Are spin dryers costly to run?

starlite_2

I am considering buying a spin dryer when i finally recieve my sure start grant.
we don't have a garden, and have no space for a tumble dryer, so i have been looking at spin dryers and found one that looks pretty good for £60
We have been happy just drying clothes on radiators, but with all the tiny baby clothes, and the washable nappies i plan to use I think it would make life a lot easier if i had some other means of drying laundry.

Does anyone have one? How effective are they, and how expensive are they to run?

ChocClare

We inherited an old one when my father-in-law died and we had to clear out his house. My initial reaction was "what do we want that for?" but I have to say it gets the most INCREDIBLE amount of water out of things. If you're using terry nappies, it'll get them to a point where they're obviously not dry but pretty darn near. I always put towels in it now - cuts drying time hugely. I've never costed it out so I can't be sure, but the absolute maximum we use it for at any time is only about five minutes, so it can't be that expensive. If you have a very fast spin on your washing machine then there may not be that much left to spin out, but if it comes out of the washing machine still pretty wet, then go for it!

starlite_2

our washing machine is awful - it's very old and takes three hours to wash, - doesn't have a fast spin at all!
Often clothes come out dripping wet.

only 5 minutes? Thats impressive..I guess it can't cost too much then.

se999

If the washing machine is that old, bad and inefficient it might be worth trying to cope a bit longer and save for a washer with higher spin speed. Also if it is old, you might buy the spin dryer and then have to replace the washing machine shortly after, and then you won't need it.

Unfortunately it's amazing how things like this happen! So do try to work out all the possibilities.

Pooky

Don't forget to register with your local Freecycle group. There's often loads of washing machines going on there - you might be able to pick one up that will be better than your current one.

System

I am saving up for a spin dryer. MrJudi is giving me £10 a week towards it. I have £80 saved now so i should be able to buy one in a week or two. My mom always had a spin dryer as it got so much water out of the clothes when they came out of the washer.

I found this on a site a few weeks ago, and although i aint saving up for that particular model i was impressed with the savings that can be made.

meadowcat

I don't think it is expensive to run a spin dryer as you are only spinning the clothes for a very short time. They are small and will not take a full load from a washing machine in one go, so you will have to spin one washing load in two or three batches. You need to be careful not to "overspin" some clothes or they will be badly creased if you leave them too long.

I bought mine at this time last year and found it invaluable during the winter when I had to dry clothes indoors. Of course it is not necessary to use it during the summer months, but I'm just about to dust mine off for winter.

starlite_2

Yes I think it will be essential, especially for the nappies. In winter it takes forever to get clothes dry. i wil lgo ahead, the one we want is on sale, so I may ask them to save it for a small deposit until we can buy it outright (it is an independent vacuum shop locally so i think they might accept)

re - a new washing machine, my parents are going to buy a new one in the january sales (after xmas bonuses! hehe) so we will inherit theirs.
Wish I had thought about freecycle earlier for the baby things we need. Do you have to give away a fair few things before you can 'recieve' ?

MATH

I am a bit sceptical of the claims manufacturers make about how spin dryers can knock half an hour of your tumble drying times. I say this because my washer has a top spin speed of 600rpm which is pitiful by British standards I know and the clothes, especially towels and jeans come out sopping wet. I also have a spin dryer which I give everything a 4 min spin at 2800rpm after 5 mins spinning at the lower speed in my washer. Doing this knocks 10-15 mins off my tumble drying times and also means I have to iron everything:mad:

foreverskint

Hi have just noticed this thread and remembered that I have a spinner lurking in the shed. I liberated it from my mum who was going to take it to the dump.
I have never used it, but in the interests of moneysaving I just conducted and experiment.;)

I have given all my towels a 4 minute spin after they had been washed and spun at 1100 rpm in my washing machine. This released a further 1/2 pint of water from 6 assorted bath towels.:eek:
Normally this amount of towels would take a tumble for 90mins to dry, and no wonder with all that water left in them. I am now a spindryer convert. I have seen the light, and all that. Now my house will not be so full of steaming washing during the winter.

Magentasue

foreverskint wrote:

I have given all my towels a 4 minute spin after they had been washed and spun at 1100 rpm in my washing machine. This released a further 1/2 pint of water from 6 assorted bath towels.:eek:
Normally this amount of towels would take a tumble for 90mins to dry ...

Interesting ... how long did they take to dry after spinning? In worse off days I always used to hang washing on an airer over the bath all day before tumble drying that night. Used to halve the drying time and it wasn't that inconvenient once I got into the routine of it but that was in my stay-at-home days.