Talk to me about tumble dryers *BORING THREAD ALERT*

[PizzaAndChips]

Morning, all. DH says we need a tumble dryer, but I'm not completely sold. Here are my concerns:

1. We don't have much space in the house so it would probably have to go in the garage
2. I'm concerned about cloth-shrinkage (can this be avoided?)

And the reasons for:

1. House is old and prone to damp
2. Crowded house (not the band!) means we are drying washing in DD's bedroom all the time in the cooler months, so a tumble dryer would mean we wouldn't have to do this

We bought a dehumidifier in February which has helped with drying washing and has kept the damp at bay, but given that we have just come out of a hot summer, I think that has been a factor, too.

I wondered if we should get a washer/tumble dryer-in-one. We currently have an 8kg load washing machine for our family of 6.

Thoughts, please!

[Cynderella]

If you can afford to run a tumble dryer, it will be the most efficient way of drying your laundry. Also the most expensive. Keeping it in the garage will be inconvenient in bad weather but will help with the damp problem. I would hate having to haul damp washing out to a garage, so it would put me off having a tumble dryer.

A washer dryer could be an option if you are able to manage to co-ordinate the drying - often you can't dry a full wash load at once and, of course, you can't dry a load while the next load is in the wash.

A compromise might be to continue drying 'quick dry' items such as shirts, tea towels etc over an airer and tumble dry jeans, towels, underwear etc

We don't use our dehumidifier in the summer but it will help get washing dry in the winter, so this would be your cheapest option if you put up with wet laundry hanging around.

[Celebelly]

We have our tumble drier in the garage. I don't really mind popping outside to put the washing in (if it's horrible weather I just wait as it's rarely a drying emergency, but I'm usually out trying to shepherd a wayward cat in anyway). I really love ours though. We are in the north of Scotland so hanging stuff outside just isn't really feasible for large chunks of time, and I hate wet clothes draped everywhere or those useless bloody clothes horses taking up space in the house.

I wouldn't have a washer dryer, just as the couple I've had previously in other houses have been a bit crap at both, and the drum size for the drying portion is usually way smaller than the washing so you have to take stuff out, which is a pain.

Ours is just an inexpensive Beko condenser but it's really good.

[PizzaAndChips]

I do hate the thought of going outside with my laundry (worse problems to have, I know!). Good idea with splitting the washed load up for drying.

How do we deal with the dreading shrinking of garments? Can this be avoided on a cooler dry?

[Cynderella]

Ah yes, shrinking. After a while, you can tell what might shrink and what won't. It used to be a family joke that I would always buy kids' clothes too big to allow not just for growth but also the way I washed and dried them.

Knits more likely to shrink than shirts, baby vests much more snug after washing but bedding fine - shrinking usually only on first wash. After that, everything's fine.

[PizzaAndChips]

Ha, good advice! Given that I've just eaten 2/3 large bar of galaxy, I need to prevent my clothes shrinking at all costs!!

[GetOnYerBike]

@PizzaAndChips We had a tumble dryer in the garage and it was fine, just part of your every day like doing a school run in the rain. I have clog shoes like crocs that I shove my feet in to go outside to feed the birds.

Now we have a utility room and a sensor condenser dryer as I can't vent it to the outside.

The sensor means it stops tumbling when the clothes are dry and there are different dryness settings.

It is a 9kg Beko, cost me £270. I have 2 sons both in secondary school, their school shirts take about 40 minutes to dry and then I just put them on hangers and straight into their wardrobe.

The speed of drying depends on your washing machine spin speed. I had a 1200 Bosch but then that died and I replaced it with a 1400 AEG and noticed quite a difference in drying times.

Shrinkage wise, both my children have relatively cheap clothing, so Primark and Asda t shirts, Next jeans, a few branded t shirts that were in the sale (O'Neil or Holister) they do have a tiny shrinkage but nothing noticeable.

My Dh is 6'3" so nothing of his gets tumbled just in case, shirts and t shirts are hung up to dry on a clothes rail, same with jeans or trousers, I hang them up using the belt loops. All his underwear and socks do get tumbled though.

For me bras don't get tumbled, knickers and socks do, I hang up dresses, woolens go over an airer.

I couldn't live without it, bedding is stripped off, washed, tumbled and back on the bed. Towels, again, washed, tumbled and back in the bathrooms.

[PizzaAndChips]

Thank you for that, @GetOnYerBike! All shorties in our house so no issues with tall cloth shrinking woes!

I think I should give in and go for it (along with a pair of crocs!!). Suppose it's better to go to the garage than having a damp house.

[IsItCoffeeTimeYet]

DON'T get a washer dryer, they neither wash nor dry well.

We have tiny flat and damp issues so got a tumble drier and never looked back.
The money it cost us we have more than got back in the reduction of clothing we now need, getting things back from the wash so quickly.

Somethings do shrink. DC clothes I just buy bigger to account for shrinkage and I don't tumble dry things that are already tight on me.
I find some brands shrink more than others (e.g. TU and NEXT are quite bad). But only on the first cycle, no more shrinkage after that.

It means no ironing if you get out and hang straight away not leave it sitting in the machine for days until you can be bothered with it, like me

[SpoonBlender]

Have you considered putting the washing machine in the garage as well? That avoids lugging wet stuff around and frees up a whole slot in the kitchen.

[PizzaAndChips]

I think I've gone off washer-dryers, having done some research on them. More components to go faulty, too!

Washing machine wouldn't work in our garage as it's detached so we'd need to sort all the plumbing out for it.

Thanks for the answers, all