Talk

You live in a flat and have no washing line?

Wet out of the drier can happen if overfilled, or large items like duvet covers that roll into a ball.

Knitted cotton items like T shirts are prone to shrink, so buy bigger. Have not noticed it on sheets.

no I do have garden/patio but I find they dry stiff and smell odd when dried outside.

also its quicker <so I thought> in a tumble when I need something quick.

I don't overfill as only few items actually get tumbled, mainly underwear, uniform and bed sheets. but not at the same time obviously.
the duvet cover doesn't shrink just the fitted sheet, find myself fighting to get the corners over where its got smaller!

I only put school trousers in the dryer as you say the shirts kept shrinking. slowly the trousers get higher up the ankle - and its not due to growth cos they only had them couple of months?

For economy, you can hang stuff out until it is mostly dryish, then tumble to finish off for extra softness. Sometimes there is residual soap in the machine, and an occasional hot service wash with Washing Soda Crystals and no powder will help wash it away. This can improve softness, especially if you mostly do cool washes that do not dissolve soap so well.

It is said that tumblers work best with a mixture of large and small things, so putting in a towel (it need not be wet) with a load of socks and underwear can make them dry quicker.

P.s.

I find fitted sheets very annoying, have switched back to flat sheets now. Also easier to iron (if you do) and fold.

that's worth a try half drying. I was going to get some soda crystals reading about them on another thread. didn't know that about the towel, I do my towels too forgot to mention. will try some ideas.

fitted sheets can be annoying, when they ping off the corners.