In case you’re wondering what I’m talking about… I’m not referring to the stackable washer/dryer sets like you’d find in many US apartments. I’m talking about a single machine (in the kitchen) that both washes and dries your clothes.

Here’s a photo from my first flat in London. Aside from the laughably tiny kitchen, you can see what I mean. This device performs both the arduous task of washing ones clothes as well as drying them:

Have you ever heard the phrase ‘jack of all trades, master of none’? I think this machine aptly demonstrates the meaning. It does the job of washing the clothes admirably, but drying leaves much to be desired. Apparently, part of drying clothes involves a spin cycle of approximately 50,000 RPM. In a horizontally oriented spinner, this shakes the entire building. I always felt bad doing laundry late at night, as I was undoubtedly making more noise than my newlywed neighbors. Also, I suspect the machine wasn’t built (or installed) very well, because it kept leaking water on to the heater part of the dryer, causing it to short out (blowing the building’s fuse and destroying itself in the process). I went through 3 washers in the six months I lived in this flat.

At my next flat, the building had a shared commercial-grade washer and dryer. A proper setup, with a separate washer and dryer. Sure, it cost £3 for the washer and £1 for 20 minutes of drying time (so £2-3 to dry a full load of clothes), but my clothes came out clean and warm and soft, as well they should.

Well, I’ve moved again, and my new flat has a washer/dryer combo again. The good/bad news of this situation is that the drying portion of this one is actually broken! It does a brilliant job of washing clothes, but can’t dry them at all. This means that in order to dry my clothes, I had to hang-dry them. I bought a couple airers from Argos, very much like the one this lovely lady is showing off, and thought I was good to go!

The first couple loads were alright. My socks and t-shirts and boxers came out of the ordeal relatively dry. I have a corner in my room where I can set the airers up, and if I do a load of laundry, most clothes will be dry if I leave them overnight and throughout work the next day.

Last night, I washed my first towel, and boy do I miss my old £3 dryer! I left the towels (2 of them, actually) hang drying last night and today during work. As towels are quite large, they’re folded in half and then hung over the wire in half again. The outside half of the towel is dry, albeit hard and crusty. The inside of the towel is still dry (I had to fold the towels the other way and will leave them that way tonight). The worst part? The towel smells ever-so-faintly of mildew.

Is it worth it to lug my clothes to a laundromat? (or whatever they’re called here). Well, I’ll let you know after tomorrow’s shower!