What am I doing wrong? (Tumble dryer related)

[LovedFedAndNoonesDead]

We have a Hoover condensing tumble dryer, 4 years old and used rather sparingly due to cost. Whenever I use it I find it takes more than 1 cycle to actually dry the clothes in there; I don’t over fill it, probably 1/2 full and it’s set to either cottons or darks/coloureds depending on what I’m drying. I empty the filter and the water reservoir each time I use it. The timer on it will start at, say, 3 hours 14 minutes but it will stop after 1 hour (if that!) saying it’s finished. I have it on the recommended settings for the cycle I choose so haven’t fiddled with whether it’s iron dry or cupboard dry.

What am I doing wrong and why doesn’t it dry the clothes? I just want to put the dryer on and come back to it ready to fold and put away!!

Are you mixing fabrics? If there’s stuff in there drying quickly then maybe the sensor is shutting it off even though other stuff is still damp?

Sounds like the sensor which turns it off when it thinks the clothes are dry is a bit shit. Does it have a timed dry setting instead? If yes then use that instead. It might take a bit of trial and error to find out exactly how long you need but it’s probably around 2 hours.

Have a look in the manual or online for instructions on finding and cleaning the sensor. As PP said, similar fabrics dry better together. Could also try adding a dry towel to the load; this helps speed up drying too.

I've never found the sensors to work, the clothes are always still damp in the last 3 tumble dryers I've had. Using a fixed time seemed to work better but you need uk estimate it yourself and check on the clothes. You'll probably use more electricity though.

Good grief! My vented dryer only takes 40 minutes to completely dry heavy stuff like denim

Thanks all. I’ll try and set it up using the ‘all in one’ feature (will need to download the relevant app) and see if I can work out a tailored programme for us.

@BMW6, our old dryer was similar though took a bit longer but, when we moved we couldn’t have a vented dryer so had to buy a condensing one. It tends to sit unused from March till now as we hang washing out but the weather’s simply too wet now!!

Tumble dryers work way better with a full load, if you don't have a full load put a clean dry bath towel in with the load.

We have a Hoover vented and it is exactly the same - the auto sensor thing that is meant to sense when clothes are dry just doesn't work - and we have had Hoover out to replace it and still crap. With mine for large loads I use one of the programs that allows timer setting (it is 'whites' on mine). It also works best if you don' t try and follow up one load immediately with another - allow it to cool first. I have looked online to find out where the sensor is to try and clean it with no luck.

Have you cleaned the condenser? The bit in the drawer at the bottom?

Bloody hell, sod that. Get a regular drier. Mine dries a full load in 40mins. No pissing around.

Mine's a Bosch and I've had it 27yrs

We’ve had a Bosch condenser tumble dryer for la year and I’ve only just got the hang of it (had vented before).

I mostly use the ‘mixed load’ setting (unless it’s bedding / towels) but the key thing is making sure it’s full - as pp said it dries better when you have a full load. Sometimes I wait until I’ve done 2 consecutive loads of washing to get a full tumble load.

Also I made some homemade dryer ‘balls’ out of old rolled up socks - it helps stop things getting tangled up and keeps the washing circulating.

I do find that it can still feel a bit damp when you open the door but if you shake stuff out as you empty the load, it kind of evaporated. The official instructions for ours says you should ‘spread out the load on a flat surface to air’ when you take it out, but who has time for that?!

With ours, unless you choose “cupboard dry” it doesn’t actually dry stuff properly. The “iron dry” setting seems to finish when it’s hot but still a little damp - I guess so you can then immediately iron it. I’m never going to do that. So I always choose cupboard dry- that makes it actually dry. But you can’t mix cottons and synthetics - they dry at different rates.

Tumbledryer balls made from wool are an absolute life changer!

Yes, I clean it every 4 weeks when in use (or after the equivalent of 4 weeks use) as advised by the engineer who replaced the touch screen after it came detached from its surround!

Having had to replace the washing machine after it ‘died’ and dumped a full cycle’s worth of water on the utility room carpet (and then spread to the hall carpet) last month, I can’t afford, or justify replacing a dryer that’s been used less than 400 times in 4 years!!

Thanks, will give that a try. I usually have 3-4 loads a week for the 4 of us excluding bedding so can wait and put 2 loads in together

Will give this a try with the next load.

I have to use the cottons cycle on mine (a heat pump one) and sometimes boost for extra drying time. The vented ones may be faster but they use a lot more electricity.

Our condenser tumble drier is great and it's much quicker now that we've started to give all our laundry an extra spin at the end of each cycle before transferring it to the drier. Saves so much time.

I have a condenser washer dryer and it takes FOREVER to dry anything. So much so I thought there was something wrong without it and had hotpoint out on Friday to look at it (it’s under warranty) The engineer (with 40 years experience) basically said they are a pile of rubbish and as they dry using steam, I should expect that a load could take 3 hours to dry! His advice - get a separate basic vented tumble dryer.

We had one of those Hoover condenser dryers. Hated it, it was such a faff and stuff never dried properly. About 2 weeks after its warranty period ended it died. The electronics just went kaput. I replaced it with an ultra basic, vented dryer which you just switch on for a set time. So much better.

Sorry, I realise that wasn't helpful. But man I hated that bloody tumble dryer.