To wonder how on earth anyone copes without a tumble dryer?

[Bumbles55]

Ours broke yesterday and I feel like I’ve lost a limb! Having to wait an entire day or more for washing to dry (and having to put the heating on full blast 24/7 in order to facilitate this) is torture. I’m so used to washing uniform etc at night and being able to quickly chuck it in the tumble dryer in the AM whilst we get ready. Washing loads take proper pre planning now! Despite it being only DD and I at home we easily get through one full wash per day so the house is already absolutely covered in clothing drying on radiators etc.

The new one won’t be delivered for 2 weeks - unsure how I’ll survive in the meantime 🤣

Quite easily 🤷‍♀️

I agree that it just be really difficult to get all the laundry dry, especially in the north of England, without a tumble dryer

It's incredibly damp, especially in winter

Ours broke 6 years ago and we never fixed/replaced it. We manage ok. We like the extra space most of the year, love the cheaper electric bill and feel better for being more environmentally friendly plus it’s better for your clothes!

You do have to be more organised which my adult children are not - both did their pre-holiday washing the day before we flew! That was hard to get dry!

I like daily fresh clean clothes, so I could not cope without a tumble dryer. How do people manage in the winter. I feel your pain. John Lewis were very quick when we had to replace ours.

I'm 64 now and never had one.

I dont have one and have 3 kids and a small flat its not easy at all!

Luckily I've got big room in the basement where the washer is that can fit about five clothes airers . So dryer doesn't get used hardly ever. I think I could easily live without it tbh.

If you have room for a washing machine you can get a washer dryer. They’re much better than they used to be - I’d also prefer separate machines, but no room, so washer dryer it is.

YANBU! I come from America and have always been fascinated by the way some British households are permanently festooned with washing. Have tried it as a way to save money and it's just awful if you're not lucky enough to live in a big house with a dedicated laundry room. Takes days for things to dry, during which time you're constantly tripping over them/having to shove them out of the way and pets are knocking them over, climbing up them or chasing each other through them; sends the humidity in the house through the roof (5 mins from the seaside here so it's always too humid anyway); and if you put drying racks outside - again, not being lucky enough to live somewhere where you can install a permanent washing line - they blow over (ah, the sea breezes) and dump your clean laundry in the dirt, or the birds use them for poo target practice. Have tried the dehumidifier-in-a-closed-room trick, which works well if you're only drying a few things that are already fairly dry, like wool jumpers, but otherwise takes a room - in a small house where every room is used - out of commission for a few days.

I have neighbours who live in a large, expensive new-build that I can unfortunately see into from the back of the garden. In their designer sitting room with the white sofas/carpets and huge glass doors there are always multiple racks full of washing, which I'd think kind of defeats the purpose of having a designer house. I can't imagine that they need to save money, so it's just a mystery why they want to live that way. For myself I'll stick with saving money by doing laundry/running the dryer less often (have got it down to two loads once a week) and by turning the heating down.

We have two ikea wall mounted hanging racks in the spare bedroom. Everything goes on coat hangers and hung on the racks . Underwear goes on a small over the radiator rack . The dehumidifier is switched on and dries everything before bedtime , even jeans .
we only use the tumble dryer for towels and bedding .

I don't have room in my house for a tumble drier but if I'm doing a large amount of washing say a week's worth I'll take it to the laundrette to dry after I've washed it, it's only a couple of quid or if I'm doing a big towel wash because I don't like crispy towels.
Damp laundry is heavy to carry so I put it in a crate on wheels to take to the laundrette lined with a bin liner.

Washing machine, high spin speed 1600 rpm, double spin some stuff.

Wear two sets of clothes. Best for out the house, slob around in joggers inside. This means you can wear best clothes out more times and wash less. Also means texpensive clothes do not get dried and washed as much so last longer.

Wear artificial fabrics. A polyester/cotton blended fleece and joggers will come out of the washing machine almost dry whereas a thick woollen jumper and jeans will take forever to dry - both hold lots of water.

Have a big house relative to the number of people/drying in it. Bigger house means you can dry more without increasing the internal humidity to unpleasant levels.

Work to keep the humidity down so you can dry more washing.

Get alternative drying gear. Dehumidifiers, heated airers and extraction fans.

I have a washer dryer but never use the dryer.

Just me and DS and we frequently change his sheets and I've never had a tumble dryer and coped fine, no issues with damp either! I have a heated airer and when it's full it dries over night and through the next day. If I need something urgently I just use it for one or two things and it dries in a few hours. It's just about being organised.

Not only have we never had a tumble dryer but we've also never had a dishwasher.

We're proper old school.

(3 DC, use a dehumidifier to help with drying times)

I couldn’t do without mine. We live in an upstairs flat, no outdoor space for a washing line and a tiny bathroom. Virtually everything goes in the dryer bar a few items - if it can’t be tumbled I don’t buy it!!

We've never had one, even when we lived in Glasgow, and surely the West of Scotland must be as damp as North of England.

If this is a competition ....... I've never had dryer or dishwasher and I don't have a freezer. 😃

Good point about fabrics. Fleeces virtually dry on exiting washing machine.

Amused by your children. My son was with us for a week before going on holiday. Day before departure finally did washing. His problem 😄

Tenements used to have pulleys - racks for clothes which were then raised up over bath to keep them out of the way.

not being lucky enough to live somewhere where you can install a permanent washing line - they blow over (ah, the sea breezes) and dump your clean laundry in the dirt, or the birds use them for poo target practice.

We have a communal drying green with washing lines, NE Scotland right by the sea. No washing line has ever blown over and surprisingly considering the amount of seagulls, I've only once had something pooped upon in 15 years.

I don't get the "tumble dry everything" way of thinking . Apart from horrendous electricity bills, I do find clothes don't come out in a great condition.

Long single line rather than a rotary won't blow down. Had one for years

Ah, sorry, I was unclear. By 'washing line' I meant what I would refer to as a 'clothesline': a long single piece of twine attached at both ends. What blows over is drying racks set outdoors: no matter how much weight you put on the lower rungs (I try to weigh them down with hand weights or other heavy objects), they're still topheavy and any respectable gust will take them out.

When I was growing up I don't think my hippie mother had a dryer as she'd hang our clothing outdoors in all weather, including deep winter (ca -20C). As I grew up that way I actually prefer, as someone else said, the 'scratchy towels' etc - but what I don't prefer is the extra humidity and sheer inconvenience of having laundry always hanging (literally) about indoors.

I remember not having one, airers all over the place, dehumidifier running. We inherited our first one cos we moved into my deceased Uncles flat and he had one. We never used it at first, didn't feel the need and my husband didn't want the cost of running it. We started using it for speed, convenience and someone at work complained that my uniform smelled musty allegedly from being dried indoors. Wouldn't be without it now. We had huge problem when the first one died cos it was the weekend before my husband worked away so he needed a weeks worth of clothes and there were shirts, trousers and boxers hanging everywhere trying to get them dry so he could pack them. We went out and bought a new one that very same day. We are now on our third, over 13 years. We do try to save money by only running it at night, when the electricity is cheaper, it has a delay function so we can turn it on and go to bed and it will come on later while we are asleep. I guess if you have the time and only have a few sets of clothes worn on rotation it may not be needed, but when you wear a uniform 5 days a week and may not have two days off together you need to wash and dry when you can. I used to put my uniform in to wash after work in the evening or first thing on my day off then tumble dry it overnight. I use it a lot less in the summer when we can dry outside on the line.

@ohime thanks. That makes sense now.
We have 4 clothes pole things with ropes strung between them plus a diagonal one as well.
It works great although we did have washing line wars with a horrible neighbour a few years ago 😅