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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To contemplate living without a tumble dryer?

104 replies

mrsharrycunningham · 19/11/2010 13:43

My washer/dryer has conked out and I'm thinking of replacing it with just a washing machine. I don't really have the space for a seperate tumble dryer but am I mad to consider not having one?

OP posts:
tryingtobemarypoppins2 · 19/11/2010 20:02

Our tumble dryer is on morning, noon and night! When we do hang clothes out to dry they always feel hard and crispy when dry. The tumble makes them all soft. I must be doing something wrong but I couldn't live without mine!

SconesForTea · 19/11/2010 20:06

We don't have a tumbler and I do 1 to 2 loads per day as DD is in reusables. I hang washing on the line when I can (like today) and finish it off on the airer. I must admit I'd like one of those heated ones though.

You're not mad - it's perfectly possible!

dignified · 19/11/2010 20:08

Those of you with tumblers , do you not find that certain things shrink and go bobbly ?

Tootlesmummy · 19/11/2010 20:09

Couldn't be without tumble dryer or dishwasher.

fel1x · 19/11/2010 20:18

If I had to decide between getting rid of my tumble drier or my dishwasher, I honestly couldnt pick one.
They are both very much NEEDED!! Grin

mumeeee · 19/11/2010 20:25

YANBU. we have never had a tumble dryer as don't have room for one. Our DC's are now 23.20 and 18.

Laquitar · 19/11/2010 20:53

FishWidow,or anyone who uses that Lakeland rack, have you tested how much electricity uses? Is it really only 3p per hour? (sounds very cheap).

Do the clothes dry fast on this?

I am thinking of buying one but at £75 is not cheap so i want to make sure its worth the money.

tryingtobemarypoppins2 · 19/11/2010 21:11

Tumble dryer V DH
Tumble dryer every time!Grin

fulltimeworkingmum · 19/11/2010 21:15

We were born into the late 20th Century for several reasons....dishwashers and tumble driers are just two of them. The line in the garden is great for washing for about 3 months of the year in total but the rest of the time and with young children... No brainer, really.

NotanOtter · 19/11/2010 21:19

i barely use mine but do have an aga. I don't 'get' the cant bear to see laundry brigade. I love fresh laundry, homely

BikeRunSki · 19/11/2010 21:19

We don't have one. We have a washing line and an ordinary unheated airer.

We did two years of washable nappies without a dryer. DH works on building sites and is a cyclist so we always have a lot of washing on the go, but have never felt the need for a tumble. Try living without one, it's fine, but you may come a little obsessed with the weather forecast - hmm, good drying day.

NotanOtter · 19/11/2010 21:27

'no brainer' ?? no it's not at all - there are other ways

Fibonacci · 19/11/2010 21:50

Doesn't anyone consider the ecological impact of having a tumble drier? They are probably the most energy hungry appliance in the house (apart from the oven, but I'm not suggesting you live without that). But of course you don't 'need' a tumble drier. And as plenty of posters on here have said it is perfectly easy to manage without one. The rest of you who think you do, have you ever stopped to think about the legacy you are leaving behind for your dc for the sake of a little extra convenience and fluffier towels?

ravenAK · 19/11/2010 21:55

Got shut of ours years ago.

Expensive, wasteful, & couldn't abide the way it tied everything into a hot soggy knot. Ugh.

I just drape everything on the radiator of the family member to whom it belongs, & they put it on/away when dry.

We've got a couple of those IKEA octopus things for socks etc, & two racks for weekend washing with bedding, towels, etc.

ChippingIn · 19/11/2010 22:09

Fibon - so you don't drive, don't buy pre-packaged food, food from overseas? You never fly anywhere or do anything else that isn't 100% environmentally friendly?

Fibonacci · 19/11/2010 22:21

Chip - I don't buy food that isn't seasonal or local (never buy anything that's come from further than Europe), drive a small 8 year-old car (will trade up to an EV in a couple of years) but take the bus when I can, do buy packaged food - can't avoid that, but always cook from scratch, and have hugely reduced flying.
I think very carefully about the environmental impact of everything I do, and the tumble drier was one of the first things I stopped using - because it is SO energy hungry and so unnecessary. I use a washing line outside in summer and a rack inside in winter.
I know most people regard me as a bit of an eco-nutter.
I was just really surprised that no-one had commented on the non-greenness of tumble driers, only on the practicalities.

lil · 19/11/2010 22:29

Chipping why do you disparage soomeone who is trying to do something to help conserve resources?

Your argument is quite passive agressive and shows you don't want to feel guilty about having a tumble dryer and so you have a go at someone who is reminding you how wasteful it is.

..Are you a totally nice person all the time? no? well why bother at all?

As i said crap argument for making no effort to conserve resources for our children's generation.

(and no I don't have a tumble dryer and I do own a 4x4).Grin

ChippingIn · 19/11/2010 22:34

Fib - no one else mentioned the non-greenness - really??

I'm on an electricity meter and it would be too expensive, apart from the green issues

Tbh, living without it is something you get used to very quickly and easily and reduces your carbon footprint

I thought that tumble driers were really expensive to run and used shed loads of electricity so are being got rid of by all the environmentally friendly people

and these are only the ones I noticed.

You are doing some stuff - but not everything you could do. For a start you haven't stopped flying only reduced it & you still drive a car - you don't have to.... everyone makes choices and it's up to them to make them - maybe those using tumble dryers never fly or drive.

backwardpossom · 19/11/2010 22:35

I've not got one - I have a Dry Buddy thing instead. It's JML (don't flame me - my mother gave me it) and it's actually rather brilliant.

Sidge · 19/11/2010 22:42

I wouldn't be without my tumbler.

Anything that makes life easier is a bonus IMO.

With 5 of us in the house, 4 who wear uniforms that need regular laundering, and an incontinent DD2 who needs her bedding changed about 4 nights of the week, my house would be constantly draped in wet laundry and we'd have no clothes if I didn't tumble stuff.

Of course I use the line when I can but even in the South the weather is not reliable for drying washing outside. I don't think we've had a rain-free day for weeks now.

ChippingIn · 19/11/2010 22:43

Lil - Fib came on here asking Doesn't anyone consider the ecological impact of having a tumble drier?

When others had clearly commented on it. Such a holier than thou attitude gets my hackles up.

They are probably the most energy hungry appliance in the house (apart from the oven, but I'm not suggesting you live without that)

No shit sherlock - I doubt there is a person on this thread that doesn't know that and no-one needs her permission to live with or without anything.

and But of course you don't 'need' a tumble drier. And as plenty of posters on here have said it is perfectly easy to manage without one

She is not living anyone elses life - she doesn't know if it's perfectly easy for people to live without it or not and in fact many posters on here have given very good reasons for needing/using a dryer.

The rest of you who think you do, have you ever stopped to think about the legacy you are leaving behind for your dc for the sake of a little extra convenience and fluffier towels?

So patronising and 'think of the childen'

Until someone lives a life that is completely green they have no right to tell other people what they should and shouldn't do.

Please explain how my question to Fib is passive agressive?

Who says I don't conserve energy for our children?? What do you know about my life?

Oh and assumptions just make you look very stupid - I don't own a tumble dryer (as stated in one of my previous comments).

Fibonacci · 19/11/2010 22:45

"maybe those using tumble dryers never fly or drive."

maybe ...

I do what I can. I'm pretty sure my carbon footprint is a lot lower than average. But I can't realistically manage without a car as I live in a very rural area with only a patchy bus service. And I'd love to give up flying completely, but DH's elderly parents live abroad and aren't strong enough to travel so we do go and see them once a year.

Fibonacci · 19/11/2010 22:47

Sorry i did not mean to upset anyone I just wanted to introduce another angle to the debate.

Sidge · 19/11/2010 22:48

I'm afraid concern for my carbon footprint comes below concern for my daughter to have clean clothes and bedding daily.

Fibonacci · 19/11/2010 22:51

really? you wash your daughter's bedding every day? I wash my dc bedding once a week and no ill effects so far. they do have clean underwear every day.