What is it against dryers?

Hey Sam,

Yeah the washer/condenser dryer combo over here is a REALLY long process. You can do a max of 2 mediumish loads a day. It drove me nuts! If you end up in a house you can get washer and normal dryers here. It's just a space issue in most houses.

You have an issue with lint on your darks? Do you make sure to wash like colour loads? I never used to back in the states, but I'm much more careful over here. If you have light towels, you might want to swap to a darker colour, I've noticed those tend to be the most linty. We'd end up with teal lint all over the house when we used the condenser dryer at the old house.

We've moved and we now have a washer that spins things out really well so we hang most of our clothes dry. It annoys me that it takes so long, but you can get used to anything. I can't imagine how anyone does it with a baby and all their laundry!

It annoys me that it takes so long, but you can get used to anything.

I actually resort to doing some washing in the bathtub because I can't wait all weekend to sort it out! I love going to India on business as I can literally wash and dry all my clothes all in the same day. My wife always gets photos.

The dryer thing amuses me as well.  As others have said, it seems to be a product of frugality more than anything.  The mindset is that it's expensive; therefore, it's wasteful.  I have a mate who has one, and one day he was talking about how he just 'sometimes' uses it almost apologetically.  I've had the all in one washer-dryer combo things, and I never used the dryer function because the clothes came out too wrinkled and crunchy.  Drying racks worked fine for me.   But....lol....I just acquired my first tumble drying with a condenser last November, and I'm in heaven with fluffy towels again. I no longer have my sitting room occupied by a huge drying rack either and clothes hanging off all the radiators and door handles. 

I find the people here also get really worked up about flat roofs, open floor plans and excessive amount of windows for the same reason.  It comes down the energy costs.  It's really summed up well in that recent NatWest advert about the dad running around the house turning switches down or off with the 'I work to pay my bills'.  It's just a cultural thing.  I place no value judgement on it. 

It's just a cultural thing.  I place no value judgement on it.

Yes, but why then is there such animosity towards things like passivhaus? I was reading recently where (I think it was the University of Leeds) they have designed a house which costs less to build than the traditional brick and mortar faux Georgian style and heats itself for a fraction.

Yes, but why then is there such animosity towards things like passivhaus? I was reading recently where (I think it was the University of Leeds) they have designed a house which costs less to build than the traditional brick and mortar faux Georgian style and heats itself for a fraction.

That's a really good point about contradictions.  People may be all for the 5p bag tax or using a drying rack but against changes in housing styles even for efficiency. Someone was saying to me just the other day about their horror about the thought of having a timber frame house.  Perceptions are interesting.  I can see people being keen on Passivhaus on a new build, but I can also see the frugality kicking in on retrofitting because there is a big initial outlay to get the long term savings.  The pull of the Tudorbethan and Faux Georgian is strong!

I'm with you on this. I don't get it either. I consider myself very "green" and try to live in a way that is as respectful the environment as possible, but I hate having my towels dry into a scratchy, hard towel instead a soft and plush towel. Drying towels on a radiator or an "airer" as they call it here makes the towel have a hard, crunchy consistency that feels rough on my skin. I hate it. I use laundry racks at home in the states (or airers as they say here) for a lot of my clothes, but towels and bedding always go in the dryer. Some fibers in certain materials benefit from being dried in a tumble dryer.

The lady I rent from has a dryer and it looks like a dishwasher on the outside. It doesn't seem to tumble the clothes when you put them in and something is up with the vent because there isn't a lint/vent thing that you slide out to get the lint. It looks FILTHY and disgusting and the things come out of the dryer smelling kind of gross and weird.

I wonder if you are talking about the same kind of dryer that I have on my washing machine/ dryer combo.  It uses steam to dry the clothes, don't ask me how.  The clothes always come out slightly damp and smell faintly like motor oil and engine fittings. And it takes 5 hours.  No surprise that this method never caught on in the states. 

This machine also doesn't have a lint trap, nor does it have a vent to the outside.  I use it sometimes but mostly it's useless


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I don't think it uses steam, but it might on some settings. It's separate from the washing machine. You press the door of it with your fingers and it kind of snaps open. The smell isn't like motor oil, but kind of a gross musty smell. It's hard to describe. But it's not the nice smell of a fresh linen/cotton smell from a vent tumble dryer. The no lint trap thing drives me nuts. There's a thing at the bottom that looks like it should be for a lint thing (don't know what to call it) but it's not...and it just looks filthy and nasty. This "dryer" or whatever it is is also pretty useless. The stuff I've put in is still damp even an hour later and then have that gross musty smell to them.

It's a condenser dryer, not a tumble dryer. I can't really fully explain it well. Tumble dryers use hot air to dry the moisture out of clothes and that hot air full of moisture is vented outside. A condenser dryer rarely has a vent to the outside, ours pumps cold water into something that cools the air and causes the water to condense out of it and go down the drain. It takes FOREVER. Like 2-3 hours to dry clothes.

The weird smells... I've noticed one sometimes in ours and I've found the odd smell shows up when the clothes are over dried and we're using a bio laundry detergent OR a different one when wet laundry has been left in the machine. Does it smell like mildew?

I come from an area where we (as a town) were using line drying as a cost saving device due to the bad economy, so that part isn't as much of an issue for me as the 4 HOUR WASHING IS omg. Why so long?? And half the time my clothes still have the gunk on them they had when they went it. Even "fast wash" setting on my washing machine is 60 minutes. My old washer would be finished by that time. And why front loading so popular? They need cleaning, are completely gross to clean, and can leave clothes smelling awful if they aren't.

I don't understand why so many do the line drying here though in the wet/cold weather though. I got a tumble dryer first thing when I got here and it's small and old and broke about a month ago and doesn't tumble anymore, and I can't seem to fix it. The only time my towels aren't stiff is when there's a good, warm breeze outside.

And why front loading so popular? They need cleaning, are completely gross to clean, and can leave clothes smelling awful if they aren't.

It's most likely due to lack of space - most UK houses don't have a separate laundry/utility room for a washer or a dryer, so the only place to put a washing machine/dryer is under the kitchen counter... therefore a front-loading machine is likely the only option.

I've lived in the UK my whole life and I don't think I've ever seen a top-loading machine here - that's not to say you can't get them, I've just never met anyone who has one.

And why front loading so popular? They need cleaning, are completely gross to clean, and can leave clothes smelling awful if they aren't.

Never heard of this...    What bit are you meant to clean?

Never heard of this...    What bit are you meant to clean?

I use a washing machine cleaning powder you put in the machine  and run through a wash cycle. I clean mine when it starts to smell. And I always try to get my clothes out as soon as they finish and leave he door open a while to let it dry out. It still gets smelly every couple of months or so though.


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Thanks.
I've had my washing machine for 8 years, and it doesn't smell.  I do leave it open (both the drum and the drawer) when not in use, so maybe that's helping.

My front-loading machine needs a good clean every few months or it does start to have an odor, so I also use that washing machine cleaning powder on an empty machine at a 90 degree wash. The rubber door seal accumulates product and nastiness so gets a good swab, as does the dispenser tray and vicinity. I keep the machine door open to dry after a wash and also remove the tray to dry out.

Reading that back, I am intimately acquainted with my washing machine parts, which is kind of sad