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?

I love my dryer, even in the summer is stuck the bed linen in.

I work all week and don't want to spend weekends doing laundry.

*I'd.

I have a 15kg washing machine. Trust me, one load is all you need. It's great! I've been putting clothes on the line for years. I'm really fast at it now. It's second nature really. i don't even think about it.

My family go through a lot of laundry. I don't really have much time for hanging laundry and removing it from the line. Tumble drying is convenient and frees me up to do other things, like playing with my children or dealing with errands, etc

Last time I mentioned that I use my dryer all the time I got slated and became the single cause of environmental issues.

But no, I don't feel it's a waste of money. It's how I CHOOSE to spend some of my money.

AIBU to think using a washing machine to wash your clothes is a complete waste of money unless your arms are broken? Why not wash your laundry by hand and save electricity? People, well, generally women actually, have washed laundry by hand for years, isn't it a shame that we now rely on a time-saving electronic appliance to do the hard work for us?

OP I assume you have a mangle too?

Hi OP, I do some washing on monday and others do it during the week when there's a full load.
We are very cost efficient in the drying too. Washing even goes out when it has been snowing.
I suppose some people use the dryer more because they work and are busy, but I like to be environmentally aware.
It costs too much to dry from wet anyway, our bills would really go up if I used the dryer too much.
It's good to have one to air the clothes when slightly damp though.

I don't have a tumble dryer and never have. We're in Scotland - not known for its tropical climate.

I don't have a set day for doing washing though - if it's dry I'll wash and if it's wet I won't. Washing is hanging outside right now - it's dry and sunny although not particularly warm and although I don't think the washing will be completely dry when I take it in, it will be dryer than it was when it went out and will smell nice and fresh too.

OH FFS we did this last week and it made the daily fail.

use it don't use it, don't judge others that do or don't.

I couldn't cope without my dryer. Our washing line goes right across the middle of our garden so if things are out on the line it cuts the garden in half if the kids want to play out. Plus, it's not very long so could only get about half a dozen items dry out there anyway. I also refuse to iron, and by whacking them in a dryer I avoid having to do that.

I live in Belfast. It rains all the time. I had 6 kids plus myself and my partner I worked full time leaving at 7.15 and returning at 6.30 by the time I had collected the youngest from the childminder.

There were cots and single beds to do many days plus ordinary beds which were doubles and gym kit uniforms and PE stuff plus casual clothes for all of us and work stuff (fresh uniform for me shirt tie and trousers for husband)

It could be dry in the morning
And passing in the afternoon.

It could rain every day for weeks

It is impossible to dry washing for 8 indoors without dampening the house.

Please tell me how I should have done it as I really can't see how.

Our landlady does want clothes lines outside the house. because she's a fucking snob She feels it lowers the tone of the neighbourhood. Seriously.
During the summer I sometimes put a couple of clothes horses outside and peg the clothes to it just to piss off landlady as I love the smell of the clothes after. I mostly dry clothes on clothes horses/banister indoors. If I'm in a hurry for something I'll tumble dry but I try to avoid using it because it's not necessary really to use one.
When I had a clothes line and no tumble dryer I used to still hang things out in the winter. Mostly larger items like towels and sheets. It still dried, just took longer.

I read that it costs about 60p to dry a load
It's hardly worth worrying about really, is it?

I always use a dryer + hate the sight of laundry in the garden + it's a massive waste of time. I've got a good quality dryer and it's been great, including drying silk and wool. I'm worried about putting cashmere in it but I dry it inside.

I don't know where you get this idea that clothes will dry in any weather except rain. That just isn't true, at least for where I live.

Clothes have come in wetter than when they've gone out on some winter days where the humidity is off the scale. My extremely energy efficient tumble dryer is my most prized possession after living with that shit for two years.

Love my washer dryer, I live in a small flat so no outside space and little room to hang stuff up.

I use my dryer as little as I can to save money but it's so handy when I'm a bit short on time.

I have outside drying space yet I still choose to use my tumble dryer, even on sunny days. I like to get my laundry done and put away as quickly as I can.

There is 7 of us. There is a lot of washing to do.

No way are we going to keep hanging washing out and bringing it in again. My tumble is super quick, straight to the washing machine and into the drier.

Sometimes I'm still doing a load late at night. I don't want it to hang around in the washing machine until the morning, and I'm not going to go outside and hang it out before going to bed.

As long as I am not a landlord, I don't really care how other people manage their home and their laundry. I wouldn't put clothes on radiators or on a heated airer, especially in this country, but if people are happy to live in a damp and mouldy environment, up to them.

I do a couple of load of laundry a day, it would take forever to use a dryer, I always put everything on the line unless it's raining. I don't know when people manage to use washing machine, then dryer, then folding clothes before or after going to work, but up to them.

We don't even have a drier, but the choice is not tumble vs line dry. I don't line dry either, I hate it, it makes the job much bigger.

We dry on airers in the spare bedroom (if we have people staying we put in on the landing or in the bathroom) and most stuff dries overnight/within a day.

Three of us and we probably do three loads a week. No room for a monster wm that takes everything at once. And I only do towels every month or so and bedlinen every few weeks, if I can be bothered.

And I've never ironed since we moved here over three years ago. OH irons his shirts and stuff. Dss school uniform doesn't get ironed either.

And, no, the house is neither mouldy nor damp.

Not that simple. I know very old people who have to use their tumble drier because they havent got the energy to get it outside and in again, also to watch in case it rains, I know a disabled lady who is blind who needs her tumble drier because she cannot cope with putting it outside, and another one who lives on fourteenth floor of flats.

Hate towels line dried, love them soft and fluffy out the dryer.

Takes ages to peg 7kg of toddler clothes, less than a minute to transfer from washer to dryer.

Hate ironing, fold when warm out of the dryer and no ironing.

Hate moisture going into the house from airer/radiator drying so use dryer.

Good for you and your washing line but I'm never giving up my dryer!

If it's damp and dank in November with no wind then pointless line drying but on a bright windy day on a line (have rotary one too) it does dry then may finish off in dryer or on airer in utility room.

But 15kg is the equivalent of 2 "normal" washloads. That really isn't LOADS of washing is it?

I don't believe you get jeans and towels to dry in the middle of winter hanging out for a few hours.