I see all sorts of answers online, but am not fully convinced. I tried finding some research on the longevity of clothes between wash and wash + dry. Considering that it dries for hours just the mechanical movement should damage the clothes I would assume?
High key clothes dryers are like gen ai. Something we didn’t ask for, solving a problem that didn’t really exist, sold to us to consume more electricity and change our daily behavior, not the other way around. Air is free ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Yeah, but only on a decade scale. There’s friction involved, there’s going to be some damage. If a tumble dryer–on low–manages to wreck a garment, it’s probably been dodging stains and tears for a very long time.
That said, graphic tees can be notably damaged by driers running on full power. Their dryer-resistance (and longevity in general) depends on the quality of the appliqué, the underlying garment, and the initial application equipment.
That said, graphic tees can be notably damaged by driers running on full power. Their dryer-resistance (and longevity in general) depends on the quality of the appliqué, the underlying garment, and the initial application equipment.
Friendly reminder to all to flip your graphics tees inside out before laundering!
Also, “dries for hours” implies a less-heated condensation dryer. I’m used to the forced air heating kind. I believe the heat is a bigger source of damage than the actual friction action. Your armpits, legs, butt-against-seat, or sole-against-sock-against-shoe provide much more violent, repetitive, and focused friction than a dryer.
Granted, there can be a lot of lint that is removed in each cycle, which implies a lot of fabrics getting frayed. This is more common in things with loose, fluffy fiber like towels, blankets, or felts. Greater friction from greater surface area combined with less tight bindings and yarns leads to more fabric loss. But I haven’t seen a ton from generic pants and shirts loads.
Its the heat, mostly. If you use the low or very low/delicate settings, it will help.
I find that there is no benefit from using medium or high heat. It just shrinks my clothes. Low/delicate doesn’t and I haven’t noticed any damage.
By rules of physics it will damage it. Its rubbing against other clothes, its getting blasted with heat and it’s getting folded/bended over and over.
Damage is dependent on the material, but dor sure it wears them down.See thats the distinction that I’m curious about.
When articles say “Do not tumble dry” I wonder “Are we concerned about the heat from an old fashioned rotating oven or the mechanical stress on the fabric?” because I have a fancy pants heat pump dryer and my wife still insists it will somehow ruin the clothes.
Wife is always right! - Aside of the joke, I would attack this from an other point.
If the pants has a ‘permanent’ crease the dryer definitely will remove it, and the ironing will be a nightmare afterwards.
If you have garment bags you can always use it for the dryer, it would prevent some damage: stretching and so on.
If the price of your pants is less than a “disposable” amount for your family - probably not worth the hassle. If it’s pricey then honestly it is not that much more work to hang it on a pants hanger to dry. In that case it’s better safe than sorry.
I’ve heard stories about dry cleaners just using washing machines in the back, never got caught and got great reviews. So there is that. ;)I’ve always had the argument about baby/toddler clothes.
We dont buy expensive stuff, they get absolutely trashed by food, dirt, poop, paint, markers… but she still insists on air drying because the label says so. We’re due to have our second in a bit over a month so I imagine this is going to become a topic again.
The way I’ve seen people around me use the dryer, for sure. High heat will ruin clothes more than anything else, especially if it continues to run after everything had dried out.
Back in university, we had timed dryers that could only do either high heat or tumble dry low for an hour. Rooms were too humid and cramped to air dry. Of course, I wasn’t going to spend more money waiting for low heat to do its work. Clothes came out bone dry and metal zippers scalding hot. Only the large towels held up, everything else noticeably faded and thinned over a couple years.
Night and day difference once I got my own place with a condenser dryer. It takes longer, but everything is just dry enough at the end of each cycle. It’s also a bit smaller so I have to air dry parts of larger loads, but either way, my clothes have held up much better ever since.
I think it depends. I’m my experience, towels last longer if they get thrown in the dryer. Wouldn’t throw my cashmere sweater in there though, if I owned one. The quality of the clothes you own plays a part. And most of us tend to go for the bargain over quality.
I feel like this depends on your climate as well. If you have sufficient sunlight outside, why do you even have a dryer? If it’s humid and stuff takes forever to dry on its own, a dryer might prevent certain bacteria to build up in the fabric and thus expand longevity. Although any act of aggressively drenching the fabric in water and chemicals and then blow drying it ought to age it by default.
It depends on the fabric. A lot of synthetic clothes are now made to do well in the dryer. But if it’s 100% cotton, it can be permanently ruined in the first dry.
I only wear cotton. It’s taking a long time for me to notice a difference in size/thickness but that prob depends a lot on the type of dryer and clothes you have. However, I still prefer leaking cotton into the environment instead of microplastics
Always follow the instructions on the label in case it’s hang-dry only, dry everything on low, turn your jeans inside-out, and never use fabric sheets (wool dryer balls work almost as well without the chemicals).
Have you ever cleaned out a lint trap? All that lint used to be part of the clothes.
Serious question. I know this may sound silly, but why does the lint change colour then? Like, if I dry a load of white clothing then why does the lint still come out black?
My lint is always the color of the clothes in the dryer.
If yours isn’t, I’d start by deep cleaning your machine. Take the back panel off and vacuum any lint throughout the whole thing.
If you think it’s burning it to make it black. You’ve got a potential fire in your future you need to address.
Just wanted to comment this. The amount of lint can be quite shocking, but explains why e.g. t-shirts seem to get thinner over time…
I mean literally the same machine as a rock grinder, generated heat and tumbling items smacking into each other.
But like they are soft. And if you don’t use as much heat it is even gentler, which is why the driers that act as a dehumidifier without heat are even better better.
Which are the dehumidifying driers please?
I think they’re talking about heatpump driers. Mine’s barely even registering as warm in the tiny room its in. Run it multiple times in a day and the room is quite noticeaby low in humidity. I think in Europe it’s almost the only thing you can get nowadays due to the energy regulations, that’s at least the case in Denmark.
Yup, what other person said, heat pump dryers.
They use the insides of the dryer as the closed loop of heating and cooling. Heating air through clothes to get moisture then cooling it on the other side to condense it. Generates water but doesnt have a vent.
Neat use of the tech.
It probably has never been researched because it is obvious?
What do you suppose you’re removing from the lint trap?
The dead skin of my clothes.
I know this question is intended as a joke but it has me thinking. What is lint, actually? If its from our clothing then why is it always the same colour? Like, why can I put in a load of white clothing but the lint is still black? Is the lint burnt? Or is lint a byproduct of laundry soap? Or is it both from our clothing and our laundry soap? I genuinely don’t know. I’ve never thought about it before
Wat. Mine is always the average colour of the load.
It changes color
i see. But why?
It’s a similar reason that if you mix a bunch of crayons together they turn brown. They don’t always turn brown, they just usually do if you use all the colors.
If you dry a load of pure white towels, 100% cotton, you’ll get different lint than if you do all black polyester workout shirts.
Okay this is a satisfying response, thank you. I’ll have to test that out with the white towels. I’ve never noticed that before but it makes perfect sense.
Washing clothes defnetely damages your clothes. If you want your clothes to last as long as possible only wash them when they need them not just because you’ve worn them for a day. Also you can air them out instead of washing them to reduce the amount of wash cycles.
This, the process of washing clothing degrades it, in the washer and dryer. As well yes, you don’t need to wash something because you wore it once save for undergarments.
Replace your undergarments everyday because they will absorb the most sweat and oil from your body as well as any other material. That leaves external causes of soiling which are easy to mitigate. So you can wear a single pair of pants easily for a week. You replace your undershirt every 2-3 days and can wear an over shirt for a week as well. Just that people notice shirts more often so rotate your top.
Realistically, unless you’re in a profession where external soiling of clothing is high, you only need to do laundry once every 2 weeks deal. This save money, water, and reduces waste water with harsh chemicals in it.
I have never worn undershirts. (I think in Australia we call them singlets), should I? I find it particularly annoying in the warmer months when it’s 30C+ when I really need to stay cool.
I only wear undershirts in the winter months and under work shirts. It’s uncomfortable for certain in warmer weather. Don’t take what I said as a bible but as guidelines that you don’t need to one and done all your clothes.
either that or get gentler machines. i have an impeller driven washer and portable dryer that doesn’t ridiculously hot and my clothes has lasted for literal decades now.
it also helps being naked 99% of the time too. lol
There’s no doubt that it’s more wear and tear on your clothes.
Like if I put on a pair of shorts I’m probably going to sit around in them for most of the day and then take them off before bed. Several hours in the drier where it’s hot and they’re rubbing around on everything is surely going to be the equivalent of many days worth of “wearing them”.
Yes, I once lived in an apartment where the dryer would sometimes snag my clothes on the edge of the spinning part and they would get these spots at the point where they got caught that were stained black and stretched out or ripped.
