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?

I live in the Midlands and it's been the same level of humidity up here since July (between 80/90%).
This is unusual for us as it normally tends to be dryer, but not this year.
I would have been stuffed without a tumble dryer this year 😔

Id love to have one. I’ve a washer-dryer combo. It’s awful but all we have space for. I not tumble dry underwear (after doing all the washes it goes in on one dry load at the end) and towels (can’t stand them crispy off the line). Everything else gets hung on the line in summer or the radiators in the wetter colder weather. I’ve had a few kids things ruined in the dryer though - mainly viynal printed T-shirts that melt!! Stopped buying those though. I did find some stuff does shrink though.

I own one, always have.
most things go in there, couldn’t manage without it in the winter and this crap summer we’ve had.

i do hang delicate stuff on the horse, and stuff gets line dried in the summer when it’s dry.

i love line dried towels, crisper the better lol

I use mine, even in the summer. runs and hides

Emergency and fluffing up towels only when dry already without the tumble dryer 🤩 cost too much and knock guts out of clothes

Us too! We even had the washing line and posts removed from the garden when we moved in as I didn’t approve of the aesthetic 😬

I don’t use one because when I was a teenager, my friend’s house burnt down due a faulty tumble dryer. They lost everything. I will never own one for that reason. I cope perfectly well with a dehumidifier and always have!

I think this is true. My Dad lived in the US for about 20 years. The first house we lived in had a laundry room in the basement - you had to go down some fairly steep stairs and through several rooms to get to it.

His last house (my parents split up and we moved back to the UK so I didn’t see all his houses) had a residents’ association. Under no circumstances was any washing to ever be hung outside (even though he had a really tiny yard with a massive wall (townhouse) and it was about the only thing it was good for. He ended up sending a load of his stuff to the Korean dry cleaner / laundry.

I think in the US it is really important that no one ever sees your drying laundry. So they have big dryers.

I love mine and use it all the time.
it’s a vented model and dries really quickly.
I’m fed up with being judged for this. I don’t want damp laundry hanging around causing damp and mould in the winter.
We have solar panels so I make the most of sunny days to change bed sheets and wash towels as the electricity is ‘free’ when we are generating power.
I still feel a little shamed and guilty when family visitors ask where my washing line is and I have to admit I don’t have one. It’s like they think this is a big failing on my part.
I just put the clothes horse outside if I need to air dry something.

No point having central heating, tumble dryers etc and not using them. What is the point?

I havent had one for years. When my last one broke down I just never replaced it. However it could be because my teenage daughters would put one pair of knickers on for an hour. They wouldn't listen to me about cost, so I dont think I would ever buy another.

My (British) MIL used to try to play competitive housekeeping with me (not British) and refused flatly to ever use a tumble dryer and insisted on ironing everything that moved. She brainwashed DH into the same mindset and he is constantly banging on about putting the washing out instead of using the dryer, which we almost always had. I used to let myself be intimidated into feeling ashamed that I preferred to tumble dry (with a full time, high pressure job and two kids) but I just ignore him now. If he wants air dried clothes he can wash and dry them himself.

OP you are totally right - it is a VERY British thing.

I agree.........and it's calming too.

I don't want fluffy towels and creased clothes. I line dry almost all year round, I'm an obsessive weather watcher.

Ours is on most days. A lot of our clothes do have to be line dried/put on an airer. Ours is used mostly for bedding, towels and underwear. I’m a hang washing out kinda girl anyway. Prefer line dried clothes to tumble dried but given our weather it’s not always an option.

I find washing lines so ugly. I wish all my neighbours had tumble dryers. I think hanging up washing outside is only acceptable if you hide it well, maybe in part of a garden separated by high hedges, but only if your garden is not overlooked by other houses. I really don't want to see my neighbours bras and knickers when I look out of the window while having my lunch. But those washing line umbrella things look even more ugly without washing on them. And the air in most towns smells of car fumes, so any washing will hardly smell fresh.

I had one for a while and loved it until I realised it was wearing my clothes thin and I was having to throw clothes out years before I normally would have. So from that perspective I won't be using one again at home.

The fire risk is a worry, but I do think they are being designed better to avoid this. The lint filters being right at the front and obvious when you load it up, so you can't forget to empty it, and apparently the heat pump ones run a bit cooler too, so less of a risk (in theory).

I did avoid hotpoint brands though just in case. I know it can be any brand, but the stats on how many Hotpoint branded dryers were involved in fires compared with literally any other brand are insane.

I had one when the kids were small and I went through washloads too quickly to be able to dry them any other way. Now it's just me, living in the smallest house in the world, and I've no space for one. I hang everything outside and then finish off drying on a heated airer if necessary, and also have one of those big hanging racks suspended from the ceiling in the middle room, which will dry stuff like my running kit and work uniform.

Even if I had space, I don't think I'd have another tumbler. I don't like the smell and I'd probably be too terrified of huge bills to bother with it. If you've got alternative ways of drying, why would you?

Yes, I live in merino in the winter so a tumble dryer wouldn't get a lot of use. Merino garments don't take long to dry, even in winter. Most of my clothes are made of natural fabrics - I wouldn't fancy putting my summer linen clothes in a dryer either.

I love mine. If it can go in it does.
I hate the way towels feels when they are dried on the line or radiator.
my mum however will maybe use her dryer when the towels are nearly dry to soften them up a bit but that’s it. I don’t know why she keeps it at all!

It’s also definitely Not Done in the US to dry your laundry outside, and many housing associations have covenants prohibiting it.

I use my tumble dryer even on bright / clear days, costs hardly anything as I have solar panels.

I know this but can anyone tell me what on Earth is wrong with hanging one’s laundry outside on a sunny day?
I get that people feel the need for a dryer on a damp November day but….is it just the “look” of laundry drying that’s offensive?!

Mine also - and a windy day is good for softening towels on the line too. Towels are supposed to be slightly rough for drying skin purposes.