Tumble Dryers

I suppose it depends on how much washing you have to do. There is only OH and myself and in the Winter I still hang it out if the sun is shining or its windy. If it has to be dried inside I just do one washer full at a time , underwear and socks goes on one of those circular peg things on the airing cupboard door and shirts hang on hangers in the bathroom with windows open , the rest on a horse in the kitchen overnight oh and sheets I hang over the banister then on the airer. it works for me. I got rid of my tumble dryer a long time ago as I never used it.

I have a tumble drier but always hang out first and then finish in the drier. In winter I hang over radiators and in utility room and then finish off in the drier the next morning. Tumble driers do fluff up things like towels really nicely.

I only use the drier if I really need something to dry urgently. Otherwise everything goes on a clothes horse in the spare room, in front of the radiator. Even a folded 100% Egyptian cotton double quilt cover will dry there within 48 hours! Like tanith, if it's sunny and/or windy, I hang things outside first, then on the clothes horse to finish. Socks and other little things go on one of those over-the-radiator two-bar hangers in the kitchen.

We have a tumble dryer in the garage but I don't use it in the summer. Our current deal with gas and elec is that the supply is free 9-5 on a Saturday so I start washing at 9 and then use the dryer for much of the day.

If I can I line dry otherwise everything that can go in the dryer does. I have a few bits on radiator racks in the dining room but I hate having damp washing cluttering up the place. Now we have a combi boiler the airing cupboad is redundant.
I have no brand recomendations to give but I will say if you can't site it where you can extract the condensation straight outside you will need to buy one with a condenser.

No tumble drier, but a fast spin and put washing on airer, overnight in the same room as the wood burner. Always dry in the morning. Sorry not much help.

I do use the tumble dryer quite a bit in the winter as our house is damp enough without drying washing indoors. I don't have an airing cupboard but do sometimes air things on radiators. If you get a dryer please remember to clear the fluff frequently from the filter and from under the filter as that can be a fire risk.

I use a heated clothes drier from Lakeland. Costs about 6p an hour to use and I leave it in my spare bedroom. I hate wet washing around the house.

I've just bought an AEG condensing tumble dryer, it also recirculates the heat, it is Efficiency rating A+++ and costs 30p to dry a load (8kg).

LadyGracie I have an AEG condensing tumble dryer too. I use mine as much as possible I find it cuts back on the ironing. I'm sure I read somewhere that it wasn't good for your health to dry clothes on radiators, although when my boys were babies I'd dry their terry nappies on the radiators when it was raining.

Yes Kittye I use mine a lot too, it certainly does cut back on ironing. Magic! Drying clothes on radiators promotes mould growth which produce spores, not good for the chest.

I don't have a tumble dryer. I use a clothes airer on the landing and put larger items over the bannister. I sometimes put things on the radiators and if my sons want to wash the same day as me I use the second clothes airer in my bedroom though it takes longer to dry there. I had a tumble dryer years ago but feel it's expensive to run and bulky to store.

I don't use a tumble dryer - after seeing what happened when my neighbour's caught fire!!!

We have a Lakeland airer as well and it sits in our very large utility room, so we are lucky not to have dripping stuff round the house.

just be careful of the make,mine burst into flames two years ago and I bought a diffferent make only to find that several are the same dryers with a different label on them check the lists of the affected ones online.I've just swapped with my son as his hasn't been modified and mine has ,so its not a hazard now...or so they say.I never leave it on when I'm not around the house though and I will get it modified but the waiting times are quite long

I too dry clothes on an airer on the landing and put large items over the banisters. I had a tumble dryer for a short while but it packed up and I didn't bother to replace it.

Love my tumble drier..particularly towels come out soft and fluffy. Would recommend getting one that vents outside and nothing fancy....just a hot and cool setting.

I use a tumble drier, a Bosch condenser, and use it a lot as I don't have anywhere convenient outside to hang things. Some things are dried over an airer in the utility room, where the boiler is. I don't dry clothes in the house because I don't want to encourage any damp or condensation.

I first bought one 40 years ago because where we lived it was impossible to get nappies dried. We don't use it as a matter of course as I try to line dry but I wouldn't be without one. I always 'bash' the towels around in it for about 10 minutes before they go out on the line anyway.
Have just ordered another one as the present one which we were given a few years ago is very noisy.
We chose a condenser model (Bosch) and you can check the decibel level.
DH doesn't like his socks dried in the tumble drier as he said they shrink! Just check all the labels on clothes - although some can be tumble dried even if they say not to.

We asked the sales person about them catching fire and he assured us that the problems have been resolved.
However, we didn't buy that make anyway.

What are you all? Amish?! You'll be telling me next you take your washing down to the river and beat it on stones! Yes I have a tumble dryer and yes I use it! The only things I don't put in there are 'delicates' which I dry in the airing cupboard. In the summer I hang things out, but not in the winter. I can't imagine why you would have a house full of wet clothes when you have a tumble dryer?

I always used to line dry and had a tumbler for emergency use only. However since moving to sheltered accommodation I have communal laundry facilities and tumble everything except one or two extreme delicates, which I dry on an airer in the bathroom.

Towels can take a lot of drying in a tumbler if you don't have a high speed spin on your washing machine - they do come up lovely and fluffy though. If you're not hyper-fastidious about ironing then tumblers can greatly reduce your ironing time - just make sure you hang everything as soon as you take it out or fold it neatly.

I wouldn't buy a combined washer-dryer unless you had lots of money and extremely small drying space - my DS had very high bills when he lived in a furnished inner-city apartment complex.

Overall, make sure you have good ventilation for moisture extraction - all that moisture from damp washing has to go somewhere and you don't want it in your living space.

GrandmaKT I use mine all the time ,NEVER hang washing out ,even in summer .the isssues with the ones that go on fire is not resolved there are thousands of people still waiting for modifications and people who have had really bad fires who have had no help from the manufacturers ...or their insurance.So I would be careful about which model/make you buy Jalima

I have a Zanussi condenser tumbler which lives in the Garage as no room in here. I like to dry outside as much as possible, just finishing off in dryer if I must, if things are not too bad after the line I hang them on a clothes horse inside if we have the healting on, gives a nice fresh washing smell too as I only use unperfumed laundry stuff.

I hope I am not tempting fate here, but we have had our dryer for 17 yrs now, so has been a good buy.

I have a condenser dryer and everything gets put in it. Mine is a Hotpoint and has been modified by the manufacturer but never leave it unattended.

I gave a "maid" which has four salts and US hoisted up high in the kitchen loaded with wet washing. Dries overnight