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 totally agree. I have always used a tumble dryer in the winter. I have a condenser one. For every load there is about 2 pints of water to empty from the condenser tank. If you were drying inside the house on racks, this water would be producing condensation and mould. Tumble dryer gets everything completely dry, things don’t shrink and I don’t need to iron.

I use mine during the winter months as a necessity. I have asthma so it's unhealthy for me to have damp clothing draped around the house.
However during dryer weather I dry washing outside.

I grew up in the west coast of Scotland, where it rains more days than it doesn't.

I would not be without a tumble dryer!

This. My reluctance to use it is simply because it shrinks all the bloody clothes.

Pants, socks, pjs, towels etc all go in but it makes me so cross when it shrinks cotton clothes

Not particularly, nobody ever lined dried anything anywhere I’ve ever lived, despite large gardens. Maybe it’s a London thing.

Well I love mine but agree there’s a degree of pride with friends not having or not using them. Our house is cool and prone to damp and the garden doesn’t get much sun, so unless we put clothes all round the house on the radiators, they take ages to dry and by then you’ve got another load to dry!

as pp say, I don’t tumble dry everything but it’s great for bedding, towels, kids clothes and small things like socks and pants.

I don’t really get any joy from hanging washing out and they don’t smell any different to me. I do hang it out when the weather is good enough but only because it’s better for the environment!

I've heard it all now, ashamed to use a tumble dryer 😂

C

Peak MN.

Heated airers cost 9p an hour to run .
I think tumble driers ruin clothes and eat electricity.
This is the first winter I’ve not had a T drier.
I bought the Lakeland heated aired on a friends recommendation. Hers is going strong 6 years later .
Keeps room warm and smelling nice and less creases in clothes and doesn’t shrink them either .

I've got a walk-in airing cupboard so hang clothes and sheets in there.
I've got a tumble dryer as well, but admit, I don't use it much. Do I get a free pass though because of the airing cupboard?

I use ours as little as possible because everyone says they're expensive to run. But as PPs have said, I also try to avoid using them for nice things as I gather they shorten the life of the clothes. Plus Kim and Aggie always said they should not be used for anything with elastic in as it damages that - so you end up with very little that can actually be tumble dried?

Of course there is a balance between cost, time, not caring how long your clothes last and other considerations - so there is no one size fits all. But I do like mine for occasional volume use, especially duvet covers etc.

I suppose if it's really cold where you are it could be an issue but I barely ever put my CH on and never at high. My washing dries fine generally. And I don't have airers all over the place, I have one in my kitchen!

This made me laugh. I have a tumble dryer, but am reluctant to use it. It’s like I treat using it as the same level of betrayal as adultery. But this Sunday I was looking out the window at the pissing down rain and the 349 pairs of wet socks I was about to hang one by one on the clothes horse and my little girls piss soaked bedding and thought FUCK IT, I’m using the tumble dryer. I dried three loads of washing in it, one after the other. I felt liberated.

Apart from summer months I tumble dry everything that can be tumble dried. Never had one while growing up but could not be without one now.

Maybe if you live somewhere with a large garden you tend to have space for a tumble drier?

I try not to use mine....things don't feel fresh and aired although I do think our tumble dryer is a bit crap. If we use it I tend to then put our things on the airer to finish off

I've had my Miele washer drier since 2009 and love it. I dread the day when it dies, not least because the replacement will cost ££££.
My clothes all come out beautifully soft and very few things, apart from shirts, need ironing if they're folded neatly or hung up immediately. (And it has an anti-crease cycle.) DH irons his own shirts anyway and I don't really own any.
I hate line dried towels, they're like starched cardboard whereas mine come out of the drier beautifully soft and fluffy, especially if you use a towel softener instead of fabric conditioner.
The washer is also excellent, BTW.

We use a gas tumble dryer. I've never smelt burnt clothes or a strange feel on the garments but the drum is very big and I'm careful not to overload it.

We've always had one, but I do feel guilty about cost and the environment every time I use it. As a result I tend only to use it now and again for towels, sheets, socks and underwear in the winter. But am thinking of using it more because drying wet washing over radiators in our old, cold house can't be good either. And when it's on it warms up the otherwise freezing utility room, which in turn helps to dry stuff on the hanging rack in there more quickly.

I do always make sure I have a window open in the kitchen where I dry my clothes but I don't get condensation or mould in there. Not really come across friends having that problem either. I mean if you didn't open a window then I guess it could cause problems.

I live in a flat and have no garden. During the summer I have a free standing rotary washing line in my dining room.
In the winter I use my dryer. If I dont, the clothes would take ages to dry and cause condensation.

Above my washing machine is my draining board and a window. Most people have them under work top and can't afford to lose that even if there isn't a window etc.

Don’t have one. I line dry when weather permits or dry indoors on an airer.

I am lucky enough to have a super fancy top of the range Miele dryer that I won (along with a washing machine). Its a condenser one and it is super energy efficient, and in fact almost free to run as I am in Oz and have solar panels. I have tried line drying here but the sun here bleaches and fades clothes so quickly I only bother if I am going to be around to take them in as soon as they dry. And in winter here it rains a lot so the dryer comes into its own. I do not miss the crappy washer dryer I had in Ireland, and I do not miss drying clothes on radiators. Hopefully my Miele will last for every because I will cry if it dies!