Clothes drying --- DH thinks I've lost it.

[SplshMtn99]

Last night, after reading the "wash in cold water" thread, I got to thinking about our electric bill...and how it keeps going up. It annoys me that our clothes dryer takes more than one cycle to dry the clothes.

THEN it hit me!!!! We heat our house with a wood pellet stove. It runs 24/7 during the winter. The heat (heated air - smoke free) is pushed out into the room by a tiny fan. We sometimes dry gloves in front of it.

So.....I said to DH last night, I should get one of those wooden dryer racks & dry the laundry there instead of the clothes dryer. We would be getting 2 uses out of paying for our house heat.

He just looked at me....and said...."you are not drying clothes in the living room".

OK....but it WAS a great idea.

....shhhhh...maybe when he's not home.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

that's thinking! and i thought i was the only one with one of those DARN dryers! i can't stand the fact that it takes 2 cycles!

 

[Newfie2000]

Just another thought... by drying the clothes in front of the stove you might just be adding some extra humidity to the house also, making the heat already produced even more effective!

 

[NotUrsula]

You could try running the spin cycle on your washer an extra time, so that more water is removed before you put the clothes in the dryer.

 

[Kellydelly]

Sounds like you need a new dryer! I hang most of my children's clothing to dry on racks in our basement (only the socks, skivvies and blanket sleeper type jammies (or old ones that a couple kids have gone through already) go in the dryer) and my clothes too. I do it to preserve the fabric, not to save on the utilities, though . I can so relate to that one dryer commercial where the lady has laundry hanging on every doorknob of her house . I think it's a great idea to air dry your clothes, not sure how much it humidifies the air (doesn't seem to do that over here) but it's worth a shot!

 

[SplshMtn99]

Just another thought... by drying the clothes in front of the stove you might just be adding some extra humidity to the house also, making the heat already produced even more effective!

hehe, we already run a whole house humidifer to aid with the pellet stove heat. Hey, I could eliminate using that too...saving even more electricity.

 

[bookgirl]

Check your dryer vents. Everytime we have drying problems we run something through our vent hose (it goes up to the roof because of position on dryer and gravity works even on lint). As soon as we get rid of lint the dryer goes back to a one cycle dryer. You can buy this brush on a long flexible snake to do it or if it's short try a wire clothes hanger bent staight with the hook end going into the hose.

Oh and built up lint can catch fire if the dryer gets overheated, like when you run it twice. So please check your dryers.

 

[SplshMtn99]

Its a 30+ yr old Whirlpool dryer. Sure its seen better days. Its never been very efficient in the almost 20 yrs that WE have owned it.

But I will remind DH its time for him to clean out the vents again. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[luvsmickeymouse]

I have a wood stove and I do that. It does as moisture to the air and the clothes dry quick. My wood stove is on all the time these days, to keep the regular heating sytem from coming on. I have had this wooden rack for years. I used to dry the snowy clothes from the kids playing outside when they were small.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Its a 30+ yr old Whirlpool dryer. Sure its seen better days. Its never been very efficient in the almost 20 yrs that WE have owned it.

But I will remind DH its time for him to clean out the vents again. Thanks for the reminder.

You don't need a new dryer (ok, maybe you do ) what you really need is a new high capacity frontload washer. Spins the bejeebus out of the clothes at 1400 RPM and they are practically dry when you place them in the dryer. I usually extra spin mine, too. The best part is, the washer uses less water and electricity. Dryers are energy hogs, so even a new model won't affect your energy bill much.

Do let me know how it goes when you break the news about the new washer to hubby

 

[newholidayx2]

I hang clothes in the bathroom! afraid of shrinkage

 

[englishteacha]

I don't dry clothes in the living room...I dry them in the dining room! I air dry all my work clothes and delicates, and all of DH's shirts, to preserve the fabric and prevent shrinking. We have a TINY house, and it's either hang them in the dining room on a rack or on hangers in the shower. Since we need the shower more often than that corner of the dining room, the dining room won. In warm weather they hang on my sunporch or outside. My washer is in my kitchen and my dryer in the bathroom, so I'm carrying laundry from room to room no matter where it's dried.

 

[disneysteve]

Its a 30+ yr old Whirlpool dryer. Sure its seen better days. Its never been very efficient in the almost 20 yrs that WE have owned it.

OMG! Go straight to Home Depot and get yourself a new dryer. I guarantee you are wasting far more money on electricity than it would cost you to get a new dryer. We got a new dryer last year and got one of the cheapest ones they had. Even if you went for THE cheapest model, you'd probably save enough on electricity in the first year or so to pay for dryer. Plus your clothes would be dry in one cycle which would save you both time and energy.

 

[snowwite]

Last night, after reading the "wash in cold water" thread, I got to thinking about our electric bill...and how it keeps going up. It annoys me that our clothes dryer takes more than one cycle to dry the clothes.

THEN it hit me!!!! We heat our house with a wood pellet stove. It runs 24/7 during the winter. The heat (heated air - smoke free) is pushed out into the room by a tiny fan. We sometimes dry gloves in front of it.

So.....I said to DH last night, I should get one of those wooden dryer racks & dry the laundry there instead of the clothes dryer. We would be getting 2 uses out of paying for our house heat.

He just looked at me....and said...."you are not drying clothes in the living room".

OK....but it WAS a great idea.

....shhhhh...maybe when he's not home.

I got a rack and I dry stuff in the upstairs hallway in front of a large window all the time.Unless you plan in leaving it up while you have company over I dont see the problem.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Check your dryer vents. Everytime we have drying problems we run something through our vent hose (it goes up to the roof because of position on dryer and gravity works even on lint). As soon as we get rid of lint the dryer goes back to a one cycle dryer. You can buy this brush on a long flexible snake to do it or if it's short try a wire clothes hanger bent staight with the hook end going into the hose.

Oh and built up lint can catch fire if the dryer gets overheated, like when you run it twice. So please check your dryers.

that is exactly what I was going to suggest...
I also saw a dryer vent brush on HSC by Fuller Brush. I didn't get it from them, but then Lowes ended up carrying it. It is made for the dryer.. runs 9.99 at least that is what I paid.

 

[jennifer293]

When is the last time you had your dryer vent (not the lint trap) but the hose that runs to outside cleaned? That can cause your dryer to take longer to dry too. It is also one of the leading causes of house fires.

That reminds me of our first trip to Disney..stupid me thought I was being a good little wife by taking an evening and washing all of our clothes while everyone else was off playing. I did 3 loads of laundry and dried them in 3 different dryers..30 min. went by, still wet, and hour went by still wet, almost 2 hrs went by STILL WET...I got mad and threw all of our clothes in the suitcase and took them back to the room at 10:30 pm and Dh and I spent another 30 minutes strategically hanging our clothes in the room so they would dry out.. Now I only wash the clothes that the kids have stained that need to be washed ASAP while we are there!!!

Wonder when is the last time Disney had their dryer vents cleaned out??

 

[SplshMtn99]

OMG! Go straight to Home Depot and get yourself a new dryer. I guarantee you are wasting far more money on electricity than it would cost you to get a new dryer. We got a new dryer last year and got one of the cheapest ones they had. Even if you went for THE cheapest model, you'd probably save enough on electricity in the first year or so to pay for dryer. Plus your clothes would be dry in one cycle which would save you both time and energy.

Funny, I asked last year on THIS board if I should buy a new dryer...and the replies were no. Logic was that my dryer was working, and better quality than todays dryers that won't last long. And yes, I did ask about efficiency.

Just to clarify. It doen't take 2 cycles....just 1 cycle plus a little bit more. I wash alot of heavy type materials like army uniforms & jeans along with regular laundry. Even my super thick flannel sheets are pretty much dry on the first cycle. Only slightly damp where they balled up. What I REALLY aught to be doing is un-balling laundry during the first cycle to help air flow.

 

[bettyann29]

Ive been driving DF crazy for years because I dont dry many of our clothes.. The only things that get dried is his clothes.. all socks, underwear, towels, face cloths and bedding.. All my clothes and the 3 childrens are hung up.. During the spring, summer months and fall I put all clothes on the line outside and then the towels, bedding and his clothes go into the dryer on air cycle to make them fluffy.. During the winter months I have a smaller clothes line that goes across the width of my laundry room and I hang clothes in there.. From time to time they do have to go around the house to dry if I wash too many that need to be hung at once.. I try to do a load of hanging clothes and then a load that will go into the dryer..

 

[snowwite]

Ive been driving DF crazy for years because I dont dry many of our clothes.. The only things that get dried is his clothes.. all socks, underwear, towels, face cloths and bedding.. All my clothes and the 3 childrens are hung up.. During the spring, summer months and fall I put all clothes on the line outside and then the towels, bedding and his clothes go into the dryer on air cycle to make them fluffy.. During the winter months I have a smaller clothes line that goes across the width of my laundry room and I hang clothes in there.. From time to time they do have to go around the house to dry if I wash too many that need to be hung at once.. I try to do a load of hanging clothes and then a load that will go into the dryer..

I live in a condo and tried putting up a line one year but they made me remove it. The slothes smell better line dried. The towels get too scratchy though. If I dried anything outside now it would freeze and break!

 

[SplshMtn99]

I was just going to add, I too live in a condo. NO CLOTHESLINES. But its ok, I really prefer just tossing the clothes into the dryer. I remember growing up with line dried stiff/scratchy or frozen clothes & towels, or bugs in them, or having to run outside because it was going to rain.

I think thats what DH was remembering too when he said "no" to drying clothes in the living room. lol Not to mention he probably doesn't want to look at it.