To hate my heat pump tumble drier? *title edited by MNHQ at OP's request*

[MarkRuffaloCrumble]

After reading on here how amazing they are, I sold my trusty old £20 Facebook marketplace tumble dryer and bought a fancy £400 condenser one, as YOU LOT convinced me it would change my life!

I took the airer to the tip, as apparently you can tumble anything in this bad boy and it won’t shrink or ruin it, so no need for washing hung all over the kitchen.

Well several shrunk t shirts and many creased loads of sheets later I’m thoroughly pissed off with it and would happily swap it for my old £20 one. I could have cried when I got my new white hotel style bed linen out to put on the bed tonight and it looks like a screwed up tissue . I HATE ironing even more than having washing hung up all over the place - this thing was supposed to make my life easier, not make me hours of extra work by having to iron it all.

What am I doing wrong?

We have a bottom of the range Beko condenser dryer and haven't had any problems.

Our stuff comes out dry and unless you leave it sit for hours pretty crease free. We don't have excess moisture in the air from it at all. Now feeling pretty lucky with our dryer from these stories!

Could it be to do with the size of the room?

Where we lived previously the condenser tumble dryer (Bosch) was in a small utility room and we had to open the window when we used it.

Then we moved (not because of the tumble dryer) and it is now in the garage and it's fine.

@MarkRuffaloCrumble “venting” a heat pump dryer isn’t like a “vented” tumble dryer, all it does is the water instead of collecting in its container is directed down into your waste pipe. I’ve done it and it made not one iota of difference to its mechanical action which I’m sure is where the problem lies.

Honestly I could have cried when I took the first load out of my (ridiculously expensive) Samsung. And smaller loads, different settings, make no real improvement.

It’s such a shame you can’t try them before buying.

Think I used the wrong term - heat pump is what I meant!! Yes, everyone said heat pump was the answer so that’s actually what o bought, sorry

That changes things OP!!
My friend had a heat pump dryer for under a year and hated it!
Vented or condenser might not be as eco friendly but they work really well.

Best investment I EVER made was to join WHICH and buy everything I can based on their (often cheapest) best buys. The first years sub paid for itself when I replaced a set of phones with handsets for the cheapest Best Buy.

I love my condenser dryer (Blomberg ) have had it about 6yrs and it replaced one I had for about 12. You MUST keep ALL the filters Clean on a condenser for it to work efficiently.

TheOnlyKoiInAPondOfGoldfish

Are they impartial nowadays or are they acting as promoters? (I’m sceptical but don’t know if I’m right to be).

Alot of people seem to use tumble dryers on here. I only use it when in a rush for something or heavy duvet covers. Not very often. Through winter I have a drying rack right by a large radiator. Things dry pretty quickly on it and no extra energy required.

OH ... heat pump dryer! (don't actually know what that is!)

I was reading the thread very 'cos my condenser dryer is fine. I have it on the 'cupboard dry' setting all the time and it's fine. I love it. I don't put jumpers or denim in it. Or tights or bras (but that's because they are delicate).

To be fair I will admit, I loved my old vented TD for speed but I do think the way heat pump ones are cooler is kinder on clothes, not to mention using far less energy. My heat pump one is a Bosch and it's good.

Re the shrinky pants and leggings - I'm too impatient to use the coldest setting that works best for them as it takes so so long so I tend to just stick pants on radiators.

I’ve got a Siemens one that I’ve had for around 10 years. I don’t have any of these problems. Nothing shrinks, clothes come out not creased.

Time taken depends on the weight of the clothes. A standard drying cycle is just over two hours but the time is much reduced automatically for a light load.

Mine shrinks jeans & hoodies!

@Rollmopsrule

Alot of people seem to use tumble dryers on here. I only use it when in a rush for something or heavy duvet covers. Not very often. Through winter I have a drying rack right by a large radiator. Things dry pretty quickly on it and no extra energy required.

If you don't have a garden or space for airers in front of radiators or accessible radiators full stop then a tumble is the most realistic way for anyone with a family to keep on top of their washing during the cold weather.

@BettysButtons

TheOnlyKoiInAPondOfGoldfish

Are they impartial nowadays or are they acting as promoters? (I’m sceptical but don’t know if I’m right to be).

They've always been impartial - they do link to suppliers so I expect there's a payback for clicks - but they link to all suppliers and show the current cheapest.

I've not had a problem with anything bought on their recommendation and the testing is very thorough - you can get test reports for each item.

I love our condenser dryer. But you need not to overload it. For duvets etc, take them out while slightly damp, shake, smooth and fold into neat large square then hang to finish drying - no creases.

We have just replaced our old vented tumble drier with a Bosch 9kg heat pump one and so far I’m impressed with it. I was going to go for another vented but hardly anyone sells them anymore and the heat pump one is supposed to be much more energy efficient. So far the new one dries really well and the clothes feel nice when they come out of it and are not all creased. Only problem we had was with bedding as there is no reverse action on the new one and so sheets do tangle into a ball. I stopped the machine and did the quilt covers and bottom sheet separately and that seemed to solve the problem.

TheOnlyKoiInAPondOfGoldfish
Thank you!

Everything shrinks in my condenser drier, I friggen hate it. But I hate manually drying clothes even more so persevere with it and dream of having a kitchen where I can have a big airy tumble drier that’ll never again shrink my clothes.

We replaced a Bosch condenser drier with a Beko heat pump one about 6 months ago and I've been really pleased with it. No damp clothes or creases, but you have to ensure it's not overloaded or it will tend to roll larger items like sheets into a ball. It was a Which recommended one.

Ours is a AEG heat pump -8kg.

[quote Molecule]@MarkRuffaloCrumble “venting” a heat pump dryer isn’t like a “vented” tumble dryer, all it does is the water instead of collecting in its container is directed down into your waste pipe. I’ve done it and it made not one iota of difference to its mechanical action which I’m sure is where the problem lies.

Honestly I could have cried when I took the first load out of my (ridiculously expensive) Samsung. And smaller loads, different settings, make no real improvement.

It’s such a shame you can’t try them before buying.[/quote]
Thanks - won’t waste any more money on a plumber to sort that bit then! Honestly I thought I was being stupid yesterday but I actually felt tearful when I took out my lovely new bedding!

I put things in my dryer for ten minutes or so, they are then drying and warm and if I put them on a hanger they dry quickly and don't need ironing. I can't just walk away and leave it so do it while I'm in the kitchen. Very rarely iron anything.

Op I feel your pain by a million! We got a condenser dryer at the end of last year and basically unless you're drying something you're sure won't shrink etc, you're screwed. Is an indesit. My mil got a condenser and it works fine but I'm gutted you can't just put it to a time and dry like we used to, there's times for cotton, synthetics, jeans, wool etc. I went in to talk to the guy in the shop and he said they put everything on cotton and sometimes switches it on for a second time (???) As condensers generally don't really dry. Could have told me that before I bought it!!!

@Tragicroundabout

We replaced a Bosch condenser drier with a Beko heat pump one about 6 months ago and I've been really pleased with it. No damp clothes or creases, but you have to ensure it's not overloaded or it will tend to roll larger items like sheets into a ball. It was a Which recommended one.

Maybe I’ll try smaller loads then. To be fair it was only a duvet cover, two sheets and some pillowcases - maybe the extra sheet was a step too far! But possibly telling that the old less posh sheet was nowhere near as wrinkled as my new higher thread count cotton ones.

Alot of people seem to use tumble dryers on here. I only use it when in a rush for something or heavy duvet covers. Not very often. Through winter I have a drying rack right by a large radiator. Things dry pretty quickly on it and no extra energy required.
We've 4 kids and live in the rainiest part of Ireland. We use clothes horses and radiators and dry on the line where possible but that wouldn't suffice to get 6 people's clothes ready (we don't have tons of clothes either so peoplewould be stuck)

High thread count cotton ones will crease more than old poly cotton sheets but feel so much nicer one the bed! Put the sheet in on its own next time and the quilt and pillow cases in another load and then it will be much less creased