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?

Same here. Certain things don't go in, but everything else goes in. We have a tiny backyard for outside drying and nothing dries outside now as it doesn't get blown about!

People talking about the lovely smell of line dried clothes must not live in the countryside where the smell is mostly fertiliser and wood burner

I generally put big stuff out in the summer like sheets, towels, jeans but tumble dry small stuff because I can't be bothered to hang it out, we are retired though so can get stuff in easily and have quite a bit of time for this

I love my tumble dryer. Makes towels fluffy. I couldn't be doing with airers all over the house, the humidity would be horrible and I think clothes smell musty. My clothes have never been ruined, I only tumble clothes that can be put in one and mine has a sensor which switches it off when clothes are dry.

However as soon as the sun is out spring time I do line dry as I love line dried clothes.

Your house, your preferences and your needs are presumably different to mine. I’m not demanding you stop using your tumble dryer, I simply stated why I don’t use one.

The heating is always on my house, that is sufficient to dry the washing. We don’t suffer with damp or condensation, probably because we have PIV units. I have little thermometer/hygrometers in a couple of rooms and they show that the humidity is within the healthy limits.

We don’t open windows to air the house. The PIV units draw in a constant trickle of fresh air, which means there is a constant trickle of air (and heat, and moisture) going out of the house as well. It continues at the same rate day and night regardless. It might as well take the water from the washing with it, as well as water from cooking, showering, breathing etc.

I take your point about some energy being needed to dry washing. Evaporation requires energy, that energy is coming from the air around the washing, so I guess that means the boiler needs to supply a bit more heat to maintain room temperature. But it’s doing that with gas, which is much cheaper per kWh than the electricity I would use to power a tumble dryer.

I know of more than one person whose house had a significant fire during to one.
They are bad for the fabrics in clothes, specifically elastic.

I was so glad when I moved back to Canada and could use my full size washing machine and drier with abandon! Ours is vented to the outside (as is everyone’s) and there are no damp issues. I do line dry sheets etc in the spring/ summer months and will hang up synthetics, bras, swimwear etc. I’m lucky to have a separate laundry room so it’s all contained.

In a rental flat there is usually communal washers and driers or you use a laundromat.

I had one of the condensing ones in the UK b/c I struggled to dry laundry in my dark, damp flat. It seemed to boil the clothes and I’m sure contributed to the damp. Plus all the crispy clothing on rads.

I run my vent in the garage with the door slightly open.In my previous house, the vent was pointing out of an open window.

I have a friend with a large American washing machine hot and cold water inlet. It's so fast wash wise. She's a seamstress who works with large volumes of fabric. I'm jealous

See our old dryer was meant to be a condenser and it did but the air around was very warm and moist/damp.

It always was from the first day we got it, we always cleaned the filters, had it serviced extended warranty was from John Lewis you know ticked all the adult boxes but it still made the house damp.

You can still buy vented dryers with a tube, those are at the very cheap end of the market. But more common now is condenser type dryers. Those use a very cool plate to condense the water from that warm damp air into a water tank, which then either drains into the mains or just collects in the tank to be emptied at the end of the cycle. They will pump out hot air which will be a bit damp, but it's not as humid as the air coming out of a vented dryer, and not as much moisture as is coming off the clothes as most of that goes down the drain/into the water tank.

Heat pump dryers are a newer kind of condenser which, in addition to this, recycle the hot air by pumping it back into the dryer which reduces the amount of heating that you need so reduces the amount of energy they use. They still condense water so you still have to plumb it in or empty a tank.

Vented dryers seem to cost about £200-300 whereas condensers are about £300-400 and heat pump ones are £400+ and like everything can cost silly money at the top end.

(Actually having looked at Curry's, it seems almost all dryers are now heat pump dryers. It's about 5% vented, 10% condenser, 85% heat pump.)

Those saying dryers shrink clothes must not be using them properly is all I can say.

Jumpers/nylon fabrics only need 5- 10 mins on low heat depending on thickness. Then taken out and put on a hanger. Obviously if you put them on a high heat and leave them to boil they’re going to shrink.

The only mishap I’ve ever had was with DCs school blazers when DH put them in the dryer with other clothes and left them on a high heat cycle!

I don’t find that they shrink anything else. Colours fade and fabric degrades from washing anyway.

Also handy for freshening and drying used towels between uses so they don’t have to washed so often. There are 6 of us, mostly shower am and pm and towels don’t dry well in the bathroom in winter. Can’t stand using musty still damp towels after a shower.

I am in the US. A home is not complete without a dryer. I hate ironing and steaming and having wet clothes hanging all over doesn't make me pleased.

From a short dive on the internet it seems that 3 in 5 homes in the uk have a tumble drier

It also seems that even fewer European homes have tumble driers making the quirk less that British people don't use tumble driers and more that Americans use them so much

I use mine a lot and have no shame in it. It's hard to dry stuff quick enough at the moment.

All my clothes go in it. I hate the feel of line dried clothes

Had one in my home growing up, but really hate and resent mine as it was “gifted” to me by my grandparents as a house warming gift. The close feel unpleasant when I wear them, everything comes out creased and it shrinks natural fibres. The only exception to this is towels. However when mine breaks/dies it won’t be replaced just to dry my towels. Not a fan.

I live in the south west, and if I didn't use my dryer I would have last worn dry clothes in about mid-September. The air is about 90% humid most days.

We use ours daily! A family of 5 and both of us work - I’ve no time to be bloody pegging washing out on the line twice a day and this time of year it never dries anyway 🤷🏼‍♀️

I use mine in winter without shame as I don’t want damp smelling clothes. I’d rather have the heating on less than do without a dryer. Garden gets no sun in winter so unless it’s breezy and dry nothing dries outside.
I have started wearing clothes longer without sticking in the wash though ( jeans etc) and everyone is restricted to one towel a week!

Same - it’s so damp all the time!

I have one and am not ashamed to say I use it frequently! We’ve just upgraded to a heat pump one and it’s got a huge capacity!

In summer I’ll line dry most things but I hate the way bedding and towels feel on the line so tumble dry those all year round.

In winter I find it impossible to air dry everything, as a family of 5 we have a lot of laundry. My airer fits one load and everything takes ages to dry when it’s full so I’d never get school uniforms done in time if I didn’t tumble dry. Certain things never get tumbled, I check labels carefully. Most of the kids stuff is fine in there.

I'm not British and I detest tumble dryers.

I can smell it when other people's clothes have been tumble-dried (if they get too close).

We had one growing up - I remember the rows about tumble drying jeans😂.

I have one and use it regularly though the winter. I couldn’t dry towels or bedsheets without it.

i do like hanging washing on the line in the summer - but the towels aren’t as soft.

I absolutely don’t understand this thing about line dried clothes. My parents used to bang on about it but they don’t smell any different to clothes dried indoors on a clothes horse?? But I do find the drier makes clothes smell of nothing. I don’t use mine because it’s awful, stops all the time and takes hours to dry things. I find combi washer dryers quite crap. But if I had a good tumble dryer I’d happily load it up and probably do washing more often