Help me figure out tumble drying!

[Bartdudette]

With a baby and a mud-magnet DS my current occupation is washer woman... After years of surviving with a heated airer in a flat I gave in and recently bought a washer dryer. I was unhealthily excited about this as I average a washing load a day at present and had become a little weather obsessed to say the least! My issue is that so far the dryer hasn't saved me any time because it dries creases into the clothes which then need to be ironed out. I am not a fan of ironing. What am I missing???! Yesterday I stuck the sheets on for way less time than the auto-drying setting and hung them round the house to finish drying but they were still creased. Do I need to do it in tiny batches? Or is there something I can add to make stuff less creased? I have the next couple of months to crack this before going back to work so please share your time saving tips!!! Thank you please

sorry but i found a washer dryer useless

Generally you can wash far more in one go than you can tumble dry. I've never had a washer dryer so not sure if you can split the cycles, but personally I'd try doing a normal wash load, and then drying it in two batches.

A decent dehumidifier would dry your clothes quicker and with fewer creases I think. Washer dryers are a great thing, but only if you do small loads.

Washer dryers are useless
I couldn't wait to get rid of mine
The issue is you cant dry a full load
It then takes twice as long to dry as you have to do it in 2 loads so then you can't put another wash on
Plus the washing gets covered in fluff

A washer-dryer can only tumble dry half the load that it can wash - so if you are doing a full wash load and then setting it to tumble dry that could be the problem.

Noooo washer dryers are absolutely awful.

Get a condensing tumble dryer and stick it in a cupboard.

I love my washer dryer, I don't get all the hate for them! I generally do a mixed load of things that can't be tumbled and things that can so I can hang up the non-tumbleables and have right amount for drying.

Things are more creased if they're 100% dried in the dryer, if you get them out when they're 99%dry and as soon as the cycle is finished so they're still hot they are less crinkled.

Wrinkly sheets don't really bother me though

Thanks everyone. I did a lot of research before buying our washer dryer and it had good reviews on the drying function so think this is human error rather than machine error

Doing the drying in batches sounds sensible. My heated airer is still going strong (Thanks Lakeland) so I don't need to dry everything in the machine. The manual is so badly written it's not easy to figure out how best to use the machine. Any other wisdom to share???

I would suggest reduce the size of the tumble dryer load and I find Dryer Balls help reduce creasing. Maybe try to put heavier items together ( I’m thinking jeans in one load) to allow for good drying of T-Shirts etc. My dryer is never off and I never use the washing line outside any longer. Good luck.

www.amazon.co.uk/Tumble-dryer-Dryer-Balls-Reduces-softens/dp/B001PKX5GA

Washer dryers were invented by the same people as chocolate teapots.

Creases mean it’s too full, I find.

Washer dryers do cause more creased than stand alone dryers. If you dry things in tiny batches it is much better but the majority will still need ironed. When I sue my mums tumble dryer I hardly have to iron anything. Sorry!

Use not sue

You do need small drying loads with a washer dryer. I found about 1/3 of a full wash load best. The drum in a washer dryer is just too small to handle any more.

And even in the big dryer I now have, bedding needs to go in small batches eg 1 king size or 2 single duvet covers, to come out evenly dry and not looking like it's been sat on as it tends to tangle and crease itself under its own weight.

Managed with washer dryers for about 10 years but the boys and their clothes got bigger and didn't get any less dirty, so caved in and turfed a load of stuff out of my kitchen to squeeze a dryer in!

Agree with smaller loads (half a wash load) and also use those tumble dryer sheets as they really help. I dry linen sheets successfully in my dryer and they only need minimal ironing.

Brilliant tips, keep 'em coming! I'm currently drying a half load of underwear to see how that goes, will also look to buy dryer balls and linen sheets. Unfortunately getting a separate tumble dryer won't be an option unless we move house so I need to get the best use of it I can for now!

Brilliant tips, keep 'em coming! I'm currently drying a half load of underwear to see how that goes, will also look to buy dryer balls and linen sheets. Unfortunately getting a separate tumble dryer won't be an option unless we move house so I need to get the best use of it I can for now!

Brilliant tips, keep 'em coming! I'm currently drying a half load of underwear to see how that goes, will also look to buy dryer balls and linen sheets. Unfortunately getting a separate tumble dryer won't be an option unless we move house so I need to get the best use of it I can for now!

Brilliant tips, keep 'em coming! I'm currently drying a half load of underwear to see how that goes, will also look to buy dryer balls and linen sheets. Unfortunately getting a separate tumble dryer won't be an option unless we move house so I need to get the best use of it I can for now!

Urgh, gremlins got into my app...

Agree with everyone else, the only thing that will help is reducing the load size.

Conventional dryers have a bigger drum than a washer, for the same load size, as the clothes need space to, well err, tumble :) as air needs to get between the load to dry.

In a washer dryer, if you fill the machine up and then it goes straight on to dry, you don’t have this space. So essentially you start off with a wet ball of clothing rolling around in hot air and whilst it will eventually dry, heavy creases will be there.

So best thing, is when wash is done, split the load in half so you have half the space in the drum free for the clothes to tumble and “fill” it up once they’re dry.

I put sheets on a reduced spin so they are less creased when they come out of wash. We have king size bedding and I often split the load for the dryer so it doesn't crease much at all. Getting stuff out and folding or hanging up as soon as the dryer cycle has finished also helps.