Reluctance to use a tumble dryer is a British quirk

[User3735]

I've noticed that there is a lot of shame around using a tumble dryer, and even people who have one are reluctant to admit it, and make excuses why they have one and say they use it rarely. The claims of them being extortionate and terrible for the environment seem exaggerated to me whenever I look at the latest energy uses and cost. According to Which, the average tumble dryer costs around £150 per year to run (and less than £60 per year for a newer heat pump dryer). Yet people will buy expensive heated airers, rails and dehumidifiers to probably a similar value.

I have observed this tumble dryer reluctance from people from all financial backgrounds. The only pattern I have noticed is those who had one in their home growing up are more likely to use them, and those who didn't think they are to be avoided at all costs. I wonder if they did cost significantly more when they were new, and it is a misconception of running costs?

I have always had one, and when they have broken I have replaced asap. Our current dryer broke down this summer, and I put off replacing while the weather was better, but I now seem to have been influenced by the tumble dryer haters and I have a strange sense of satisfaction of powering on through winter without one. Whilst I get an utterly pointless sense of satisfaction that I am winning, the time spent shaking out, hanging and turning clothes takes up quite a ridiculous chunk of time compared to tumble drying and I am very time poor. Given our wet climate and issues with damp, I really can't understand why so many people are against them?

Why? Why do you feel superior because you dry clothes outside 😂

I have adhd, if I don’t use the dryer my clothes will sit out on the line for weeks. Better for everyone to have them washed and dried in 2 hours so I can put them away.

I built my utility room specifically so I could fit my tumble dryer in. I use mine every day, my favourite invention!

I have a John Lewis washer dryer. Have done for the last 15 years. I put dirty washing in, it comes out clean and dry. Why does everyone not do this? Why would you want wet washing that you have to then do something with, when you could have dry? Family of 6, electricity bill is £80 a month.

I wouldn’t manage without one in the winter. Large family, small house . I just hang up anything that can’t cope with being tumble dried. In the summer I line dry though as it can be quicker.

Ha there is nothing MN can’t get competitive about 😂

We don’t have one. Our heated airer in the loft room works for us. I don’t have any ideological objection. Though these fires sound a bit scary.

But what does amuse me on threads like this, whether it is about owning a tumble dryer, how often you shower, how often you wash your towels etc is how do you know what ‘everyone’ around you does?! Other than close family perhaps, I do not discuss this stuff with friends. I’m surprised how much everybody knows about the banal details of ‘everyone’ in their lives.

Believe it or not, some people actually enjoying going outside into the fresh air and hanging out their washing, and also prefer their washing to smell of fresh air. We are all different - I would hate to use a dryer all the time. Seeing a line full of clean washing in the breeze is good for the soul!

My father had a washer dryer in his apartment - he hated it.

I must admit line fresh is nice but I work full time so it is totally impractical. It’s a bit wet on the West coast too.

But what does amuse me on threads like this, whether it is about owning a tumble dryer, how often you shower, how often you wash your towels etc is how do you know what ‘everyone’ around you does?! Other than close family perhaps, I do not discuss this stuff with friends. I’m surprised how much everybody knows about the banal details of ‘everyone’ in their lives.

Well, I know my friends dry their washing outside as I see it on their lines when I visit, the same with my neighbours, and anyone whose clothes line I can see as I walk past their house. If I really cared I suppose I could police how often they washed their towels in the same way 😁

Pegging out takes longer. Sun fades fabric. I hate the feel of line dried fabric. A pp said she hates the feel of 'floppy' tumble dried clothes but to me that 'floppy' is just soft!

I suppose it is wasteful. It costs 35p per load for mine. I consider my time to be worth more. In terms of the environment it is not as good as line drying obviously but then I offset mine with lots of other behaviours that are good for the environment - don't own a car, vegetarian - so it feels like a reasonable choice.

We're now about to enter our 'tumble dryer' twilight zone 😂. We only use ours when we have our Xmas decorations up because we just don't have space for the giant airer when they're up. Other than this month I also have the weird aversion to using mine.

As a previous poster said, they shrink the majority of our clothes and for that reason I hate using mine. Even on a care setting I find most of the stuff shrinks. I can't believe that people would put expensive things in like school uniforms. I too looked into the cost of running them and it is a lot lower than people make out. Therefore I would use mine a lot more if it didn't shrink everything!

The one we had when we rented a flat definitely ruined clothes, so I wouldn't dry my clothes in one for that reason. All my black clothes faded and quite a few things shrunk. Maybe it was poor quality, I've no idea.

However, my main reason for not having one is lack of space. Our kitchen just doesn't have room and there isn't anywhere else to put it (no garage/utility/spare bedroom). We live in a small three bed so a fairly average British house, and I imagine lack of space applies to many people.

ETA: I do enjoy hanging washing out and I love the smell, but in the winter I don't get that anyway so would love a tumble drier. Definitely wouldn't be drying school uniform in it though! Thankfully I have a small airing cupboard which will get a couple of things dry overnight.

Must be nice to live somewhere with fresh air. Mine's full of fumes and plant jizz.

I only dry towels and flannels in mine

Mine is very a basic 2 setting vented one, I am dreading it breaking and having to get one with umpteen settings or even worse a heat pump one with umpteen setting's. I have it on hot for towels and sheets and some sturdy clothes and warm for everything else, always takes under a hour to dry, even with a load of towels.

I use mine pretty much every day- my house is prone to damp, I can’t hang entire washings up or I’d be bleaching the walls every week 🤢 I have a heat pump one and have noticed it’s cheaper than my old condenser dryer.

Those costs are based on one load a week so hardly realistic!

In the days before combi boilers, many people had an airing cupboard with the immersion cylinder in it. Great for drying clothes, offset by the fact that you had to wait for the water to heat up for baths/showers. When I got a combi boiler my mum said 'you will miss your airing cupboard' and she was right. I have got a heated towel rail in my airing cupboard now which isn't anything like as good.

During the hot summer I put out a large sheet, a kingsize duvet cover and 4 pillow cases on the whirlygig, by the time the last pillowcase was pegged up the sheet was dry!

Yea, that was me when I first got one - didn’t actually want to use it! Now couldn’t be without it although we do have to air dry a lot of our clothes too.

I know it's just ridiculous isn't it. During winter as well and it's chucked it down constantly for 3 months. Who'd a thought 😆

It's not the money. I want to live as sustainably as I can.

The only pattern I have noticed is those who had one in their home growing up are more likely to use them, and those who didn't think they are to be avoided at all costs

I really can’t imagine that every time you’ve had a tumble dryer conversation, you’ve then asked about the person’s childhood tumble dryer history 🤣

A Dsis has lived in the US for decades. According to her, hanging washing out to dry is seen across the pond as a sign of poverty or madness, or both.

We just didn’t buy a new one when ours broke. It was a condenser type and honestly just filled the house with warm yet moist air still. In this older house it would have riddled it with mould, that particular dryer.

Again in this house to fit a dryer it would be in an out building and due to fire risk and frankly I cnba to traipse though multiple doors and halls to get to it we have a non heated airer and dehumidifier. The dehumidifier costs around £1.20 a day and since we purchased it the heated hasn’t really come on either because it’s dried out the downstairs making it warmer so win win here.

If I had a fancy utility (one day) I’d get a dryer again for fluffy towels.

However, my main reason for not having one is lack of space. Our kitchen just doesn't have room and there isn't anywhere else to put it (no garage/utility/spare bedroom). We live in a small three bed so a fairly average British house, and I imagine lack of space applies to many people.

Yes it does to us! We have a utility room which is little more than a large walk in cupboard with a window and sink. We have the dishwasher and washing machine in there, and a wall mounted boiler so a tumble drier couldn’t go in that space, and on the other side of the sink there’s a tall broom cupboard which I wanted very badly. Would rather have somewhere to store the mops and bucket than a tumble drier. We are a two person household and do at most two or three washes per week.