Relative told my to get rid of my dryer.

[User573836483737]

probably the most pointless post today...

I get, dryers are expensive. I'm not denying that and many people are trying to save energy, if you can do without a dryer - excellent, I wish I could use mine less. Mine is a relatively new and should be a more energy efficient model compared to older models . Not sure how much it's costing exactly though. I line dry as much as I can. Getting a smart meter in soon so be interesting to see.

Relative is generally hot on not using much energy anyway, even before all this energy crisis. For years they've not turned on heating or used a dryer (despite owning one). Over the years she's come over when it's tipping down with rain and told me to turn the dryer off and put the washing out on the line - in the rain. Or on another occasion she came over when I was recovering from major surgery and told me to stop being lazy and put my washing out on the line despite that I wasn't meant to do be doing much, it was easier to shove everything in the dryer.

now she's telling me I won't be able to afford it this winter and get rid - if only. She seems to hate on dryers.

for me a tumble dryer is a life line, due to the lovely weather we've had I've not been using it much but come winter I will be for sure.

I have two kids, they are both disabled and create a lot of laundry. drying everything indoors on airers is not feasible, for one the amount of laundry I have to do each day (full load at least every day) and we don't have a lot of room and already have a damp problem. Our heating system is on the blink - need a boiler so it would be impossible to dry and would remain damp and smell.

I don't put everything in the dryer. Many things aren't suitable or I don't want to shrink so I use an airer for quite a lot of it, just not all. It's ideal for pants, socks, PJS etc. things like school shirts etc I air dry!! Jeans I usually put on airer for a day or so then finish off in the dryer!

I get the whole 'well we coped without years ago'

but yes anyone else rely heavily on a dryer? And would find it impossible not to use one? Even in an energy crisis??

it's probably the worse thing that could go wrong in my house. Last year my old one went wrong on the coldest days of the year and no dryer for a few days was hell, nothing was drying. It's up there with the machine going wrong!

and yes I must be boring to post about tumble dryers 😅

Even when it's soaked in stale drool, smeared with food or delicately infused with eau de piss?

You can work out the cost per hour by the wottage it draws

Sorry, but this made me laugh!

Not in the whole country. We had rain until mid afternoon, yesterday, despite the forecast suggesting a fine day. I got some light bedding out on the line but had already given up and tumble dried the heavier stuff by that point.

We have a tumble dryer that we use every week just about.
When I was young people used dryers in laundrettes, or dried clothes over the stove on a ceiling dryer, or used a mangle to squeeze out most of the moisture. And every house had an airing cupboard to get rid of the last of the dampness.

Next time she brings it up, look at her quizzically/with concern and ask if she's okay? Say that her obsession with your dryer is very strange and is everything alright in her life given that she seems so focused on how you dry your washing.

This really is so bizarre. I couldn't tell if anyone I know even has a dryer, as I generally don't tend to go into their laundry rooms, let alone have an opinion on it.

If you do your drying the other way around you might find it better. I put clothes in for 20 minutes then get it out piping hot, streach and hang it at our side window in the hall with the window open a crack. You can even tumble things that shouldn't be tumbled that way.

I must admit I put my washing out even in January if its a dry day. However when it's close to freezing it doesn't dry even a fraction.

I think some people really honestly can not fathom that everyone has their own personal situation. Covid brought this home for me. People ranting on FB that someone bought to packs of mince and took a picture posting it calling the shopper a panic buyer. No consideration that the shopper might have a bigger family the their own, no consideration that the shopper might only leave the house for one shop a month etc.

It's the "I only eat a small.loaf once a week, you can survive on that too!" When you've got completely different set ups. Weird mentality. Like my mum.always telling me I must be rolling in money with more money than sence because I buy the occasional cup of tea out. I'm not rolling in it. But if spending max £2,60 a week for sit down in Nice cafe makes me a idiot, then so be it.

We use ours a fair bit - probably 30% of the loads go in it all year round.

We have a lot of laundry that needs a quick turnaround. I dry a lot outside but we cannot dry anything inside (small thatched cottage with no room for an airer anywhere), so bedding, towels and the toddlers endless clothes from nursery and accidents go in the dryer. In a long wet spell it will all go in, or if I need it dry same day when working in the office.

Adult clothes are less urgent and usually do go outside (WFH helps), but DD’s often can’t (she used 5 sets of clothes and a coat in a day at nursery yesterday, it’s never ending). She has a lot of clothes but even then I can’t manage without doing 2 full loads of her clothes a week minimum.

Just tell her to mind her own business OP, I’d have to put it on as soon as she arrived out of spite. It is entirely your call as to how you run your household and what you prioritise.

"I get the whole 'well we coped without years ago'. "
Anyone who comes out with that is clearly unaware of what was involved in laundry 'years ago'. Monday was Wash Day - because it took ALL damned day. And it didn't take place in your house, it happened in public washhouses like the picture I've attached. The woman on the left is laying her laundry on a drying rack - once full, the rack would have been pushed back in flush with the others, where warm air circulated. No tumbling (so everything dried hard), just a dryer the size of a very large room. I very much doubt your relative would like a return to that!

Washhouses were superseded by launderettes (which had HUGE tumble dryers!), so if your relative is pulling the 'we coped' line - not without some form of electric (or gas, or coal) dryer for the past century.

It rains far too often to be able to dependably line dry everything, and encouraging damp in your house when you've got a better solution available - a tumble drier - would be madness.

If your drier is a recent model, they can be surprisingly thrifty. I bought a power monitor, which can be used to tell you how much an individual appliance is using, and I'm frankly gobsmacked by how little it's using.

0.5 kWh for a synthetics load
1.3 kWh for a cottons load
1.8 kWh for a towels load

I also have a smart meter, so was able to check these against overall usage for accuracy. The monitor cost me £12 (eBay), worth every penny to me.

I don’t understand people using dryers. I have 4 kids and never needed a dryer. I hang them outside or on a maiden or banister or in the airing cupboard

@Musti lots of modern houses do not have an airing cupboard

I've got three kids, plus me and dp. Two of mine are in nappies - washable ones. One has urinary incontinence at ten. Loads of washing. Two loads minimum a day, plus swimming kits from 8 swim sessions a week and football kits twice a week from two of them. Various other sports gear from the children too.
No tumble dryer, no central heating, no damp, no mould, no stinky clothes.

It can be done.

Sorry.
It's bloody hard work though.

There’s not much to understand. People want their wet things to be dry and choose an alternative way to you. That’s all there is to it really.

I do understand that if your living circumstances makes it easier for you to have a dryer then fair enough. But where I live, most of my friends use them and in my experience they are unnecessary. They have airing cupboards and space to put maidens and central heating and outside space. We have had hot and mild weather for months. People are washing clothes that are clean and using dryers. Polluting with detergent and misusing power. Whilst the world is literally burning and choking. That’s what I think.

I have ADHD. Housework (and everything really) needs to be as simple as possible with as few steps as possible. Getting a dryer was a revelation! So so much easier for me to stay on top of the washing.

I still sometimes leave stuff in the washer too long and have to rewash but I no longer can't get stuff out on the line (too much of a task to get it going) or forget to bring it in for days and end up washing the same load multiple times. I also haven't got reams of washing drying all over the house that never gets put away.

I did use a heated airer for a bit but kept forgetting it was on and leaving it on for days. Plus it still creates too many steps in the process of getting the washing done.

I'd rather cut back on heating than my dryer.

We have no airing cupboard and live in a bungalow so no banisters. Outside in winter won’t dry them. So for us, a dryer is a must.

Before getting the dryer, I used to hang the clothes and sheets on radiators all over the house and blast the radiators as high as possible. Not only does this make the house constantly look awful and feel stressful, with a reminder of your laundry tasks in every room so I could never relax. Plus towels sometimes took 3 days to dry. I’m not sure it was cheaper than a dryer given how much more we put on the heating when we needed to do this.

"Dear Relative, stop telling me what to do. Luv User57.. "

"Dear Relative, yes you've said that before .. we all know your views about dryers as you repeat them so often even when we've heard your views before and disagree. It's not really a conversation I'm interested in having over and over.. so can we talk about something else please "

She is pushy. Tell her you will decide how to run your own household, thank-you very much. You could also tell her excitedly that you will be washing and drying all the clothes for some charity shop, (just invent one!)

In case it’s helpful re energy, we put our clothes out to dry then tumble dry last before leaving them in piles putting them away.

"Thanks for the advice. I'll keep it in mind."

Rinse and repeat. Ignore.

Definitely. We don't have an airing cupboard here!

I only ever use my dryer for sheets and towels. No way am I having them hanging around the house to dry when it gets too cold/wet to hang them out. It'll probably get used twice a week, 2 hours max.

Course I care about the environment. I have hardly used my dryer the last couple months as it's been dry and sunny here. I was talking about the rainy days and winter.

I wish I could cut down on my laundry, but as in op I have two disabled dc, they create a lot of washing and my daughter has severe allergies and bedding needs to be changed a lot. It's really not that simple but I wish I was. As well as the usual school uniform (needs washing every day as they get dirty quickly), Dp's work clothes need washing every day too I don't usually put uniform or his work clothes in the dryer though.

Just smile and ignore or say " NO" pointedly!