What is more useful for family w/kids, dishwasher or tumble drier?

shop-to-drop

I wouldn't do without the dishwasher under any circumstances, i could do without the tumble dryer but would definitely prefer not to as it would create mess trying to dry clothes around the house. I would definitely use the tumble dryer in a garage don't think that would be a problem. Remember if you get a condenser dryer you can use them anywhere in the house they will fit.

shellsuit

A tumble dryer would win for me hands down.

I've never ever owned a dishwasher so I can't miss one.

Don't get me wrong, I'd have one if I won one, but I wouldn't go out and buy one when I've got a pair of hands to do the washing up!

Darren_G

Definitely a dishwasher for me.

As the kids got older, I had hoped to palm the dishes off on them as part of their chores to earn pocket money, but my eldest DD (now 15) did such a poor job of it, despite me spending hours on 'instruction', I ended up doing them again - wasting gas, water and detergent in the process.

That was enough for me to decide that my recent kitchen renovation included space for a dishwasher.

Now they are all more or less competent enough to ensure their own dishes are relatively gunk free and are left to load the dishwasher themselves. Occasionally, one of them (Mrs G included) even goes so far as to stick a tablet in and switch it on!

We did have a washer-dryer at one point and it was ruddy awful, plus very expensive to run so we got rid as soon as it broke down altogether (about 2 years).

Judith_W

I'm sure that a tumble dryer in the garage would be used without issue. You just use a big basket to tranfer. You won't be using it all the time and I'm sure cupboard space will be much more useful in the house - you don't want to end up going to the garage to get stuff you couldn't fit in the house cos you removed the cupboard

pollypenny

Tumble drier!!!!!!!

As the kids get older they can help wash dishes. As they get older they clothes get bigger, thicker and more difficult to dry - that's without the urgent need to something tomorrow!

To say you can always dry outside or around the house depends very much on were you live. We have a lot of rain in Wales.

WelshBluebird

Tumple Drier. No doubt.
Having to wash dishes by hand takes 5 minutes at most. Having to dry clothes on the line / by radiator take a lot longer, can be a right pain in the backside with our weather (can never know when it will suddenly rain) etc etc.

k4kate

Wow lots of opinions here so I though I'd add mine.

We too have a small kitchen so we have a slimline dishwasher in there and a tumble drier in the garage. Both are very useful with 3 kids and 3 dogs.

I could definitely manage without the tumble drier though and I've seen what it does to the energy monitor when we have it on so I try not to use it if possible. The dishwasher, however, get's daily use and has an economy programme and seems to use far less electricity than the tumble drier.

Plus I find that tumble drying means more ironing and I HATE ironing! Only because it uses extra electricity of course :rotfl:

Becles

Never had a dishwasher and didn't have a tumble drier when my oldest was little.

He had a bad sicky bug once as a baby and he must have puked on every item of clothing he owned. I remember having stuff hanging all over the place praying for it to dry quickly and even finishing off the collars and cuffs on a babygro with my hairdryer after one sicky episode Tumble drier would have been so useful then.

It was a godsend last night when my daughters fave teddy had an unfortunate incident with a glass of chocolate milkshake shortly before bedtime. I was able to wash him under the tap and finish him off in the dryer so he was dry enough to take to bed.

Didn't like having clothes horses hanging around when the boys were little as the air in the house felt damp, we had problems with bits of mould and condensation, and there were a few incidents of playing tents in the clothes and the whole thing fell over!

Only use the tumble drier in wet or winter weather though and try and line dry as much as possible to save electric.

Never found washing up to be a huge chore. I usually wash the breakfast and lunch things in an afternoon which takes about 10 mins if that, then wash up again after our evening meal which takes another 10 mins or so. I normally leave everything on the drainer to air dry and put them away later.

The eldest is part of a football team that I have to pay subs for, and has a list of chores to cover the payment and washing up on an evening is one of his jobs.

Gillyx

Up until a month ago I didn't have a dishwasher and always maintained "Oh I've got 2 hands to do the washing up" never again, I LOVE my dishwasher, all the stuff comes out so clean and sparkling. Also got a tumble drier but never use it.

balletshoes

Gigglepig wrote: »

We are trying to fit appliances into our new apartment, whilst planning ahead for hopefully having kids soon. At the moment there is only 1 washing machine. I'm not so keen on washer-driers, they seem less efficient, so I think we may end up with remodelling kitchen to have space for 1 washing machine plus 1 dishwasher.

Those of you who have kids, what is more useful to you:
- a dishwasher
- a tumble drier

If both are a "must" - would you still use the tumble drier occasionally if it was in the garage?

Is it enough to have a slimline (45cm) dishwasher for a family, or does it really help to have a full size one?

Thanks :-)

I don't have either. Have never been remotely interested in getting a dishwasher, used to have a tumble drier when we lived in a flat with shared washing lines, but when that broke I didn't replace it, and I haven't had one for at least 7 years now. I guess with little children a tumble drier would be, in my opinion, of more use, but not a necessity.