How many of you follow the "best practices" for tumble drying?

[WannabeMathematician]

I've just got a new tumble dryer as we're having a baby soon and I don't have the space to air dry for three people.

However, there seem to be so many best practices that basically make a tumble dryer unusable. A large portion of my clothes can't be tumble dried (in fairness I should have checked but why can't I tumble dry viscose?). On top of that I shouldn't under load it and shouldn't mix fabrics.

With all these restrictions, it seems like it was a mistake to buy this blasted thing. Am I just being overly cautious/precious by reading the label on everything and following the best practice?

I chuck everything in mine (except wool). Never had any issues yet.

Everything except wool here too.

Most of the washing and drying instructions are manufacturers covering their arses.

Ok, probably me just blindly believing everything I read!

I'll be less precious in future.

Depends on the machine and programs it has. Mine has a wool, outdoor textiles, modern textiles, synthetics etc. And most gets dried on a delicate cotton setting!

I always put a clean, dry towel in with every load. It really helps to dry things faster.

I’ve been using tumble dryers for years and never had a problem. I just bung everything in mine and it dries it! Obviously if it was something delicate then I wouldn’t (like silk or wool). Never thought about the mixture of materials and whether it was under loaded or not?!

Just don’t put it on over night or just before you leave the house!

When we had our new one plumbed in (it’s a condenser dryer hence the plumbing in) the plumber was horrified when I said I normally just stick it on when I’m going to bed as I hate the noise during the day. He saifits the most likely thing in your house to catch fire... hey presto my best friends caught fire recently and burned down their garage, they were luckily in the house and saw the smoke. Fire brigade told them the house would have been burnt to the ground had it been in their kitchen.

Just don’t put it on over night or just before you leave the house!

I definitely agree with this. You need to make sure the filter is cleaned out after every load and the venting tube needs to be cleaned regularly if it has one.

Good to know! I guess it is just arse covering by the manufacturers of the clothe and the tumble dryer. I was wondering who had enough space in their house to save up all their synthetics to wash and dry at the same bloody time (or enough clothes to do that!).

@Hellbentwellwent Duely noted!

I use my mainly for towels etc. I find it shrinks t shirts and any stretchy fabric despite the programme. It's a Miele condenser

If it can’t be tumble dried in this house, it is binned or someone else (not me) deals with it. Life is far too short to care about clothes which cannot be tumble dried imo.

I used to bung everything in mine, but unfortunately I had the model that can catch fire, and a man came out to "fix it" and it never worked again
So my new one is crap and refuses to fully dry anything, and it deliberately tangles everything up, even though one of its selling points was it didn't tangle.

I don’t do many “top layer” clothes in ours. Mainly towels, bed linen, pyjamas, and under layers like vest tops. I hang stuff in the boiler cupboard or on a clothes horse if the weather’s no use to get it out.

Some very thin/lightweight synthetics aren't worth it.

I turn my dial down so it dries to 99% rather than 100% dry and do it on low and slow and not had any incidents yet!

I typically dry pants, socks, vests, jeans, pjs, towels, bedding & anything that's not hoodies/ sweatshirts/ jumpers or sports kit material. If it's my kid's favourite tee then I dry it on the airer just in case it shrinks in the dryer 😬
Oh, dresses & shirts I hang on coat hangers on the airer.

Viscose is awful stuff, it shrinks if you look at it sideways.

@WannabeMathematician

I've just got a new tumble dryer as we're having a baby soon and I don't have the space to air dry for three people.

However, there seem to be so many best practices that basically make a tumble dryer unusable. A large portion of my clothes can't be tumble dried (in fairness I should have checked but why can't I tumble dry viscose?). On top of that I shouldn't under load it and shouldn't mix fabrics.

With all these restrictions, it seems like it was a mistake to buy this blasted thing. Am I just being overly cautious/precious by reading the label on everything and following the best practice?

Viscose shrinks badly - worse than cotton! Wash cool & air dry if you want it to keep fitting you

I have had a dryer for years but rarely use it for wet loads - I air dry on line/racks & finish off for 10 mins or so in dryer to lose creases (I don’t iron). Works very well for me.

Re mixed loads, if you wash mixed then separate out for drying - eg if you have light polycotton stuff washed with cotton, just do 2 part loads in the dryer. It’s better for the clothes & not massively more work. Try not to wash heavy with light - also, partly for the same reason, save up towels & wash them separately, without any fabric rinse.

I put everything in bar viscose and wool. I never use it if we’re going out.

Apparently washer/dryers are the worst for house fires. Two big appliances condensed into one dont work well, as I discovered several years ago when my twin babies were taking a nap upstairs.

How I managed to get both downstairs and across the road to a complete stranger to call the fire brigade without dropping one of them in the road I'll never know.