[Trillium]

Just learned this good tip for those with clothes dryers.

Take the (cleaned) lint filter out of your machine, and over the sink run hot water over the screen. Does the water mostly sit on the mesh? Or does it run right through? Most filters are the former.
If you use dryer sheets, they leave a waxy film over the lint screen which eventually builds up an impermeable barrier. This is what causes dryer units to burn out, possibly catch fire and waste a lot of electricity (not to mention still linty clothes).

Put the lint filter in hot soapy water and use an old toothbrush or other soft brush to carefully clean the whole screen area (should take about 30 seconds). Then run clear water over the screen again. This time it should run right through. Shake off excess water and replace.
Repeat this washing out every 6 months.

[SnooziSuzi]

good tip!  my clothes are always linty so i'll deffinitely give this a go!

[Aunt Sally]

I don't use drier sheets.  But I do use those knobbly ball things (no idea what the are called).  The soften and apparently reduce the drying time.

[Aunt Sally]

These are the ones:

http://www.dryerballs.co.uk/

saves money all round  

[brucesgirl]

I use those ball things - the cats keep nicking them though !

[weeeed]

Thankyou for that information, now I know why all my clothes have been all bitty recently!         Cleaner washing here I come. Jan  

[noshed]

I just hang my washing out on the balcony to create a sort of Italian vibe and to annoy the neighbours

[Trillium]

Soon as the weather is half decent, all our wash goes out on our solar dryer    but in winter this isn't really an option for us. Took out our lint filter yesterday and the water puddled on the screen. So I scrubbed it out gently and now the water runs right through. I expect to find lint free clothes now, machine, or you're out the door !  

[David.]

If I get hold of a 'concertina'? type clothes airer, I dismantle it with a jigsaw, and use the resulting 'T' shaped pieces - short lengths of rectangular section end sections with slightly longer lengths of dowel to punch into polythene dpm mulch and hold it down. Rest becomes row pegs.

[Trillium]

We have several wooden fold-up drying racks which we use all winter. The clothes are given a short spin to fluff them and remove lint, then hung on the drying racks to finish. When youngest son got married, he requested one of the big ones we have for his apartment. Luckily, I spotted one in a middle of nowhere store and he now uses it regularly.

[Ruby Red]

Im a bit surprised so many of you use electric dryers. They use a hell of a lot of energy. Not very eco friendly. Hope none of you have posted anything on here about ecological issues . :roll:

[Annie]

It`s sunny out so i have the washing machine going to take advantage of it.Hope this summer is a better drying year!!

[clarebear]

Im a bit surprised so many of you use electric dryers. They use a hell of a lot of energy. Not very eco friendly. Hope none of you have posted anything on here about ecological issues . :roll:

I have a dryer but I don't have much choice. I don't have a garden and with such a small flat I have hardly any radiators or room for aireres. In fact the tumble dryer is squeezed into the one tiny little space we have, which is in ds's bedroom.

Maybe this year I'll finally bump off my neighbour then I can start using the garden again.

I've just ordered a free aerial 3 minute timer to stop me staying in the shower all night. (that's how small my flat is, not even enough room for a bath)

[wellingtons]

... and I absolutely love it ... it's a retractable one, so when I'm not using it it's tucked away.

I also have a five line dryer in the spare bedroom for when line drying is not possible.  I make proper use of my airing cupboard, and I use the glass top of the hob to dry stuff too.

[Annie]

the once thing in a dryers favour is that you rarley have to iron anything.