to think we actually do need a tumble drier?

[RevoltingPeasant]

I hate tumble driers on principle because they use a lot of juice and I actually like line dried clothes better. I have always dried clothes outside in the summer and inside on airers in the winter (keeping the house ventilated) and never had a problem.

However our current house - a newbuild and pretty well insulated, judging by the gas bills - has got pretty horridly mouldy over the winter with us drying clothes inside. We are renting and I have paid for it to be cleaned, so there is no issue with the house being damaged now. But I think if we stay here we need a tumble drier.

DP says I am being silly and drying inside is fine. Are tumble driers actually necessities? totally aware this is first world problem

I had the same issue. I bought I dehumidifier rather than a tumble dryer. Cheaper to run & cheaper to buy.

And did it work?

I live in a New build too and dry washing indoors. I've found you need to have the heating on a lot to dry washing even though the house isn't cold. Kind of defeats the point of not having a tumble really! If we had room then i would get one as it redhead the heating usage

I was of the same mindset as you, hating the fact the used loads of electricity etc. However my mind was changed when dd2 vomited all over her bedsheets and the spares in 1 night and it was pouring down so couldn't get them dry. My nice neighbour offered to tumble them and they were back with me within an hour nice and dry and really soft. I ordered one the same week :)

God, just make like a little easier for yourself and get one.

I love line dried stuff... who doesn't?

BUT on a day like today - keeps pissing it down, I have had my drier on 3 times with bed sheets, towels and a load of clothes that can be tumble dried. All put away now. Job done.

I wouldn't be without a tumble dryer. I'm in a new build which is very well insulated and is terraced, so I hardly have the heating on. I think using my dryer is more economical for when I can't put the washing out. And it makes towels lovely and soft!

I was anti tumble for years and always dried on an airer in the spare bedroom when we had an au-pair to schlepp it up two floors and bring it back down again and muck about with it. In the context of convenience and my time (work full time) as much as possible goes into the tumbler now. It's softer, it's less creased and you can time it perfectly for ease of ironing.

do you have a launderette nearby that you could use when its too damp to line dry?

I hate hanging washing out so I never do.
I wouldn't be without my tumble dryer. Best modern appliance EVER.

I find that i can get through the washing quicker. On days where you cannot put it outside (so rather a lot lately) using the drier means that I can do sheets (and put them in drier), towels (ditto) and clothes (which i split - some on racks, and stuff that is ok to put in drier i do so). Otherwise you are waiting days for them to dry on racks and it piles up...

I love my drier. i try to minimise use where I can but it is such a saviour!

We got a dehumidifier 3 months ago. Put washing out in our bedroom in the morning, shut the door and it's dry by bed time if not earlier

This is the one we got

www.johnlewis.com/Shopping/Product.aspx?Type=SKU&Id=231302234

Can use the water collected for ironing, plants etc

Yes Dehumidifier works fantastically well. Clothes dry more quickly than without it too.
I still line dry whenever possible and am lucky that in dodgy weather I have a conservatory I can use for the airers.

Yes Tumble drier is the easier option, there is no real debate about that but the dehumidifier option is cheaper and much easier on the clothes.

We have no room for one but I really want one as with a young DC washing just builds up in bad weather. DH insists we don't need one and that airers are fine but he doesn't have to process it all and find clean pants/socks/school tops/whatever in the morning.

We hang the wet clothes on hangers onto a rail like this, cuts out on ironing and hanging clothes twice. With dehumidifier its a doddle

www.johnlewis.com/164349/Product.aspx

Dehumidifier is the way to go. Cuts drying time indoors, does not cost as much as a tumble drier and does not shrink the clothes like a tumble drier.

We have one but rarely use it. It's probably used more in the summer when theres no heating on inside and things take ages to dry on an airer.

If there's a heater on I can get load dry on the airer in a day, I move it so it's near the heater overnight (storage heaters so never 'off').

We're in a draughty terrace, never had the mould issue but it seems like a dehumidifier is the way to go.

We bought this one which I think is a smaller version of Hebiegebies. It was about £120 and I got it with Tesco vouchers when you could double their value for small electricals. Even at full price however it was a good buy.

Gosh, that had never struck me about needing a tumble dryer in a new-build.

I was going to say that I am like you about hating them and we got one and we barely ever use it.

But actually, even though we rarely use it, the times when we do use it I am very glad of it.

I rarely use my dryer to dry clothes straight out of the machine. Do you want to avoid drying clothes indoors at all? Reason I ask is if I put the washing on the airier in the evening, in the morning they only need 20 to 30 minutes in the dryer.

I do an underwear wash and put that straight in the dryer with a couple of dry towels to speed it up.

Get one, you won't regret it!

So is a dehumidifier more energy consuming than a drier or less??

By the time you have dried indoors got condensation around then got rid of that with the dehumidifier you may as well have had a drier and not had knickers hanging about all over the house while you did it!

It is important houses are all draughty to save wasting heat etc but it does mean humid air can't escape. until you get controlled ventilation with heat recovery system you need to keep the moisture in the air down or you'll get condensation and that can lead to all sorts of problems including health ones. Mould spores aren't good.

I have recently got my first drier and it has transformed my life! My house no longer resembles a laundry and I can stop mopping up.

until the british house building industry can design in proper utility facilities like they have in Europe I will do what it takes. I think it is ridiculous that houses were and still are being built that take no account of the act that residents will be washing clothes.

NOT all draughty!

Tumble driers are wonderful. OK, they consume alot of electricity, but as a result:

-I have only one set of bedding for each bed (saves having loads of stored linen - space, cost, maunfacture etc)
-The kids and I have very few clothes because anything dirty can be washed and dried in much less than 2 hours.
-Washing is not a task, it's a quick load of the washer and a quick transfer to the drier.
-I don't iron anything, ever. With the exception of hama beads

Also very good if anyone in the family has pollen problems.

My DS really suffers badly with hayfever/pollen. His clothes, bedclothes and towels etc always are either dried indoors or in the tumbledryer in the summer. It makes a big difference.

I try to use the tumble dryer as little as possible in summer but couldnt be without it in winter.