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 🤣

Once you've had one I don't think you ever go back. I inherited one when when my Nana died about 6 years go, prior to that I didn't have one, coped fine and didn't even really think I wanted one, but as soon as it broke I replaced it! I don't even put most of my own clothes in it as it shrinks them.

I got my first tumble dryer a month ago. We finally cracked when we stopped having the heating on all the time and we started getting mould problems. We tried a dehumidifier but it didn't seem that effective. Don't know why I waited so long to buy a dryer. My life is revolutionised,

Family of 5, 3 kids in school living in the north so not many drying days here, we didn’t have a dryer for 5 years. The only thing I missed it for was towels as no matter what we did they always felt like cardboard. In winter I’d occasionally do big batches of drying at the laundrette but we mainly used a heated towel rail and radiator attachments.

DH bought a dryer a few months ago after a particularly nasty vomiting bug but we only use it now for towels sheets and underwear. We don’t put uniforms in the dryer as they just get destroyed. I also don’t like putting my clothes in the dryer, never have, I’m fat so hate the thought of clothes getting tighter on me and my bras have massive underwires that would get destroyed so I’ve always hung my clothes up after washing.

I haven’t had one since my washer dryer literally blew up about 20 years ago. Somehow I’ve managed, my house isn’t damp and my clothes dry within 24 hours on an airer in front of a radiator (which comes on like the others, a short time in the morning and for the evening to keep the house at 19 degrees).

Don't have one.
Never had one.
Wouldn't want one.

Line dry outside in summer and on rails in bathroom with dehumidifier.

only use mine for bedding and emergency dries. I used to use it for every wash but with massive rise in cost of electricity we basically banned it. Bought some drying racks and never looked back. There only 3 of us though and a spare room etc. So we have a bit of room to manoeuvre this.

Yep! I go to the gym everyday so I have a set of gym clothes to wash everyday

There are three of us in this house. We do about 5 loads a week plus bedding. I use a heated airer with cover. I hang dresses on hangers on the curtain pole in the spare room plus dh’s shirts. Sheets and towels draped on banister or doorways. It’s a PITA in winter but tumble dryer took up too much room and was too expensive to run. I dry outside as much as possible.

YANBU and especially since I got a heat pump pretty much fires anything perfectly. No shrinking

I hate laundry hanging on the airer and our spare bedrooms is so cold so it never dries! So I moved it to the dining room and it smelt of food. Towels go crispy and things smell when they don’t dry properly

I’ve got a combined washer drier but I’ve only used the tumble drier twice as I don’t really have a need for it. If it’s not raining my washing goes outside to dry or if it’s wet or if I wash in the evening, I use a heated airer.

Stand it next to a radiator helps.
have it on for 24 hours.
put the flaps down and rest all the sock and pants on top

I don't have a tumble dryer and I have 5 kids! I use clothes airers and put heavy things like jeans on the radiator. You can get heated clothes airers now too. Tumble dryers are expensive to run and really bad for the environment!

We’ve never had one, nowhere for one to go. We have an indoor airer and a dehumidifier. If you rotate the washing as it’s drying it doesn’t take much longer to dry. I still manage to do a load a day during winter. When it’s not raining the heavier items go out still.

We've never had a tumble dryer. An airer in living room and another in bathroom. In cooler weather much use of airing cupboard. Never had a problem. Don't have a freezer either. However, absolutely could not manage without a washing machine.

I have a washer drier but dont dry it in there everytime.

I ALWAYS put it on an extra spin cycle, even if its had a good spin as part of the wash.

I hang it out, even in the cold it will still mostly dry. Then I can just put it on a quick refresh in the drier. I use an airer too and I have 2 large heated towel rails which are brilliant at drying.

Even then, you don’t always need to wash them every day
People wash far far too frequently.
the only thing that gets worn once in our house is pants and socks. That’s literally it. Everything else is worn multiple times.
If it doesn’t smell bad and you can see too much visible dirt then wear it again.

I totally totally totally get it!!!

I live alone and use 2 airers so it’s spread out, hang up tops (because I don’t iron!) and use a dehumidifier

I am single, live alone. Had about six months without a tumble dryer when I was having building work done.

it was hell🤣. Getting towels and sheets and jeans dried was the worst!

I do hang out washing in the summer - but winter is cold and wet and miserable. It’s dark when I leave for work and dark when I get home! No way that laundry is going out

I would instantly buy another if mine broke and I’ve lived with a broken dishwasher for 2 years.
i could potentially live without if i lived alone but with 4 of us in the house it would take forever to get things dry and just the massive faff of dragging things round the house or outside and pegging it. No thanks I’d rather do an hour of overtime to pay for the increased use of electric than waste time arsing about with airers all round the house and stuff on banister’s.

How long do you run the dehumidifier for?

4 teenagers, a mum (me) with a daily gym habit, a huge filthy dog needing daily filthy dog walks... Yeah I definitely need our tumble dryer! It's on constantly. I have an old fashioned rack on a pulley from the ceiling too and it's the best thing ever (was from Amazon) but no way could I dry clothes otherwise. I'd love to hang them out but Lancashire weather is meh, and it takes far too long pegging out then ferrying everything in and out again. Tumble dryers for the win!

We use the dryer for bedding, towels and teatowels. Everything else goes on the heated airer and that dries overnight without shrinking things. My eldest DD has got 4 kids and she's got 2 heated airers so she can put 2 loads at a time on them.

I had a client in at work the other day and their clothes had that awful fousty dried slowly indoors smell on them. I can smell it a mile off.

Should say I do hang outside in the summer but that’s reliant on being able to use my neighbours garden as I can’t hang out in mine

I love my tumble dryer! My husband says it does more mileage than my car. I do have a rack for clothes that can’t be tumble dried but uniforms, work clothes, towel, bedsheets are nicer out of a warm tumble dryer.