Why does my washer dryer dry so badly?

Washer dryers get a poor reputation partly through misuse. The drum that is correctly sized to wash nine kilograms is far too small to tumble nine kilograms of wet fabric through moving air, so manufacturers rate the drying half at roughly half the wash. Loading it like a dryer produces exactly the symptom people report: hours of running and a damp, creased load.

What you'll need

• The manual, for the drying capacity and method
• A cloth and warm soapy water
• A torch (optional)

Step by step

1. Look up the drying capacity in the manual.It is quoted separately from the wash capacity and is typically about half — 9kg wash and 5kg or 6kg dry is a common pairing. If you are drying a full wash load, that is the whole answer.
2. Take half the load out before the drying phase.Even on an automatic wash-and-dry programme, most machines expect a reduced load for the drying part. Splitting the load is inconvenient and it is how the machine is designed to be used.
3. Check whether your machine needs the cold tap on to dry.Many washer dryers condense the steam by running mains cold water down the drum wall. With the tap off, they tumble warm air with nowhere for the moisture to go and dry very badly. This is a common and entirely invisible cause.
4. Raise the spin speed before the dry.A load arriving from a 1400 spin has substantially less water in it than one from an 800. On a machine with limited drying capability this makes a larger difference than on a dedicated dryer.
5. Clean the filter and the drum seal.Washer dryers do not have a large removable lint filter like a dryer; lint is flushed away in the wash water and caught by the pump filter. A clogged pump filter and a seal packed with lint both hurt the drying phase.
6. Check the drying programme you selected.Iron dry deliberately leaves the load damp. Cupboard dry is ready to put away. A timed programme runs for the time you set and no longer, whether or not the load is dry.
7. Dry similar fabrics together.A mixed load of towels and shirts will either leave the towels damp or over-dry the shirts, and sensor drying performs poorly on it. Split by fabric as well as by size.
8. Check the machine is not shut into a hot unventilated space.Air-condensing models need a supply of cool room air. In a sealed cupboard the condensing side has nothing to condense against and drying times stretch out.
9. Look for water in the drum at the end of drying.Some standing water is normal on water-condensing models. A drum that is genuinely wet, or a machine that will not drain at the end of the drying phase, is a drain fault — check the pump filter and the waste hose.
10. Check the room for the moisture that should not be there.A washer dryer that is putting steam into the kitchen is not condensing. Check the tap, and check the manual's requirements — some models will not condense properly with the waste hose sitting too high.
11. Note the error code and the model number if none of it helps.Heating elements, fan motors and drying thermostats are behind the casing. Diagnose from outside, then hand it over.

Tips

• If your machine has both an automatic wash-and-dry programme and separate wash and dry programmes, running them separately gives you the chance to remove half the load between them.
• A heat pump washer dryer avoids most of this: no condensing water, far less electricity and better drying. If you are replacing one, it is the version worth paying for.
• Washer dryers are noticeably better at drying small loads well than at drying large loads at all. Adjust expectations rather than settings.

Common mistakes

• Drying the full wash load — It is the single cause of most complaints. The load cannot tumble, air cannot pass through it, and hours of running produce a damp creased result.
• Turning the water off at the tap between uses — Sensible for the washing side, fatal for the drying side on a water-condensing model. It will tumble warm air and dry almost nothing.
• Expecting a washer dryer to match a tumble dryer — It has half the capacity, no dedicated airflow path and no large lint filter. Used within its design it works; used as a dryer it disappoints.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask