2-in-1 Washer Dryer Combo Review

I hate going to the laundromat more than anything on the planet.

Having a washer and dryer of my very own was the thing I was most looking forward to when we moved out of our Manhattan apartment… except the house we bought didn’t have a washer or dryer.

I didn’t care about furniture or paint colors or even, apparently, electricity (which we didn’t have for the first five days in our new house). I was going to have a washer and dryer. It was the very first thing I started looking for as we prepared to move.

Choosing Our Combo Washer/Dryer

Since space in our new house is limited, I was immediately drawn to the two-in-one combo units I’d seen online. Not only do they take up half the space of a standard washer and dryer, they don’t require the special 3- or 4-prong electric outlet most dryers need. They also don’t require a dryer vent.

They plug directly into a normal electric outlet and have standard hot/cold water hookups. I’ve read you can even rig them to hook up to your sink, which would work nicely for people in an apartment.

The first unit I was interested in was the LG 4.3 Cubic Foot Washer/Dryer Combo, which has been around a long time and has the best reviews from sites like The Wirecutter. But at nearly $1,700, it was out of the question.

After much research, I decided to go with the Midea 2 Cubic Foot Combination Washer/Dryer from BestAppliance. Though it’s half the capacity of the LG, the features are similar and it’s about $900 less (plus shipping was free with Amazon Prime!). For me, that was enough to seal the deal.

Installing Our Combo Washer/Dryer

The unit arrived about a week after I ordered it via a special delivery truck. They called ahead to confirm the delivery time and where it should be placed on the property, which I thought was pretty great in case we weren’t at home that day. Between John and I, it wasn’t too hard to get inside, though if you’re up multiple flights of stairs it would be really nice to have two muscley dudes to help lift it.

Once inside, I got it out of the box and all set up in about an hour. It was as simple as connecting the water hookups, inserting the drain in the drain pipe in our floor, and plugging it in.

I’ll say this regarding setup: read the instructions. One of the most important steps in setting up this combo washer/dryer is removing the shipping bolts from the back of the unit. They’re inconspicuous, but if you don’t take them out they can result in a ton of noise and the machine shaking like crazy. I knew this ahead of time from reading the Amazon reviews, but if you skip the instructions on your unit you might miss a similarly important step in the setup.

Pros and Cons

There’s a lot to love about this combo washer/dryer.

For one, it works perfectly in our small space. It slid right in underneath our tankless water heater, leaving room to spare for some shelving I plan to install soon. It could also be easily installed under a kitchen or bathroom countertop.

Aside from the other features I mentioned earlier (no special plug, hookups or vent needed), it’s very quiet. It also has a ton of wash settings to choose from, like heavy duty, delicate, wool and so on.

There are a few drawbacks, which are important to know about before you shell out cash for a combo unit. Here are the two biggies: it has a small capacity and it takes a long time.

The capacity of our unit is 2.0 cubic feet, which is about half the size of a normal washing machine. It can comfortably wash and dry a load of 4-5 full-size towels or a load of 2-3 men’s dress shirts and 2-3 pairs of pants.

To fully wash and dry a load, it takes anywhere from 2.5 to 4.5 hours. The larger the load, the longer it takes. I’ve got a good system down where I’ll throw in a load when I finish work for the day. By the time we’ve cooked and eaten dinner and vegged out on the couch for a bit, the laundry is done and can be put away (or let’s be real, thrown on a chair until the next day) before bed. It’s not that big of a deal once you get used to it.

The other quirky feature is that once you’ve set a load to dry, the door locks and you can’t open it again until the dry cycle is done. I found this out when I tried to pull out a pair of jeans I don’t normally dry.

If you really need to open the door, you can take off the front panel and use the manual latch, or you can unplug it, wait for it to cool off (the door lock is temperature-controlled), turn it back on and the latch will open. It was annoying the first time I dealt with this, but again, not that big of a deal once you know that’s how it works.

I read reviews online that claimed the dry cycle doesn’t fully dry the clothes, but I think those reviewers are either being too picky or trying to wash loads that are too big for the machine. When you take the clothes out of the dry cycle, they have a bit of steam in them that makes them feel a tiny bit damp. But once they’re out for just a few minutes they feel normal, fluffy and fully dry. I actually think my clothes come out of this machine feeling softer than they did with a normal washing machine, and this drying process might be one reason for that.

Overall, I’m very happy with the purchase. For me, not having to go to the laundromat is an upside that far outweighs any of the downsides I mentioned here.

I would recommend this machine for:

• A single person or two-person household
• Apartments
• Campers/RVs
• AirBnb or vacation units

I would not recommend this machine for:

• Families
• People who need to do laundry frequently and fast, like busy moms

Once again, here’s the unit we purchased: Midea 2 Cubic Foot Combination Washer/Dryer from BestAppliance

For the price and the features, I think we got the best deal out there! See more of the machine below in my video review.

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