How to use a washing machine with dryer: complete your whole laundry routine with a combo appliance

1. Sort your laundry into loads

Ensure longevity for your clothes and other laundry, including towels, bedding, sheets, etc., by sorting them carefully into separate loads for washing according to fabric, color, and level of required cleaning, depending upon how soiled an item is.

You may wish to consider these categories for separate wash loads:

Whiter than whites: including white items like lightweight sheets, cotton shirts, underwear, and socks.

Lights: including light-colored or patterned items

Darks: including clothing with dark greys, black, navy, brown, and red.

Delicates: separate more delicate fabrics and pieces, including panels of fine lace or embroidery, silks, and wool, which require gentle and cool wash cycles, including lingerie and knitwear. You may wish to place smaller delicates into mesh bags.

Thick items: for thick or stiff jeans, canvas, or denim items, including jackets and skirts.

Towels/ bed linens: wash towels, large sheets, and other linen together.

Heavily soiled items: wash heavily soiled items like gardening clothes, football kits, etc.

Brights: group bright colors or items with the potential to bleed.

Sorting your laundry in one go can seem like a daunting task, however in the long term, it is preferable to keep your clothes looking and feeling great for as long as possible.

An incredible hack to save time and quickly sort your laundry as you go is to make a small one-time investment in a multiple-compartment laundry bin or basket like this laundry sorting hamper from Amazon.

You're ready to wash and dry once you’ve sorted your laundry into separate loads!

Joy Aumann advises: "Use the right cycles for your fabrics, like gentle for delicates or regular for everyday clothes, and go for a high spin speed to cut down on drying time."

2. Check all pockets

Once you've organized your wash loads into separate piles, be sure to go through and check all your pockets for any loose change, keys, expired coupons, pencils, scrunched receipts, nails or screws, used tissues, grocery lists, etc.

Metal or other hard objects can damage your washer-dryer, not to mention tear holes in the fibers of your clothing. Trust me, I speak from experience; I've had a machine break down, and in the end, we had to replace it after I failed to empty my husband's pockets of loose coins.

And we've all been there and opened up our washer-dryer to find everything covered in a white coating of residual paper fiber from those old tissues we neglected to remove from our pockets.

Not only does it leave an unpleasant mess, but the disintegrated tissue can also clog up the drains and filters, which could lead to your machine not performing efficiently.

Rouge items, such as pens, left in pockets can also cause strange stains and streaks all over your clothes.

Again, it can seem like a tedious task, but it's necessary to empty your pockets before you wash. Perhaps create the habit of checking your pockets when you throw each item into the laundry basket. Be vigilant to save yourself more hassle later.

3. Pre-treat any stains

This is crucial if you have a young family, as kids' clothes can often go into the wash with food stains, paint, mud, etc. Check your clothes thoroughly for stains, particularly the whites and lighter-colored fabrics.

It's best practice to soak any stained items in cold water as soon as it happens or as soon as you notice, and it's ideal to allow the stain to soak in cold water for a couple of hours before treating them with stain removers.

A cold water soak will remove a lot of stains from tea to fruit stains, but deeper, more stubborn stains, such as red wine or coffee, may require a little more help.

Use a stain remover or detergent and directly apply it to the stain. Rub it gently and allow it to sit for a few minutes before placing the stained item in the wash.

You may also wish to add a stain remover detergent to your wash to tackle those stubborn stains further throughout the wash.

You might also opt for a natural homemade stain remover, including water, vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice.

4. Load the washer-dryer

When loading your washer-dryer, be sure not to overload the machine. As our experts assert, the weight of a washing load will differ from the dry load weight.

Judi Kutner says: "A common mistake is expecting the dryer to handle the same size load as the washer. Most of these combos dry less than they wash."

Joy also Aumann asserts: "Don’t overload the machine—it can wash more clothes than it can dry, so you may need to remove some before drying."

"The biggest mistake is overloading. Washer-dryer combos have limits, and overstuffing them makes washing and drying less effective."

As such, it's advisable to wash only the weight you wish to dry unless you plan to remove any items you don't want to dry in the machine in between the spin and dry cycles.

Gwil Snook explains: “To keep your washer dryer running smoothly, it’s a good idea to avoid overloading the drum since drying cycles need lots of airflow. Check those care labels and pick the right program for your fabrics to prevent heat damage. "

Load your washer-dryer with the laundry and be cautious about the weight - some models will display the weight on the control panel.

Always leave space within the drum for the laundry to spin and wash properly. It's likely clothes won't wash or dry appropriately if you overload your machine. Equally, running a wash-and-dry cycle with a small load of laundry can be a waste of energy, money, and time.

Check your manufacturer's guide for your washer-dryer to check your load isn't too heavy. If in doubt, try to empty the top third of the drum.

5. Add detergent and fabric softener

It's key to only add the required amount of detergent according to your load size, fabric, soil level, and the detergent's measurements.

Follow the manufacturer's instructions on adding detergent - most models will feature a drawer to add detergent powder, pods, or liquids. You can also add fabric softener if you wish.

Judi Kutner says: "Detergent needs to be measured properly—too much creates buildup, which causes more issues than it solves."

Gwil Snook adds: "Common hiccups like using too much detergent or mixing incompatible fabrics can affect how well it performs, so always follow the manufacturer’s instructions."

6. Select the correct temperature, wash cycle, and any settings for color and fabric, plus select the spin and dry cycle

Judi Kutner advises: " Most machines have pre-set cycles for different fabrics, so pick one that matches what you’re washing. Jeans and towels need a different cycle than silk or other delicate fabrics."

Essentially, our experts agree that if the washer offers an option for the particular item or fabric you're washing, you should use it.

Many washer-dryers include preset cycles with specific temperatures for various colors and fabrics, including whites, delicates, heavily soiled, wools, etc.

If in doubt, these handy temperature guidelines are a good place to start:

Hot water (approximately 130°F or 54°C): For whites and heavily soiled items.

Warm water (approximately 90°F or 32°C): For most colored items and lightly soiled clothes.

Cold water (approximately 70°F or 21°C): For more delicate pieces such as lingerie, wool, or dark colors, and energy-efficiency.

Select a wash and dry cycle appropriate for your laundry load. You may manually program the dry cycle after the wash and spin. You may not wish to run a spin and dry wash for more delicate items. Remove any items in between the cycles, as required.

If all items in the load can be washed and dried the same way, you can enable the washer-dryer to auto-switch from wash and spin to dry and save yourself the bother of having to manually switch it. But, should you need to remove any items before the dry, having this manual setting option is handy.

7. Start the machine

Close the washer-dryer lid or door, and start the wash and dry cycle. Specific models will enable auto switch from the wash and spin to dry, so you may wish to select to operate this manually or allow the cycle to automatically complete an entire cycle.

Additional special features may include pre-wash or soak, rinse, spin, and delayed start cycles, so be sure to follow the instructions specific to your machine.

8. Remove your freshly clean and dry laundry

Once the load has completed the wash and dry cycle, the door or lid will unlock, and you can remove your laundry. Don't try to force the door, as this can cause it to break.

If you have selected a single wash cycle, you may wish to remove items to dry them on a clothesline in the garden or a clothes rack indoors for delicate items. If the items remaining in the drum are suitable for a drying cycle, put the load onto dry.

Or, if you selected a complete wash and dry cycle, your laundry should come out dry and warm. Air out any items on a clothing line or in an airing cupboard.

If your items remain wet after a full wash and dry cycle, you may wish to troubleshoot why your washer-dryer combo is not drying.