tumble dryer withdrawal pains

Ooh MissA please could you tell me the name of that app? Though it does go against my ‘religion’ to leave washing out overnight! It will get ‘darker on’!

For those of us who prefer to dry outside, I have an app on my phone.
You set your location, and it will tell you when your washing will be dry.

It reassures users that leaving things out overnight does no harm whatsoever, and gives other little tips.

I sold mine. If the washing can't be dried outside, it is put on the airer in the en-suite and the dehumidifier switched on.

As we had towelling nappies years ago I bought a small basic dryer. A few years later I gave it to my friend.
I didn’t replace as prefer garden or radiator but bought another small basic one about 5 years ago but hardly rarely use it but glad it’s there for emergencies.
Hope it lasts as long as my original one which is still going strong after 48 years.
I still need to hang the hose out of the window (because I was too mean to pay the extra…

Thankyou Miss A.

Stansgran

My tumble dryer is possibly over 30 years old. It is small and fits in a very small space above the washer. I don’t have a vent just the back door open in the utility room. It’s worked hard and I use it several times a week . we spend more on gas than electricity so at nearly 80 I want to be warm and not have the faff of having clothes drying slowly. I like clean pillowcases twice a week- DH has very thin skin and bleeds with the slightest scratch and he unconsciously scratches his head when he thinks. I only allow myself to say don’t scratch once every other day . I’d be interested to know what a condenser bought on eBay does if the poster could tell me.

The condenser thingy is for the vent hose to go into.
It stops everywhere from steaming up and needing to hang the hose out of the window.

I decided to forgo a tumble drier when we had a new kitchen/laundry room so I could have more cupboard space, and I used an airer, although I did have a Pulley Maid before the new kitchen was installed. A few months ago, I bought another Pulley Maid for the laundry room and I wouldn’t be without it. It is out of the way, unlike the airer, which took up floor space. Everything dries in record time. I did need the TD when the children lived at home.

I have a good size laundry room so have the space to have to two floor standing drying racks (non electric) that I bought from IKEA and one overhead rack. My tumble dryer is old and inefficient though still working, but I very rarely use it. I prefer to ‘air dry’ nearly everything on the drying racks it saves a lot of wear and tear on my clothes and keeps the energy bills down. It works well for us…but couldn’t have worked when we had children at home and I worked full time.

My tumble dryer is possibly over 30 years old. It is small and fits in a very small space above the washer. I don’t have a vent just the back door open in the utility room. It’s worked hard and I use it several times a week . we spend more on gas than electricity so at nearly 80 I want to be warm and not have the faff of having clothes drying slowly. I like clean pillowcases twice a week- DH has very thin skin and bleeds with the slightest scratch and he unconsciously scratches his head when he thinks. I only allow myself to say don’t scratch once every other day . I’d be interested to know what a condenser bought on eBay does if the poster could tell me.

I only use my TD sparingly but I would miss it for emergencies or when family with children come to stay. My location is invariably wet and cold so opportunities for outside drying are limited.

My ancient tumble dryer (second hand when purchased in 1990) stopped working a few years ago. On a friend's recommendation I bought a Lakeland heated airer. Haven't looked back since - It costs pence to run and heats up the room too. The dryer was noisy, expensive and did my clothes no good at all - not to mention being bad for the planet!

I bought a 'DrySoon' from Lakeland and find it invaluable - it's not as fast as my tumble dryer, but the bonus is that delicate clothing, lingerie, fine wool sweaters etc can be dried overnight so cheaply. I wouldn't be without it, but neither would I be without my tumble dryer. Towels go in for ten minutes to soften them up, and I dry the bed linen each week.

I recently read on some 'household tips' article that a Tumble Dryer is THE most expensive household gadget to run.

I also heard somewhere that a dehumidifier is far better at that drying process, put clothes on a rack near it, they don't take long to get acceptably dry?

I’ve had my vented ecosense TD since 1994, it only has high and low settings and an end of cycle buzzer that I can turn off. 6 levels of dryness between dry and damp. Unless drying heavy cottons I use the low setting, it costs £1.34 an hour to run but drying times vary and it doesn’t run for anything like an hour at a time.
Having washing drying on radiators etc puts an awful lot of moisture into the air, could lead to mould.

We brought one from our old house intending to use it here, but never did - nowhere to vent it to, so it stayed in the garage. Then it turned out to be one of the ones that were apt to burst into flames so that put the lid on it. I have a walk in airing cupboard that is good for drying washing, especially since we were able to have the tank removed and a radiator put in.

We generally have bought washer/dryers since the children left home! Now my OH has retired the main bathroom could be mistaken for a laundry room with washing everywhere. Mainly hanging from the long shower rail.

I miss my conservatory and clothes line more than anything but at least, hopefully, we won’t get marooned indoors or kept in hospital because of steps and stairs.

I have a tumble drier but my best purchase? A dehumidifier! I have an airer and I wedge it in the bath and put the dehumidifier in the bathroom (plugged into the socket in our bedroom). I switch it on for a few hours and my washing dries quickly without making the rest of the house damp. Apparently they are very cheap to run.

Granmarderby10

Has anyone any experience with using a dehumidifier to help dry washing indoors?

Yes, me! When I downsized I decided not to have a tumble dryer. I did buy a washing machine with spin speed of 1600. I hang washing outside if it’s a fine day. If it’s not dry I put it on a rack in the spare room with my dehumidifier running on laundry mode. The washing is bone dry next morning and the dehumidifier has a bucketful of water inside it! Cost £180, but it’s cheap to run.

Last year I asked GNs for recommendations for a spin dryer as my washing machine sometimes spun ...and sometimes didn't although it washed well. And I don't want to replace it just yet.

I bought an English Electric spin dryer on the internet as neither Currys nor J Lewis stock them any longer.

It's brilliant and even when the w machine has spun normally, it gets another pint or so of water out of the load. Then the washing has a blow in the garden if it's not raining and a quick air near the radiators. Done. It sounds long winded. But it suits me fine. Although it makes me feel a tad old fashioned.

I coped quite well without a tumble dryer, but when we moved the previous owners had had one and I needed to buy one to fill the hole. It was quite basic, and for emergencies only, apart from fluffing towels. I tend not to put a wash on if the weather looks iffy.

Ours is ancient, only 2 settings, hot and less hot. But I use it very little now - most washing is dried indoors (small garden, no washing line) and funnily enough, we’ve never had any damp.
Possibly that’s because we open windows a fair bit, but if we did have damp, I’d use a dehumidifier. We once had some damp in the loft and the amount of water the dehumidifier collected so quickly, was astonishing.

I have one of those concertina airers in my large hot tank cupboard and turn on the dehumidifier in there if I'm drying anything thick. It's obviously slower than a dryer but does work pretty well and uses much less power. I think it cost around £50 in Argos some years ago.
If I do a towel wash I tend to use the bathroom towel rails once they're just damp.
I do have a tumble dryer with a heat pump which isn't too expensive to use, but I don't really feel the need as I never need things drying very quickly,

I’ve had a tumble drier all of my married life and do not begrudge the running costs even though the cost of electricity has increased. I thought it had given up the ghost recently and looked at replacement costs. What a shock that gave me, couldn’t believe some of the prices. Turns out that it was too cold in the garage for the tumbler to operate so I’ve not had to replace it thankfully. We used to have licensed premises so tumble drying the bar towels was my only option in the winter months.

When I needed a replacement fridge, AO had it at the cheapest price, however, I checked on the Boots site and it was on sale for the same price. Apparently Boots use AO for their electricals, who did the delivery. I also got all the Boots points to use when I needed stuff from Boots.

I use mine as little as possible but am reassured that it's there!
I would never leave it running if I'm not in the house due to hearing about 'dryer fire'. Also for same reason would empty as soon as drying was finished. This morning is gorgeous however so my TD will sit and sulk once again