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 have just done my last winter of drying cloth nappies indoors. I would have sold my soul for a tumble dryer but space wise it was tumbler or dishwasher and the dishwasher won (as I can't take my washing up to the laundrette)

You're not going to get line-dried clothes in the winter whether you have a tumbled dryer or not and the savings have to balanced with the cost of running the central heating higher and longer. A load that take half an hour in a tumble dryer will take overnight or longer hung out in your house.

Do what I did this year - get a casual evening job in a hotel with an unused-in-the-evening laundry

Nigel - I already have a casual evening job - it's calling marking

Yes we have had hail here, most notably when I was out on a 20-mile walk with no coat. That'll larn me.

The Lakeland thing looks good BUT doesn't it just condensify (?) the air thus also resulting in mould?

Um. Haven't noticed it being an issue in our flat... it is quite low heat so no noticeable steam or moisture. If it was an issue it might work well with a dehumidifier I guess. Try reading the reviews to see what people say?

It sounds like you need a dryer. If it's making the inside of the house mouldy that isn't going to be good for the house or you lot!! (I know you have had it cleaned, but the walls will still be damp and you don't want this year after year do you!). You have the room for a dryer, get one :)

I don't know how anyone could live without a tumble drier. Tumble drier saves time and space as well as keeping your home mould free, the sight of wet clothes hanging around the house is very messy and ugly looking.

Get a tumble dryer. Honestly they are fab. I have one that measures how dry the clothes are and stops when they are dry - that's got to be energy efficent no? I don't iron anything that goes in it and my towels are soo lovely and fluffy.

Startail- I think that you maybe leaving things in too long? If the clothes get uber dry they might get stubbon creases?

I don't line dry clothes as I don't have time and my garden is too open and constantly too windy. I use my drier every day and my electric bill is only £40 a month and I'm at home all day every day so don't think that's bad.

I have a tumble dryer, but only use it to dry towels. I find that tumble driers make clothes age quickly.
I have several airers and find that they are very effective.

Yes, the driers in another room and I don't hear it finish, so I do suspect things get baked.

My dryer displays how long it has to go,so I ask it to get my clothes mostly dry and it measures as it goes along so you know they will be done in say 20mins. I blimmin luff my dryer I do.

We never had a dryer for all the years we lived together even after DS was born and we managed fine. But then DD came along in snowy rubbish winter then I went back to work, it felt like we were inundated with washing si caved a got a dryer.

It was a revelation, I even started a thread about it!!!

Although I do agree drying affects the life of clothes especially cheaper stuff and I have had some shrinking incidents

The main difference is the speed in which you can do several loads of washing all done and put away in a day, brilliant.

We actually got a re-conditioned one for £100 and that lasted us 18 months so we have just got another one last month. Maybe not so economical in the long run but much easier for us to find £100 than £400, condensers are more expensive than vented.

And yy to fluffy towels

OOoo yes - I have shrunk a couple of items.

I only use my tumble dryer to finish off drying.

I tend to wash and do a additional spin. Then hang on a airer overnight then finish in the dryer for about 20mins.

I have a washer/dryer. Not really my first choice but space is limited. It does not get things as dry as a vented dryer and takes longer, but I do love the soft towels and sheets!

Fortunatly my airing cupboard is really warm with the hot water tank being in there so anything that I need, I hang up in there wand by the morning it is dry. Everything else gets hung up in the spare room.

Can't use it for sheets and towels, but I use the dry on my washer and it is all done by the time I get home from work. It is AA rated for the dry, so I am not too worried about the bills lol!

yanbu.

It was top of the list of things I needed when I was pregant for the first time.

And it's a lifesaver in the middle of the night when the dc's have a vomiting bug. TBH I prefer to line dry (as I refuse to iron), and happily dry things outside all winter / at night / in the rain. But if we need things quickly then into the tumble drier it goes.