everything has to be hung up to dry – which slowly dries you crazy in the winter months.

We’re moving back to the US later this year and I have to say, I’m really looking forward to owning a ‘tumble dryer’ again!

By: Viv Evans

Viv Evans — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:10:30 +0000

We had one in a flat we rented in London and bwah it was so frustrating. I’d like to see the energy use required to run one versus a conventional stacked washer/dryer. We’d set it to start at 3 a.m. and sometimes our light tshirts weren’t dry at 7 when we got up.

I agree with the comment on buying a good spin cycle and airdrying. I think it’s a better option.

Viv

By: Judith

Judith — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:55:02 +0000

I have never owned a combo like that, but live in an apartment building with shared washer / dryers, like an in-house laundromat (meaning, I still need Euro-coins for washing). I have never used the dryers there though, but instead hang everything (that’s usually two fairly huge loads at a time, because, um, it tends to pile up a little…) in my apartment. The machines have a very good spin-cycle, so the clothes and sheets aren’t too wet when they come out.

I use a clothes drying rack with fold-out sides that just about fits in my tub, one of those little octopous-things from IKEA for socks on the shower-curtain rod where a sheet can hang also and put another sheet over a door if necessary. Blouses and similar stuff go on hangers that I hang on my furniture so there’s enough airflow around them.

(Recently, I’ve seen a different kind of dryeing racks advertised that stand about 1,5 meters (~ 5 feet or so) high and has three levels. A lot smaller footprint than my drying rack now, should make linedrying in a room much easier. Maybe I’ll get one.)

While not pretty, it doesn’t bother me because I do my laundry in the evening and almost all of it is dry the next morning.

It makes the laundry half as expensive as it would be with dryer-use, and it is a lot easier on the clothes! What you have to pick out of the driers as lint is essentially bits of your clothing, and they keep looking good a lot longer if air-dried. So there’s both the money- and the environment issue to consider, as every bit of clothing that has to be replaced sooner means an extra bit of trash that needs to be reycled or ends up in a landfill.

I know that line-drying in an apartment probably wouldn’t work for a family in tight quarters, but in my single household in just a one-room apartment it’s totally fine.

I think that instead of a combo, choosing a washing machine with the option for a strong spin-cycle (so you can disable it for delicate stuff) is a really good investment, because then air-drying only takes half as long. Seriously.

By: Ms. Brenda

Ms. Brenda — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 02:53:06 +0000

I love this concept. To be able to put a load of clothes in the machine in the morning, come home and take them out and fold them. If need be, put in another load at bedtime and take it out in the morning. This is how I do laundry anyway. (If I can remember to move the load from one machine to the other!) When I had four kids at home, I could have had two machines, which wouldn’t take up more space than my conventional washer and dryer. Seems like this is an engineering problem (My dishwasher washes and dries)as well as a marketing problem. If men did more laundry maybe there would be a significant improvement in the technology that would enable an efficient washer/dryer to be marketed.

By: tay

tay — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:40:52 +0000

I am reading all of this and thinking…my uncombined front loader takes about 1-1.5 hours anyway and then I have to factor in my drying time. I still am not to sold on these though. To many negative comments to offset the few positive