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?

We’re a family of long limbed people and dryers shrink clothes!

everything is too short once it’s been in the dryer

maybe it’s nice for normal sized people 😄

I use mine a lot, no reluctance and our clothes feel nice and last ages!

I use my t.d in the winter but use the line in summer(weather permitting)...i also have a dehumidifier (expensive outlay but was lowest energy consumption therefore cheaper in long run) i live in a cottage so i cant leave wet clothes hanging around because of damp. So t.d all the way.

I am with you. None of the family wish to look like Victorian orphan more than we do already

But not having one is bad for homes. So many British homes have terrible damp and mould from trying to dry clothes indoors when our weather is too bad to dry outside, or no access to outside space.

I love mine! In fact I have two washers and two dryers. I do at least two loads of washing a day and use the dryers for virtually everything. I haven’t got the time or space to have washing hanging around the house waiting to dry - I just can’t leave things on an airer for 2 or 3 days!

A decent drier is an absolute joy. You can lightly dry stuff, hang it up and not have to iron. What's not to love?!?!?!?

That said I don't have one. Because I'm in the UK and there's the assumption I don't need one. Despite all the rain. Ok, in Canada where I used to live a drier was essential as otherwise you'd be pinning stuff on the line only to have it freeze out there at least 4 months of the year. No one had drying racks so it was always pop it in the drier. That said - in winter the air is so very very dry that anything that was vaguely damp (like a dress shirt on a hanger) dried in about 20 minutes. Not like in the UK where it takes 3 days.

I was in a house fire when I was 5, our tumble dryer was left on overnight, caused so much damage, I was trapped upstairs, rescued by firemen and left me with a real nightmarish fear of fire.
However, as long as I know mine is turned off, empty and completely and totally lint free at the end of the day i will keep on using it, as weather where I live is crap!

Everything barring workshirts and woollens goes in ours. I wouldn’t be without it. Life is too short for pegging out washing and watching the weather.

How does it take three days to dry, I use my dryer but if I didn't it would probably take less than a day on airer in front of the radiator

I grew up with a tumble dryer but I don't have one now as I don't have the space. Surely that's the reason most Brits don't have one is they don't have the space and then if you get on perfectly well without one, I suppose it seems a waste.

I do have times when I get behind with my laundry and just want to power through a few loads but drying space/time is a problem. Luckily my DBF has a tumble dryer so I can take my washing to his!

We had a drier growing up and I have had driers for most of my adult life, I bloody love them, I couldn’t cope when mine broke and took my washing to work to use theirs, nothing worse than stiff crispy towels!

I do think they can be fairly expensive to run but then so is having the central heating on high for prolonged periods to dry things on the radiators and there is usually more washing in a load than there is radiator space so you have to do it in stints so I recon it probably evens out cost wise in the end and I really wouldn’t fancy having airers all over the place.

I have a dishwasher too, another marvellous invention I’d struggle without!

We have had a heat pump dryer for a couple of years and it’s fabulous.

They shrink nearly everything, I use it for towels and cleaning cloths in winter and thats about it. Most clothes get dried inside in winter with a dehumidifier. Also, we had one of the fire risk driers and I am really careful how I use it now.

Mine is an absolute boon. Never shrinks or ruins clothes - what are people doing? High heat for an hour? There are different programmes for fabrics and levels of dryness nowadays. It's a real labour saving device.

We have the heating on whether we use the dryer or not, it's not either/or

Shame !?

Is there a reason people who don't have the space don't put them on the wall above the washing machine? That's a pretty common set up where I live.

Where I live there was a tragedy when 3 young kids were killed in a house fire caused by a dryer overheating. That is enough to put anyone off.

Used one for years, never had any issues and my clothes last great. Some people just clearly can’t use them properly.

I love mine. Clothes come out much softer in the main but I don’t put delicates in. I absolutely hate line drying towels as they seem to get all crispy and horrible. There was also no way I was going to peg out loads of tiny baby clothes etc. I agree though there is often a reluctance to admit using them.

We do have one but I don't like using it (maybe 3-4 times a year). We have a perfectly good garden for the summer and, in the winter months, a perfectly good log burner so we can dry washing overnight.

They are not cheap to run. The OP quotes £150 a year, but that's a LOT more than my monthly dual fuel bill for a 4 bed house. I'd prefer to spend my money on something a lot more fulfilling than tumble drying!

And of course they ruin your clothes. What do you think all that fluff that builds up in the filter is? That is literally your clothes!

Tumble driers cost a fortune to run. I haven’t used mine since before the cost of living crisis started. I don’t know how people are affording it nowadays?

That fluff would blow away in the wind if it was on a line. I've had tumble dryers for 34 years, and never have any of my clothes been ruined. They are very convenient and practical.

We didn't replace our last drier when it broke 2 years ago - got a pulley airer instead for the utility room as we have high ceilings - and I haven't missed it till now. It has been raining for fucking weeks, and even on the days when it's not raining it's still too humid. Usually I can get washing dry (or mostly dry) outside all year round, and I'm in Scotland.

If we had space and money for one I would be getting one now.