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?

MrsMcAvoy I'm so glad its not only me that cannot bear the smell of 'fresh air'. And my husband cannot stand 'crispy underwear and socks' which is what happens when they are hung out to dry. So it's the tumbler all the way for me too...

28 towels WTAF?

Lord knows I luffs a bit of laundry, and have a recognised penchant obsession for having everything clean and fresh.

But 28 towels a week

I only own 6/7 towels there are 7/8 of us in do average of 3 washes every other day. I mix the colours.

You know how to live life on the edge don't you ghost

So Ghost, you just either admitted that either towels are reused in your house, or people don't shower every day. Which is it? Don't you know how normal disgusting that is? And you mix the colours

But is there some sort of towel lottery? The last person to have a shower doesn't get a towel? I hope they notice before they are ready to step out dripping wet.

I had a boyfriend years ago who owned 1 towel and 1 tea towel. He made me use the tea towel. It didn't last, but when I dumped him I left my towel, so at least he owns two now.

I often don't use a towel. I like to have a scorching hot bath and then air dry in cool air...

We share towels 1 towel between 7. So then the towels last the week

Doesn't the 1 towel end up drenched? Still better than my family where we ended up with 5 towels for 3 people .

My drier is going right now as I've done 3 loads of washing today 😊
I did hang a load out and it partially dried but heavier materials don't dry well this time of year. When I didn't have so much washing I never used the drier, just hung inside/outside but now with 3 adult and 1 child clothes to do there's quite a lot of washing so it's difficult to get it all dry unless I use the drier as well. I do try to keep it's use to a minimum and we do have solar panels so at least we generate our own electricity as well.

Use a squeegee to pre-dry yourself, then you can share a single guest towel. Squeegee can go in the dishwasher, too, so OP won't have to worry about the dryer costs.

We keep a live pig in the bathroom that we all share. A quick rub against the warm bristles gets us dry in no time.
I usually do two machine loads a year.

I hope it's an organic pig.

But I don't get what the problem is with using just a clothes rack and radiators. 2 adults and a toddler here, we do between 1 and 3 loads a day, depending on weather. If it's summer, 2+ lots of washing will dry in a day, if it's winter some clothes will dry in 1 day, some you need to leave til the next day (jeans etc). So this means some clothes/towels etc might be out of action as they're drying, or sitting in the dirty pile waiting for drying space to free up, but we have other clothes/bedding etc so what's the big deal?

The amount of times I've wanted to wear a specific thing and it's been dirty or so wet I can't iron it dry is so rare, it's not worth buying an entire appliance for. I guess if everything that was dirtied one day we expected clean and dry back in the cupboard the next, we'd need a dryer?

We use the washer and tumble dryer when the solar panels are active (except in the darkest 3 months when they don't generate enough power on dull days), so the majority of power for laundry is carbon neutral whether I line dry or not.

I'll use the washing line selectively, either for the UV for stain removal or freshening things like cloths or fitness wear, or for pacing out a backlog of drying picking out items that dry quickly, or to reduce the drying time on heavier items when they finish in the dryer.

I am astounded that anybody can get away with only doing one load of washing each week.
We have a large load washing machine and we have to use it most days. We do have three children though.
1-2 loads of bedding/ towels each week.
1 load of whites / light coloured clothes each week.
3-4 loads of darks / colours each week.
1 load of woollens and delicates each fortnight.
The machine is always full with the exception of the woollen load which will only be half full.
We recently bought a tumble dryer and I wouldn't be without it now.
We still use the line when possible but on dull, damp cold days (which we get lots of up north) nothing ever dries and I got sick of having damp washing hung all over the house and running he dehumidifier to prevent condensation issues and still not having enough time to get uniforms dry in time for school etc.

The problem with using a clothes rack and radiators is having to move clothes airers round to actually use our home, damp stuff on the radiator causing mould on the paintwork on the wall behind, hard crispy clothes and towels, creases instead of being able to fold straight away without need for ironing, and it being an unnecessary faff and pain in the arse

N0ne this worked ok for us until DC2 came along and we lost the use of the spare bedroom for drying space. Now airers can only really go in the main living area. It's a first world problem, sure, but if you have the option of not having to pick your way round an airer or two most days, it's nicer. Also we struggle for space to dry sheets indoors as we have no bannisters.

People say it causes mould etc too, though I have to say we haven't had any issues with that in our current house, apart from in the bathrooms (which we don't use for clothes drying)

nOne - there's no problem with it at all.

But we're a family of 6 with very little inside space for drying so our situation is a little different to yours!

But I don't get what the problem is with using just a clothes rack and radiators.

What if you haven't got radiators?

we keep a live pic in the bathroom

Oink oink. I like pigs, but I have never thought about getting one for the bathroom to dry the washing.

live pig Stupid auto-correct.

Old school here. Always out on line. If it rains, leave it. It will dry in the end and smell all the better for some sweet rain.

Yabu.

It may seem unreasonable to you, but my time is worth more than faffing about putting out/bringing in laundry. I also like to see my garden...

I use my tumble dryer 100% of the time - I've never once hung it outside (and don't want a clothesline up).

I live in a flat no garden so use my tumble dryer every single day and my bills aren't any more expensive than other people's and I gets the job done quicker.