really saving energy - eliminate the clothes dryer

Paul and Jocelyn talk about some friends of theirs that recently had an energy audit on their house. They talk about CFL lighting, and the importance of making lifestyle changes in sustainability. podcast

We are WWOOF hosts and, being relatively close to Paris, get quite a lot of American youngsters staying with us. One particular girl kept taking photos of me putting the washing on the line. So I had to ask why. "It's just SO cute" she replied. Cute? I was amazed that putting washing on the line could be 'cute' however she went on to explain that they would never, ever consider putting their clothes to dry anywhere other than a dryer. Anything else was just "too old-fashioned". Get real I thought to myself. I asked other American volunteers about washing etc and was amazed/horrified to find that putting clothes in the dryer is normal practice and "nobody thinks twice about it"! Not so in Europe, I'm glad to say. Hopefully they went away with a 'new' idea to try.

My apologies for not having read all the post/comments/whatever on this thread, as I too am pressed for time as most people tend to be.
If what I add is redundant, because it has already been covered, again, I apologize.
(The following is about cooler times of the year when heat is useful)

Here is a problem, and a potential solution:

Problem: First, the technicalities of the time/labor that may be involved with alternative methods - this is, of course, a matter of personal conditions and preferences.
Second, this involves a lot of moisture/humidity, which could cause its own problems.

The in-between: Consider the efficiency of a dryer. - I know, it seems inefficient and costly, but that may have a lot to do with how things are situated, set-up and used.
If you can make more use of what comes from a clothes dryer, the efficiency can improve greatly. The (watsed?) heat, the exhaust, etc.

Possible solution: If the "utility room" (assumes there is one) heating ventilation can be re-directed or shut off, the dryer can heat that room or part of the home.
If the dryer is/can be located elsewhere, like in a garage or something, again, it is also providing heat.

My favorite though, is that sometimes you can have a small greenhouse next to the home where the dryer vent is. If so, especially if you build a small greenhouse using pallets as the base to a sub floor of sorts, maybe the dryer vent could vent under or through the greenhouse floor (before exiting?), thus also heating the greenhouse?

One of my greatest loves is taking problems and finding ways to turn them into solutions.

Jocelyn Campbell wrote:I just found this thread and it's awesome pics and info after being very excited to see this Unbanning Clotheslines article from one of my NW (America) faves, The Sightline Institute.

I'm not sure how mapping the banned areas will help, unless they will be lobbying or documenting for policy or law changes.

I've been following Sightline Institute's efforts to "unban" the clothesline and they recently published that 19 states have laws protecting the use of solar energy which makes HOA (home owner association) rules that ban clotheslines illegal.

Yes.

Someone in the comments posted a link to what looks like it could be an important movie for building awareness in this space: Drying for Freedom.

Paul and Jocelyn cover more listener questions in this podcast. Some things they talk about include Paul's food rating system, (similar to Jack Spirko's Agritrue), eco-labeling, nurture vs. nature, recycling, legality of things like the clothes line, and pirating copyrighted material.

I love my drying racks. I purchased a few to use during the winter indoors. During the summer, I try to use our clothesline as much as possible but it doesn't work so well during the winter. So I did a little research and came across this article here. After reading that, I was convinced to go looking on Craigslist to see if I could find some cheap racks and found a couple. During the winter, we use a wood stove for heating and I just set them up near the stove and the heat drys the clothes in no time at all. Plus, the house smells like fresh laundry for the next day or so.

Oooooooo shiny. I think this is a really cool design:



Full details: wall mounted clothes drying rack

The dryer takes 45-50 minutes to dry a load of work pants, runs 240 volts. The breaker is 30 amps, the thing probably uses 20 amps. 240x20=4800 watts @ 13¢/kWh=62¢/load.
Down here in Florida, the clothesline takes 20-30 minutes, produces no lint, uses zero volts, zero amps.

Thanks for linking to my Wall Mounted DIY Drying Rack. I've since remodeled it and Version 2 works great! It folds flat to the wall when not in use, and hinges into a sideways-V to give two layers of drying in very little space. Also like the cost, which was about $3.



Detailed post here: http://www.nwedible.com/2012/04/wall-moutned-clothes-drying-rack-perfected.html

Something I have not seen mentioned on this thread yet is the matter of if a piece of clothing is really "dirty".

For instance I know many people that will wear an article of clothing part of a day in an air conditioned building, then throw it in the wash.
When did it get dirty? The same type of person would look at me like I was a caveman if I said I would take it off, fold it, and wear it again a time or two.

There seems to be a mindset that says, "if you wear it even a little while, then it is automatically dirty and must be washed."

I will wear the same pair of clean , "nice" jeans to work for a week, when I get home in the evenings, I change into a "yard work" pair that I also use all week, they may get a little dirty, but that doesn't matter, because I will be the only one seeing them and besides, since when is dirt bad anyway?

Now, if I go out and get sweaty, then that stuff gets washed because I know people have a harder time smelling their own body odor than other's .

I use my washer maybe two or three times a month, and my drier even less, and then only on rainy days.

OK I was inspired by this thread! Today I installed 3 clotheslines between two big trees in my yard, which can hold about 2 loads from my washing machine. I'm shocked that the shirts really are almost completely dry and it's only been 20-30 minutes. It was so easy to put the clotheslines up, so this novice DIY-er is quite proud. Also, I have to say it's nice to get a stretch while hanging the clothes to dry and to have another excuse to be outside on a gorgeous day.

Hi all,

I am thinking of making a equivalent to a solar dehydrator, but a compact outside drying room. I am in aust and the dryer gets used ( cloth napping a 13month old) a bit in winter. Was thinking if the same design features of the solar dehydrator that has the hot air going to the top and then second passive of condensation, the back up a black chimney. I remember watching one of pauls videos and the draw on the dehydrator was amazing, thought that this would work wonders for the colder months. I was thinking of having it 1.5/2 times the solar dehydrator size and putting possibly either rope or dowell as the things to hang the clothes on. Thinking that I should be able to source all the goods second hand for Around $50, emphasis being on having the main section air tight....

Any thoughts / hints / advice?

What is a clothes dryer?

Seriously, I have not used a dryer for at least 20 years and I not only do NOT miss it, I wouldn't use one if someone gave it to me AND paid the electric or gas bill. I love hanging clothes outside on the clothesline. I get to be out in the fresh air and my clothes always come in smelling like sunshine and the great outdoors (instead of half-melted). The bonus is that I can hang my white clothes on the line in full sun for a few hours and don't need to use toxic bleach to get them bright. I don't even spend money on clothesline. I have all the lines I need by re-using baling twine.

I dry clothes outside in winter too, so I don't have to mess with lines and things in the house. You would be surprised at how fast clothes will dry outside, even when it is really cold. It can be a bit of trouble to get them off the line if they freeze before they are dry though, so its best to hang them out in a sunny spot on a windy day. Once I stupidly hung them out just before an ice storm hit, and had to chisel the clothes pins out to get the clothes off the line so I could rehang them (after I hammered all the ice off them). It was kind of weird to hold a pair of pants straight out in front of me like a board!

Oh gosh, my husband and I wear the same clothes over and over and hardly ever wash them! We wash t-shirts and shirts if they seem sweaty/smelly, and of course we wash underpants, socks and bedding, but much of everything else is deemed to be clean unless proven otherwise; we wash if it gets stained. Even stockings I wear at least twice as they get damaged so easily. Saves a lot of human energy too as well as $$$ because we hang the laundry out on an outside line and have to bring it in if it rains.

Petra Smirnoff wrote:Oh gosh, my husband and I wear the same clothes over and over and hardly ever wash them! We wash t-shirts and shirts if they seem sweaty/smelly, and of course we wash underpants, socks and bedding, but much of everything else is deemed to be clean unless proven otherwise; we wash if it gets stained. Even stockings I wear at least twice as they get damaged so easily. Saves a lot of human energy too as well as $$$ because we hang the laundry out on an outside line and have to bring it in if it rains.

I'm the same way. Unless it is obviously smelly or dirty, I don't see the point. I have a pair of pants specifically for working in the garden/yard, and I wash them maybe once a month on average.

Delilah McCoy wrote:I found a pic of the top of the bamboo clothes dryer I made to go over the wood stove. This pic was made when I was getting ready to hang deer meat to dry into jerky using the maple J hooks attached with cordage.

This is an old post that so inspired me that I had to bump it up. Fred I saw this rod with the bamboo hooks and thought "I need a covered place outside to dry clothes!" Now added to my list of projects.

Ok this is going to sound like I am whining, but someone has to ask the question.

What about humid days?

If it is a humid day, it might take hours for my clothes to dry. Since I average 2 loads of wash a day, that makes for a lot of laundry that isn't drying as fast as I need it to.

And of course there is the question of what do you do in the winter, when hanging up outside isn't an option (or if you live in one of those HOA areas that don't allow clotheslines). I don't have enough space in my house to hang up 2 loads of wash.

I want to reduce the use of my gas dryer. In the summer I tried to hang them on the line (see whiny post above)

I thought of hanging up many of the clothes on hangers and just letting them air dry before putting them away in the closet. I still have linens, jeans, sweaters, and other clothes that I can't hang on a hanger that need drying. If I put them into the dryer, then I am still using the dryer and might as well throw the entire load in rather than piece it out.

I had completely forgotten the dryer rack DOH! thanks for the reminder. Your idea seems more out of the way than the rickety thing in the room that always seems to get hit and falls. I have an old crib that I imagine I could use.
But I still have the big and bulky items to tend to. Although the little kids would probably love having the sheets hanging from the ceiling, I think this would defeat the purpose of me cleaning them in the first place. hahaha

Karen Briggs wrote:What about humid days?

I know that folks in Seattle struggle with this. But I would guess folks in florida would struggle even more.

I also know that several people in Seattle have dehumidifiers because the humidity can cause all sorts of icky problems. In which case, if the humidifier is in the same room as the laundry on racks, then the clothes will dry quickly.

Plus, a dehumidifier will warm the air a bit. So if it is a cool day, this will offset your need for heat. Think about it this way: a dryer will push the heat outside, while a dehumidifier keeps the heat inside.

This is the pulley system I have for my outdoor clothes line. Unless it is wet or below 28° (above 28° although things freeze they don't break)
As a child, my Grandmother grew lavender below the clothes line and so our clean laundry always smelled like lavender... good memories

Indoor solutions on cold or wet days *sigh* I still use my dryer. However I can remember laundry being all over the house when I was growing up. My grandmother had one of those umbrella style clothes racks held everything but blankets. She would pop that thing right near the wood stove and they would be dry in no time.

how about making a small rocket mass heater somewhere indoor or outdoor to dry clothes

A few years back when I was doing research for an Environmental article I was writing, I found out the entire output (at that time) of all the U.S. nuclear plants was only enough to power the nation's clothes dryers. What a shame! I personally feel those nuclear plants need to all be shut down with all the EQs we've been having, as they are just another disaster (like the one in Tokyo), waiting to happen. A great number of them (like the Savannah River Plant in Georgia), are built on fault lines and are unsafe by even their own standards.

Can we take this a step further? What about washing the clothes by hand? It isn't so bad if you have a wringer to get out the excess water. Even a mop bucket with a wringer will work. You can use a dedicated, clean toilet plunger to push the clothes up and down in a tub or large bucket until they are clean, wring them out, then rinse in another bucket in a change of water. Yes, it is a lot of work, but it is an option. Utility costs are not going down.

I love this thread! The small room and dehumidifier is the first realistic suggestion I've heard for my area which gets 60 inches of rain annually and typically has 90-100% humidity. I've tried line drying outside and it didn't really work (even after 12 hours) and bugs and burrs got all over them.

I hope this will work in my utility room (dogs sleep in there at night and I don't know how well that will go) although if takes less than a day to dry them that might not be a problem. I'm going to try it. Wow, I'm actually excited about doing laundry! ;p

My washing machine is very, very efficient, so I'm fine with that. The spin cycle will help with removing water anyway. I have two not yet completely potty trained boys and go through a ridiculous amount of laundry. I'm all for re-wearing clothes in winter (summer is another matter) as long as there aren't any body fluids on them, heh.

Melba Corbett wrote:
Can we take this a step further? What about washing the clothes by hand? It isn't so bad if you have a wringer to get out the excess water. Even a mop bucket with a wringer will work. You can use a dedicated, clean toilet plunger to push the clothes up and down in a tub or large bucket until they are clean, wring them out, then rinse in another bucket in a change of water. Yes, it is a lot of work, but it is an option. Utility costs are not going down.

I think if an efficient washer is used on tap-cold, it may be like the dishwasher and be less than or equal to hand washing. I should put a water tub under my washing drain pipe and see how much water a load actually uses. I hooked the plug up to a kill-a-watt and the electric use was very minor, from not even registering to about 6w for most of the cycle, that was on delicate though, so I should check it more thoroughly.

Anyway, you've inspired me to measure my washer's water use. I'll do it now and report back =D

EDIT/UPDATE # A normal cycle used right at 15 gallons, the upper limit for an energy star rating. I had hoped it was less than that. I probably do use more than that when I hand wash, but I bet someone with a better set up and more experience could do better. I may experiment with one of those plunger buckets and squeeze-rollers, but I'm going to give the dehumidifier/dryer a try first. One change at a time =D

From reports I have heard, dehumidifiers may not be a green, nor economical solution.

I read a product review from a woman in Louisiana (humid) who bought one. She stated that it consumed as much energy as did her AC, and the results of running it at 'full tilt' showed no noticeable change in humidity.

Perhaps, in a dry climate, where dehumidifiers are not commonly used, it might speed up the drying of clothes indoors, but at what cost? If you need to run this thing for 12-24 hours to dry clothes, is it using any less energy than a dryer for 30-40 minutes?

I used to disconnect the dryer from the outside vent during winter months, and put an old pillow case on the hose as a filter. I just let all of that exhaust heat stay inside my home, rather than exporting it to all of the birds who decided to overwinter rather than migrate. The heat was used to dry the clothes, AND help heat my home.

John Polk wrote:From reports I have heard, dehumidifiers may not be a green, nor economical solution.

I read a product review from a woman in Louisiana (humid) who bought one. She stated that it consumed as much energy as did her AC, and the results of running it at 'full tilt' showed no noticeable change in humidity.

Perhaps, in a dry climate, where dehumidifiers are not commonly used, it might speed up the drying of clothes indoors, but at what cost? If you need to run this thing for 12-24 hours to dry clothes, is it using any less energy than a dryer for 30-40 minutes?

I used to disconnect the dryer from the outside vent during winter months, and put an old pillow case on the hose as a filter. I just let all of that exhaust heat stay inside my home, rather than exporting it to all of the birds who decided to overwinter rather than migrate. The heat was used to dry the clothes, AND help heat my home.

We have 2 dehumidifiers and they do help massively with stopping mold from growing on the ceilings, fabric, walls, etc. But a non electric alternative would be nice. One uses 22w, but is run 24 hours a day. The other I haven't tested for wattage yet (loaned my kill-a-watt out) but I need to do it soon. It's bigger so probably 300-400w. These can quickly add up.

On another thread the suggestion of using a desiccant was made, and I think combining that with a small fan may be a better solution than an electric dehumidifier. I'm going to do a little experimenting. I don't have a lot of time right now between kids and college, but I still want to work on this before the house is finished.

Anonymous wrote:I find barely used clothes in thrift stores everytime I go to one (I limit visiting them, cause I have plenty of clothes and I usually find something that I've just "got to have" for $1-5).

I have a circuit of 3 Goodwill stores that I stop by when I have to go to the city during their business hours. Thanks to them, I have two good suits, 6-8 extra suit jackets and 4-5 pairs of slacks that coordinate with one or more of the jackets, all for less than one good suit would have cost new. Most of the jackets still had the pockets basted shut when I got them, and one still had tags in it. I assume at least some of them were bought by people who wear a suit so rarely that they were no longer the same size by the next time they needed one. I do some small alterations myself, and there's a tailor I've been meaning to take a couple of jackets to because extending the vents when shortening the sleeves can be a little trickier than it looks, but even having one fully tailored comes out cheaper than buying new when you can get it lightly used for $5-$25. (Suits are usually $18-$22, jackets alone $5-$15.)

Dress shirts for $4.25 each is almost dangerous for me; I end up leaving with 3-4 each time, no visible wear on any of them. Picked up a pair of brown Rockports for $5 that might have been worn twice, and they're still my favorite dress shoes. It's funny when people comment that they can't afford to dress like I do for semi-formal events and I point out that they spent more on a pair of jeans than I did on an entire suit with shoes.

I find clothes dryers or drying clothes inside simply yucky and very anti hygienic. They need sun and air.
If it really rains on end here I drive to town, trow my wet clothes in the laundromat, go shopping, get back and done.
We all have here hills hoist in our backyards.

Sam recently made us some extra drying space in our utility room.

In winter, we mostly use folding clothes racks for drying indoors, but once in a while need just a bar or two for a towel or a wet throw rug. This is perfect for that! (It has overalls on the middle rung.)

Hey, glad to see I'm not the only line drier lol. I too use a folding rack in the winter.

As it stand I dry the clothes on the rack, which leaves them wrinkled of course, then I throw them in the dryer for 5 minutes or so to dewrinkle them. My question, wouldn't be more energy efficient to do this or iron out the wrinkles?

John Polk wrote:From reports I have heard, dehumidifiers may not be a green, nor economical solution.

I read a product review from a woman in Louisiana (humid) who bought one. She stated that it consumed as much energy as did her AC, and the results of running it at 'full tilt' showed no noticeable change in humidity.

Perhaps, in a dry climate, where dehumidifiers are not commonly used, it might speed up the drying of clothes indoors, but at what cost? If you need to run this thing for 12-24 hours to dry clothes, is it using any less energy than a dryer for 30-40 minutes?

I used to disconnect the dryer from the outside vent during winter months, and put an old pillow case on the hose as a filter. I just let all of that exhaust heat stay inside my home, rather than exporting it to all of the birds who decided to overwinter rather than migrate. The heat was used to dry the clothes, AND help heat my home.

Dehumidifiers are energy hogs and unitaskers. Much better to use an AC or something else to get two used out of the energy. I bought a heat pump hot water heater, so it dumps all the heat into my hot water. Uses half the power to heat water as electric water heater elements plus gives me AC and dehumidifier in my basement "for free". Really free would be better, but it is a start.

I randomly ran across this British solution for super humid environments, the heated drying rack. Or a heated airer in British-speak. I remember in Houston, it was so damp in the winter, nothing would have dried there for weeks. And in the summer we were running the AC to 80 just to keep the dry wall from molding, laundry would have taken forever had it not been stolen from the line (I lived in a pretty dodgy part of town). I like that there is an alternative somewhere in the middle of all or nothing. But does it work? Has anyone seen one of these contraptions sold in the US?

I live in western New York state. It's humid in the summer and cold/snowy in the winter. I'm 65 years old and have never owned a dryer. A clothes line works great even in winter as long as the sun is shining and if it's not then I use folding clothes racks that only need to be up for a day so I can put up with the space problem. Even when I was working in corporate America I used a clothes line and don't plan on ever using anything else.

Thanks for bringing this up, I was actually about to start a topic. Let me be the desenting voice here.

I do not wash cloths often, I'm dirty dusty and smell like earth. I keep one or two clean things in reserve just in case.

Anyway driers.

I have mentioned several times. I do not heat my home. 0. zilch. nada. It's a big place, the insulation is nonexistent and it's just me and my dog so it seems wasteful as all getup. But this time of year is FREAKING COLD. Right now its doing the ABSOLUTE WORST which is that 28-36*F constant phase change stuff. So basically its all clouds of mist right at freezing. Miserable. It sucks the warmth right out of you and makes everything oh so slightly soggy. 5 degrees colder or warmer is much much better.

Especially after getting all sweaty working outside it is damn near dangerous to come inside and put on freezing cold damp clothing.

So when things are in this temperature band I keep my sleeping bag and some long underwear and socks and the like in the dryer. A quick 10 minute spin can't take that much energy (compared to having a fire warm the same clothing for instance) and I am able to jump into a dust dry 130 degree glove of warmth more less instantly.

SO

this time of year I use my drier more than ever - maybe reaching one full 52 minute cycle worth of energy a week. Pretty sure that's the most efficient way to go in my case.

my dad lives in Bogota Colombia and I think maybe now more people have clothes dryers but until recently no one did and this is a place with year round rainfall sometimes very heavy rain so almost all houses have a small room that is basically a green house as part of the house. to me this is the best use for a green house. where I live humidity is a big problem so I don't want to dry clothes inside my house but also pollen is a big problem for me and my son so for a large part of the year if we hang clothes up outside we will have no place to go to escape the pollen we are allergic too (and the humidity is already a problem but that will make it even worse). I plan to eventually build a small green house and that will be where I dry my clothes. I understand lots of good reasons not to grow plants in a green house but drying clothes in one seems really practice to me.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002GEDBIG/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1420055295&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SY200_QL40&dpPl=1&dpID=41-uzh6nBIL&ref=plSrch
Hey everyone. Great ideas but I didn't see much on how to make your dryer more efficient. I know dryers are bad and all but my parents dont want to get away from it yet.
So I got them a spin dryer that I have used when I washed all my cloths by hand. A spin dryer is like a trash can shape and size that spins at a few 1000 rpm. It only takes a few seconds to spin 90% of the water out. So washing machine using home made soap then into the spin dryer for less then a minute. Then into the normal dryer for just a few minutes. The dryer aslo is used with wool dryer balls. The dryer balls left and seperate the cloths as they spin and takes out the static. So the dryer balls make it more effective and no need for dryer sheets ever again.
So check out a spin dryer and 100% wool dryer balls for the family members who want to save a ton of time and help save a bit of power.
The link at the top is for my dryer. Good posts everyone and Happy New Year.

Buying wool clothing will solve many of the issues that come about with the elimination of dryers, especially for the cold weather folks. I've been working the past year towards a minimalist wardrobe that consists almost entirely of wool clothing. Since this change, I'm scratching my head at why humans ever moved away from wool clothing to cotton in the first place.

Sheep's wool is part of a living organism that has been evolving for milennia (or some large scale) for the protection of warm blooded animals in a great variety of climates and conditions, both hot and cold. Wool fiber has a natural elasticity that allows it to be stretched as much as one-third and then spring back into place. It is both warmer and cooler than cotton, in cold and hot weather respectively: when the air is cool and damp, wool absorbs moisture and keeps a layer of dry insulating air next to the skin. When it is warm, that same absorbtion capacity takes up perspiration and keeps insulating dry air next to the skin, making the body's natural cooling system work better. Wool is also the only fiber that naturally resists flaming. And, one of my favorites, it actually keeps you warm when wet, warmer than cotton at least. My grandfather used to wear wool sweaters when diving off the CA coast before wetsuits came about. And best of all, if done correctly according to permaculture principles, it is completely renewable and sustainable.

The most important properties of wool that have to do with the elimination of dryers, however, are the naturally antimicrobial properties of wool that prevent it from smelling badly, even when the wearer does, and it's quick drying nature. It doesn't allow the stink-causing bacteria to harbor and grow in it's fibers, meaning clothing can be warm repeatedly without washing. Since switching to a wool wardrobe my clothes washing has decreased by over 80%, meaning my clothes drying has decreased by the same. This also means that I don't need 7 pairs of socks, 7 shirts, and multiple pairs of pants to last me in between washings - I can wear the same thing multiple days in a row. Only a few of each item can suffice for me, and it sure is nice being able to fit my entire closet into a small backpack.

Additionally, wool dries quicker than cotton (but not as quickly as synthetic fibers), so hanging clothes out to dry doesn't take as long.

Kirk Holmberg wrote:http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002GEDBIG/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1420055295&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SY200_QL40&dpPl=1&dpID=41-uzh6nBIL&ref=plSrch
Hey everyone. Great ideas but I didn't see much on how to make your dryer more efficient. I know dryers are bad and all but my parents dont want to get away from it yet.
So I got them a spin dryer that I have used when I washed all my cloths by hand. A spin dryer is like a trash can shape and size that spins at a few 1000 rpm. It only takes a few seconds to spin 90% of the water out. So washing machine using home made soap then into the spin dryer for less then a minute. Then into the normal dryer for just a few minutes. The dryer aslo is used with wool dryer balls. The dryer balls left and seperate the cloths as they spin and takes out the static. So the dryer balls make it more effective and no need for dryer sheets ever again.
So check out a spin dryer and 100% wool dryer balls for the family members who want to save a ton of time and help save a bit of power.
The link at the top is for my dryer. Good posts everyone and Happy New Year.

Like a market garden scale salad spinner. I like it.

Another tip: If you have a newer washing machine, they will spin crazy fast and get the stuff really dry--but most are not programmed to spin the fastest speed in the normal cycles because they are afraid of wrecking delicate clothes. If you re-program it to bump the spin speed up, you can cut the dryer time way down--or make it dry on the line way faster in marginal weather.

And Ann, I have seen towel warmers that could dry a sink full of hand washing, but nothing like those big drying racks.