Dryer settings, I have questions.

[ByMerryKoala]

Just got a new dryer today, to replace an old one. The last one had a timer and low and high heat settings - easy, if a little rudimentary.

This new one has a variety of settings based on the type of material and then some options...extra dry, cupboard dry and ironing dry.

So, at the risk of declaring some lifelong ignorance, what's the deal? If it's going in a cupboard shouldn't it be actual dry, like 100% dry, or in other words, extra dry?

The instructions in the manual seem to be suggesting that cupboard dry clothes - as in, not dry- are ready to be folded and put away. I mean, surely this would a one way street to musty clothing? Or, is the deal that it finishes the cycle not quite dry and then everyone hangs it over the clothes horse to finish drying?

And, full declaration, I only ever used the last dryer in the end for bedding, towels and undies because, well, prior to that, I shrunk a lot of clothes 😬 and now I'm wondering if everyone else has some sort of 'cupboard dry' knowledge that has escaped me?

I use cupboard dry but now I'm also confused haha! Towels I use extra dry. You can hand stuff out and then put it on cupboard dry to finish it off without risking any damage. The sensors take care of the cycle length.

The extra dry function on normal clothes seems to nuke them slightly

I use wardrobe dry and when my stuff comes out, I fold them up and they go away in the wardrobe or drawers. They always feel completely dry. Wardrobe dry on my dryer is 159 mins which seems entirely random.

I thought cupboard dry was less creased so you didn’t need to iron 🤷🏼‍♀️

I too would like to know the answers, I am fed up of shrinking clothes and am now too scared to dry anything but towels and bedding in the dryer!

I always use cupboard dry and it works perfectly. Extra dry seems to just crease everything up. Never used any of the other settings!

On my Becko dryer the following applies:-
Iron dry:- clothes is ever so slightly damp for easier ironing. You are meant to iron it straight out the dryer and it ends up completely dry.
Cupboard dry:- Clothes are completely dry and can be put straight away in the cupboard.
Cupboard dry Plus:- is for thicker/heavier items such towels and jeans you can put them straight in the cupboard.
Then you would pick cotton, synthetic, Jeans, sport, shirt, baby etc etc for the appropriate material.

Gentle Care is for delicate items, drys on a low temperature and doesn’t shrink items but does take about 20 minutes longer than warmer settings.
Super Short Express:- Is extra hot
Freshen Up:- is a blast of cold air for 10 minutes to freshen up fabric that smells musty

Mine has:

Cottons:

• iron dry
• cupboard dry
• extra dry

Synthetics

• one choice only, cupboard dry.

For either cottons or synthetics, you can choose to dry for a set amount of time instead of the above options, which rely on dryness sensors.

The only one that seems to actually work is cottons, extra dry. I experimented with synthetics tumbling and stuff just came out warm and a bit damp, and I’d have to spend time hanging it all up to dry on the airer.
Same for cottons iron or cupboard.

So I just tumble sheets, towels, undies and anything we are in a hurry over. I think it sometimes shrinks T-shirts etc on the extra dry setting so I tend not to use it much for clothes, and it seemed pointless tumbling them for them not to get properly dry.

I got a Beko 2 years ago (almost to the day) when my previous dryer broke. It was on sale locally and they said they could deliver it next day. Wish I had held out and researched more first. Like yours, mine no longer has a low setting although it does have a timer setting in 15 minute increments. But the heat is too high for a lot of my clothes. I have had a number of things, which I could previously tumble dry, be ruined after only 10-15 minutes in the dryer. It sucks.

To be honest I haven't really figured out the rest of the settings as I don't trust it very much. So I dry things for 15 minutes at a time, check them, put back on for another 15 etc.

@user1471526265 the shorter cycles on Becko dryers are the hottest temperature, that is more than likely why you are shrinking things.

Thanks so much for the replies.

I think I might have to find some sacrificial clothes and see if I can figure it out with this machine without any shrinkage - I'm side eyeing dh's Hawaiian shirt, so there'll be a pay off either way 😁 Even if I have to air clothes out afterwards, I suppose it'll be useful to speed up the laundry turnover through winter.

Oh, I didn't know that. It just looks like a timer /weight option for iron dry /cupboard dry etc, so e.g. Cupboard dry for 3.5kg synthetics is 60 minutes, but for cotton is 80 minutes. I assumed, like my old one, that it was a constant heat of the same temperature until the last 5 minutes or so which was cooler in mine. Maybe I should dig out the instruction manual!!!