tumble dryer novice - any tricks of the trade?

[linspins]

I'm going to be the not-quite-so-proud owner of a tumble dryer tomorrow, having never wanted/needed one up until now. But with two children and a cold winter and a damp house, I do need one!
This might be a silly question but do you literally put the washing in and get it out dry? Are there tricks of the trade to using one? I'm hoping to use it to semi dry stuff, to reduce to dampness in the air in our house when everything usually goes on the radiators.

I learned from MN to always clean the filter before every use and don't leave the machine running when you are out of the house as tumble driers can catch fire.

On a more positive note, if I use mine I usually hang washing for a while first to dry even a little and save energy.
A dry towel in at the same time can help too.

A good shake of each garment before it goes into the machine will usually mean you won't have to iron it. Put items in individually, not all tangled up from the washing machine.

Get bed sheets out slightly damp and drape over banisters or an airer to finish off, again no ironing.

Tumble dryers are bloody fantastic, you'll wonder how you ever coped without them!

My mil is a washing expert. She has delivered many unsolicited masterclasses on every aspect of household management......

However the one useful one was to fold all the clothes before they go into the tumble drier and they come out wrinkle free and ready to wear

It does work.

Just my thoughts:
1.If you are drying anything with feather/down (like pillows or puffa coat) or anything quilted stick three tennis balls in with the item to pummel up the fluffiness.

1. put "fragile" stuff that might click or stretch (eg tights, garments with a loose weave, into a cotton pillow case and fasten the end with a hair elastic (rubberbands melt and safety pins get awful hot)

1. Dry your fleeces together - they hardly take any time and chance to shrink if they areleft in a long cycle as you might need with jeans or other pure cotton things

4 Dont dry lycra sports kit or any specialist drifit sort of leisure wear. Stick them on the radiator or a coathanger in ambient room. I have lost a couple of good bits of kit which snuck in with the dry load and they shrunk.

1. Finally, if you are doing bedding I find if I fully dry it, it creases terribly. Dry it to just damp and finish it off inside or on the line out - no ironing (hurray). (Not tried folding it though, simbacatlives trick might work for bedding...!

Don't put jeans in, the creases will never come out.

When you take a load of hot towels out the tumble drier, bury your face in the hot laundry, it's great.

Wahoo! It's arrived, but been too busy with the dc's to plug it in yet...
Thanks everyone for your tips. I'm particularly intrigued by the folding clothes tip. Will also make sure i don't shrink dh's running kit!