Tumble Dryer - a necessity or a luxury?

Don't you get cooking smells on the washing with a pulley though? That's what puts me off.

Pull-up airers for me, and shut the door on it to keep smell out when I'm getting the dinner on.

(You CAN'T do it yourself! )

nanny1 what type of washing machine do you have does it have a good spin for inside drying I would think that you need a spin of more than 1200 rpm.,and the washing would come out damp and then easier to dry on your clothes maiden,I use my tumbler for towels and bedding but hang out if a windy day,and I have to go downstairs to hang out mine (we live in FF apt),if you put a pulley up in your kitchen is there the chance of your washing smelling of any food stuff's that you cook ? good drying

Odd though it may seem, I use my tumbledryer more in the summer than in winter. In winter I dry stuff on two overhead pulley systems, one in the sitting-room (high ceiling – you hardly notice it and it has the benefit of the wood stove. Things dry overnight) and one in the hall. In summer, when it's warmer but just as humid and we don't have any heating on, if I can't get things dry outside, or if they just need finishing off before I put them away, I give them a short blast in the tumbledryer. I wouldn't say it was a necessity, but it does solve that problem.

Didn't put the pulleys in the kitchen because it has a false ceiling.

I dry what I can on the line, the rest on a tower clothes airer In my kitchen/diner (it tucks around the corner and you can't really see it) and on radiator racks. Can't say I've ever noticed any cooking smells transferring on to the washing and I'm fussy about smells. I do use my tumble dryer if I've got a build up of washing, don't like it hanging about for days. I'm a bit like bagitha I think I use my dryer more in the summer because there's no heat to dry indoors.

I dry as much as possible on the whirygig thingy in the garden but always dry towels in the dryer otherwise they go hard outside and then I have to buy new ones so thats not economical given how pricey towels are these days. I have a very small utuilty room but it has a radiator so I put a collapsable z shaped airer up in there overnight if its wet out. Cant stand seeing washing draped all over the house - reminds me of being your and my mothers eternal bloody washing and condensation on every window.

Hmm...

Need to think about this one.

A pulley might be good. wish I had a wood burning stove like you bagitha

Maybe try and enlist the help of a handy son or son-in-law to get a pulley up without breaking something or bringing the ceiling down! Think you might be right jinglej - not something easily done, especially for someone who is not good with an electric drill!

I have a dryer but rarely use it unless I feel the towels could do with a fluff or something is needed in a hurry. I have a pulley in the utility room and find that washing is usually dry by the next morning. Made the mistake of buying a washer/dryer once but had to take half the washing out before using the dryer as it couldn't cope with a full load! Presumably designed by a man!

I usually dry my washing in my spare bedroom, where I have a large airing cupboard/wardrobe. It's always warm in there and if I open the cupboard door it is even better. It always smells nice too.

I dry as much as I can outside, but I also have a "Hangaway from Lakeland which takes loads of shirts and things. It lives in a spare room. I have a washer / dryer and though it only takes smallish loads it's enough for the two of us. But I do love the sweet smell of washing that has been outside!

My mother used to have a pulley in the kitchen above the dining table - our clothes always smelled of soup. When we had a pulley, it was in the bathroom above the bath, not a problem as we have high ceilings and a separate shower cabinet. Now my method in wet weather is this:

Do washing in evening
Hang shirts, tops and trousers on hangers, on picture rail in back hall above radiator, overnight
Towels etc on clothes horse near boiler
pants, socks in wire rack above boiler
In morning, fold and put away anything dry
Short tumble for items still dampish, except cottons best ironed slightly damp
Result - no wet washing hanging about in daytime or cooking smells

Could not live with washing hanging around the house, would look like a chinese laundry, nor do I like it on the washing line .. too hard and scratchy. dryer with a sensor gets garments ready for ironing.

My house doesn't look like a Chinese laundry, or any other kind of laundry come to that. It looks unique. There's no other way to describe it without a hell of a lot of long words like eclectic .

I live in a town house with tiny garden, but have a washing line which I can put up there when I need it, this windy weather dries it in no time at all. Handy husband has put a pole up above the shower, and the res goes on the wooden pull up clothes dryer that also goes in the shower. It doesn't look in the least like a Chinese laundry.( except when I do the sheets, they hang over the stairs!)
I do have a small dryer but hardly ever use it.

I don't own a tumble dryer. Over here they cost about the same as a return ticket from Paris to the States - so I do the math(s).

I line dry as often as possible all year round, all pegged out with an old fashioned pole to hike up the line, or in a little room off the kitchen (laughingly called the 'maid's' room) on a hanging/racking system.

In the winter I bring the racking system upstairs (living room) where we have our wood burning stove, and the laundry dries over night. Sheets get draped over the mezzanine banisters. All dry and gone after a morning fold up.

I would, however, love to have one.

On a whirly line in the garden when weather is right, otherwise in the spare bedroom on a clothes horse thingy. Although I have a tumble dryer I hardly ever use it as the electricity meter whizzes round too fast when it's on

Washing comes straight out of machine into tumble dryer. Tumble dry for a few minutes than put on airers next to large radiator and de humidifier. Things like shirts and t shirts go on hangers. Most things are pretty dry within a day [and no ironing].

In an ideal world, most of the washing is dried outside, but that needs me to be more organised than I currently am. I love the smell of laundry which has dried on the line, at the moment I have a line full blowing in the breeze. But I also have a washing machine full which will probably end up being tumble dried, because I didn't plan ahead and get on with things this morning.

We have a four month old baby living here at the moment, my first grand-daughter, and she keeps the washing machine busy.

When all my children were small, one of the first things I would consider on waking (apart from 'Already? I just fell asleep.') was 'Is it a good drying day?'

I'd love one of those pulleys but my kitchen ceiling is too low I think. I like the tumbler for towels otherwise I find they go hard even if they smell nice in the open air. Sheets, duvet covers etc are rather large to have dangling around the house so they go in the dryer too. Apart from those items I don't mind clothes on an airdryer in the spare room - except that they are constant reminders I have to do some ironing

I use a tumble dryer only when I have to-i love the smell of clothes dried in the garden-lakeland have just added some dryers(not tumble) with their running costs to their new catalogue-would work in a spacious utility room- I'm going to look at them this week

I prefer to dry my clothes outside but living where I do that's often impossible. I hate to see washing hanging around all over the place. I'm afraid I use my tumble dryer. It's a necessity for me.

My mother used to iron towels (but she ironed EVERYTHING!) and that makes them soft. A step too far, methinks.

I sometimes get an urge to iron..but it soon passes....

I had a friend who ironed everything, including nappies