I don't have an outdoor washing line as communal garden. I do hang stuff, in the summer and warm days, on airers in the garden. but not seen many of those days this summer.
Indoors I use 2 large folding airers which take a huge amount of washing. 3-4 loads. I do also find that they are taking so long to dry that they smell horrible by the time they are dry.. So they end up being washed again, and I ask myself how is that eco friendly when I could have given them a blast in the drier then hung them out overnight...
SO, I have a tumble drier. Use cloth nappies, and it is a godsend when really need the nappies to be washed and dried over night. And I admit, for other items when the weather is like this...
So,my solution for tumble drier guilt
Use it only over night and for things that do take longer to dry on the airers.
Purchase these drier balls they really do save the time you need for drying.
don't fill it up too much. For the same reasons as overloading the washing machine, the clothes need room to circulate, and in the driers case, to airiate.( sp) Fill to the maximum amount they are supposed to take. Mine is 5kg, which allows enough room for them to circulate as much as they need. my machine takes 8kg for wash and 5kg for drying. so I do remove some items if it was a full wash load. This is a huge washing and drying capacity btw...
when you take it out, it will still feel damp. hot, steamy clothes are damp. They soon dry off when taken out and shaken a bit, or even then hung on airer.
if you still feel guilty, do your eco bit in other ways. I use cloth nappies. I use ecover cleaning products, I recycle every thing I can. I also use soap nuts on most washing loads. I feel do far more than a lot of people do, so don't feel too guilty in an eco way about using the tumble drier. I know its more expensive, but if you use it overnight, its not actually that bad.
sorry if sounds like i'm teaching you all how to 'suck eggs'. Just sharing what I do!