Please help me abandon my principles ...

[roisin]

I've always wanted a tumble drier, but every time I get close to buying one (choose a model, decide where it's going, etc.) my
green-ish credentials kick in, and I just can't bring myself to buy something that I view as an unnecessary luxury, and environmentally damaging.

But this morning I hung two big loads of washing out, got wet in the rain, brought them in and rinsed and spun them again in the machine, hung them out again, then brought them all in again when it started to rain again, and have now hung them inside on clothes horses ... I just can't face the prospect of constant laundry in another Cumbrian winter.

Should I abandon my principles?

Oh Cam, I know, I had one for a while though and detested, there's a long rant somewhere here! Roisin, go for it!

I've just got one, on the basis I have washable nappies and live on the very wet west coast, and no central heating radiators to dry stuff on. Also having wet washing hanging round does not help dh's dodgy chest.

Does make me feel a tad guilty though, and I'm dreading the electric bill

As an aside,is there anything less likely to fan the flames of passion than a radiator loaded with wrung out greying pairs of knickers????

Would anyone else NOT have rewashed the washing?

GG, I wouldn't have/haven't either! Ha ha ha, didn't think to mention until you just did!

Have you not bought the bloody thing yet? Get yourself down Curry's tommorrow and be done,woman!!

Ah, shoot me!

Do you know what i do, I leave them out there usually, on the premise that they are already wet and it will stop raining eventually

I had a line of washing out for three days last week.Not only that,but it was all clothes I'd bought second hand from a girl in the village.

I imagined her and her dh driving by and saying 'Not only is that bloody Moondog a lazy cow,but our washing powder obviously isn't good enough if she has to wash a whole load of clothes we've just washed again!'

We have rivers but no-one uses them to wash clothes in anymore . Buy one, use it when it rains/snows/hails/mists/fogs/blizzards and give thanks to the man/woman above for the tumble drier

No I wouldn't either GG, but we have very clean rain where I live

GG, it's an extra rinse innit?

roisin, do you have one of those racks up near your kitchen ceiling (spidermama, is that what you mean by pulley system?)? (I kind of imagine you in a huge rural kitchen with an Aga and such.) Because if you don't, get one - then the only thing you really need a tumble drier for is emergency pants. And that's speaking as a flatdweller with no outside for a washing line at all. (Oh, and a tumble drier, but, you know. The pants.)

You all missed my post of 4:38:57 pm - dh came home and bought one - sorted!

We have filthy rain here, I don't know why! So had to re-rinse the washing.

Binkie - hmmm.. imagination wrong I'm afraid. Edwardian house, big rooms, tall ceilings, etc. But tiny poky kitchen - very much added on as an after-thought! Not rural, and definitely no aga. .. You're very welcome to come and visit sometimes and re-adjust your mental picture
Next time you're passing!

Good move. I love my tumbler and with 3 small boys would struggle without it. THe best thing is you can get away without having to iron most of it.

OK so now I need hints and tips about how to use it. I'm a complete tumble-drier virgin, have never used one in my life.

Some people on this thread have said it makes MORE ironing, some less. So how do I achieve the less? Should I fill it and put large loads in, or small? Should I dry them to very dry, or not quite dry? (I have large w/m - 6kg load, and getting 7kg drier. The w/m has a VERY fast spink - 1400 I think, so stuff doesn't come out very wet anyway iyswim.)

So hints and tips please

Dry it until very dry and take the stuff out when it's only just stopped and the fabric is still hot. If you leave the stuff in there once it's finished it just creases up again.

And if you can smell burning, you've left the clothes in a wee bit too long!

well, I do have a beloved ancient great-aunt somewhere in Cumbria so pass more frequently than you might bargain for ...

I don't dry till v dry - opposite, I stop at what system calls "cupboard dry" - sort of like the hot faint damp of a steam iron; fold & put in airing cupboard. It neatly settles into folds while going cosily warmly dry in cupboard.

Soooo yes, couldn't live without mine.

After years of resisting the urge to buy a tumble dryer,I am about to give in.I use a washing line outside & one in the carport,but with the 2 dd's in reusable nappies,plus dd1's failure to remember to use the potty & dd2's puketastic vomits after every feed,I am fighting a losing battle.

My tumble drier arrives tomorrow

what one did you go for?

Hotpoint ADT80 I think - I'm not very good at remembering codes/numbers. It's a condenser with a BIG capacity, plus timers, sensors, that sort of thing. I hope it does the job well as it wasn't one of the cheaper ones.

I think it is a common design fault in english houses that there is nowhere to hang washing outside and out of the rain. We have added an overhanging roof bit for putting washing in on wet days. In France, we have a barn to hang it in. no need for a tumbledrier!