To think putting clothes in a dryer is a complete waste of money unless it's raining outside

[emmeline25]

I have a lot of laundry to do each week. I bought a large washing machine and dryer so that I could do one load of washing a week. I do my laundry every Friday morning.

Friday morning, as I was putting my laundry on the line, my new neighbour mentioned that it was only 10degrees celsius today. I explained that as long as it's not raining, my laundry goes out on the line. When I got back from work my clothes were completely dry. It was only 10 degrees but the wind had dried them.

If I know it's going to be raining on Friday I put the wash on, on a different day. If the forecast is for rain all week I use the dryer. The dryer has been used about 10 times in the two years I've lived in this house.

Even in very cold weather , clothes will dry. It doesn't have to be a hot sunny day for them to dry. Yet among my friends and neighbours the dryer is used weekly and clothes only put out in the summer. Some of my friends use the dry on very hot days!!!

I lived in a flat for two years and had no choice but to use a dryer then. I hated it and ended up putting a communal washing line in the grounds.

I find when I do use a dryer, even on the lowest setting it can shrink and damage clothes. Clothes definitely don't last as long as when line dried. Driers also cost money. Okay it's only 30p-50p per load but still, if you can line dry I just wouldn't bother. I also absolutely love the smell of line dried clothes. I have always been brought up with line drying though.

So, AIBU to think if it's not raining and you have a garden with space for a clothes line, putting clothes in the dryer is a waste of money?

You do washing your way, others do it their way. Live and let live.

Yeah cos I have time to faff about waiting for bed sheets to dry with two lots of work clothes and 2 lots of school u I forms waiting to go on to the line after....

I'd give up my oven before I have up my tumble dryer

How big is that washing machine that in one load you can do sheets, towels and clothes?

Ours are still damp unless it's sunny. We are quite sheltered so the wind can't pick up enough. So we use the dryer.

YABU. DH and I both work all week, coming home after dark at this time of year. I prefer not to spend the weekend ferrying laundry in and out of the garden (though we do dry some small items on an airer in the conservatory).

I use the drier 90% of the time unless it's boiling then I peg out. An A rated drier costs about 30p a load. I don't find anything shrinks but I have lots of specific cycles so maybe that's why.

I don't line dry clothes, only towels and bedding, and even then only occasionally when it's warm and I'm in the house all day. It comes from living in a bungalow when I was little with an open plan garden only bordered by rose bushes and underwear being line dried with someone coming into the garden and pinching mine, my sister's and my mum's underwear from the line. From this comes my fear of hanging washing out. If I had an enclosed garden it might be different, but not with the garden as it is now.

lots of things are a waste of money - I choose to waste mine tumble drying - even when it's sunny - bit me

YANBU.

I don't even have a dryer. I occasionally go to the laundromat if it's been raining for days and I have big things like sheets which won't fit on an indoor airer.

I hate dryers. They wreck clothes and chew electricity.

Tbf, I do live in Australia, though. Might struggle more on the British climate!

My washing machine is huge. And if you have a big enough washing line you can fit everything on it. Obviously, if people want to use a dryer that's fine. But I think it seems the norm now not to line dry. And I think that's a shame. Considering the benefits. The clothes keep so much better too.

Good for you

I like my drier

How big is that washing machine that in one load you can do sheets, towels and clothes?

I don't know how big my machine is but mine could wash a single sheet/ duvet/ pillow slips/2 or 3 towels and then I bump it up with clothes.

P.S. The reference to living in a bungalow comes from a winter in the early 80s when it was snowing very heavily overnight and there was a perfect set of footprints to all the bedroom windows at the back of the house. I've felt uneasy about open gardens since.

My garden is north facing and in the winter gets no sun all day. I don't find things dry properly - it is also quite sheltered with houses all round so not much wind.

Maybe it's because I enjoy washing and drying clothes. I love watching my clothes drying in the wind. That maybe a bit sad though. For me it's almost just as quick. Quickly put them on the line and quickly bring them in when they're dry. Doesn't even take 5 minutes.

It's a waste of time hanging out in my back garden between October and late February (sometimes March), so this is where the dryer comes in very useful. I use an airer in front of a radiator to dry most 'clothes', but I wouldn't like to be without my dryer for bedding, towels, socks, underwear, school shirts and pajamas!

Totally with you, big fat waste of space, money and electricity, they shrink clothes and you waste time checking the labels to see if you can tumble it. I think the cold weather is too cold to dry them if the air is damp so I just hang them up indoors, and they dry overnight.
This year on holiday I was staying in a house for 2 weeks with my DP's family, washer and drier provided, my MIL used the drier every day, I hated the way it pumped out hot air on already hot days, a rack was there but no line, just use a line.

If you enjoy it then do it but I really can't get worked up about how other people do their washing.

Well, it's an environmental thing as well.

I don't boil wash, either; I wash everything in cold, using Cold Power (powder designed for cold water).

I prefer the drier, less ironing. I always feel guilty about global warming. Surprised so many are as bad as me.

I never feel like my clothes are properly dry if I hang them out on the line. I always have to finish them off in the dryer.

For me, proper dry is a combination of air and warmth.

I wouldn't dry clothes indoors, you might as well throw a bucket of water up against your walls.

Just the one load of washing swilling about...pants, towels, sheets, tea towels and sweaty arm pits all mingling?

No, I could have written your post, Koala, and I live in Scotland! I'd only consider owning a drier if I lived in flat with no outside drying.