How long to tumble dry for?

Silaqui

Hi everyone,
I wasn't sure whether to post this here or on the 'In My Home' board, please move if necessary.

This weekend, after living in this place for nearly 5 years, I finally figured out how to use the tumble dryer on my washer dryer (I had thought it wasn't connected, but I hadn't pressed the button ) I was quite chuffed with this as it's a flat and I find it quite difficult to get everything dry in weather like this.

I tested it yesterday with a few towels, I put 4 mid sized towels on a quick wash on 30degrees and set it to dry them for 40 minutes after this. When I took them out, they were still really damp (warm, but definitely damp).

Is that normal? SHould I be leaving things in longer? How long is tumble drying supposed to take?

TIA,

Silaqui

squeaky

Hmm... after five years I don't suppose that you can lay your hands on the manual - which is likely to give you some help :-)

If you can't find it - there are several places where you might be able to track down an on-line or pdf version:- http://www.instruction-manuals.co.uk/

Though these days the majority of manufacturers make them available on their own websites, so that would be a first port of call.

But yeah... forty minutes for towels doesn't seem like long enough to me. Seventy five should get you closer.

HTH

Silaqui

I had tried searching for the manual - I don't have a paper copy so searched the downloadable ones on the Whirlpool website, but for some reason the manual for that particular model number (AWZ 410) doesn't seem to fit the model I have. (The diagram is different, and the instructions don't quite fit). I'll try that site though and see if theres anything else!

I want to try and check the code on the service label but it's on the back and I can't move it by myself!

I'll try things for a bit longer next time then - it's annoying because the one I had when I was at uni had settings rather than just a timing, so I just did it to those and didn't pay much attention!

Thanks for the help!

21stCenturyPioneer

Hi there!

I thought I might just post a few bits being a washer dryer user myself!

First of all washer dryers are not as good as tumble dryers, they tend to use more power by how they dry.

As most people know a tumble dryer works by tumbling the clothes in ot air, as it turns you see the laundry rising high in the drum and the noise of hot air being blown in. This makes them more efficient since the clothes have ideal drying conditions. They also cut down on the ironing since if you fold the clothes straight out of the tumble dryer it gets a lot of creases out.

A washer dryer works by condensing and they do not normaly have hot air being blown through the machine. if you watch the drum then just turn and there is no noise of air being blown in. You will hear water being let into the machine though, this is because to cool the moisture in the drum they run a trickle of cold water and flush evrything down the drain.

Since they have smaller drums than tumble dryers they tend to crease the clothes more, and increase time ironing!

A washer dryer normally has settings on it such as cupboard dry and hanger dry, these could be little symbols on the dryer timer dial of a clothes hanger.

Cupboard dry is the dryest automatic program, however washer dryers as you have noticed take ages to dry clothes compared to a normal dryer.

Silaqui

21stCenturyPioneer wrote: »

Hi there!

I thought I might just post a few bits being a washer dryer user myself!

First of all washer dryers are not as good as tumble dryers, they tend to use more power by how they dry.

As most people know a tumble dryer works by tumbling the clothes in ot air, as it turns you see the laundry rising high in the drum and the noise of hot air being blown in. This makes them more efficient since the clothes have ideal drying conditions. They also cut down on the ironing since if you fold the clothes straight out of the tumble dryer it gets a lot of creases out.

A washer dryer works by condensing and they do not normaly have hot air being blown through the machine. if you watch the drum then just turn and there is no noise of air being blown in. You will hear water being let into the machine though, this is because to cool the moisture in the drum they run a trickle of cold water and flush evrything down the drain.

Since they have smaller drums than tumble dryers they tend to crease the clothes more, and increase time ironing!

A washer dryer normally has settings on it such as cupboard dry and hanger dry, these could be little symbols on the dryer timer dial of a clothes hanger.
Thats what my old one used to have! Made it much easier, this one just has a timer that you set.

Cupboard dry is the dryest automatic program, however washer dryers as you have noticed take ages to dry clothes compared to a normal dryer.

Thanks for that that is all useful to know. I was thinking of maybe using it to cut down on the length of time I have stuff hanging around the house but seems like it's more hassle than it's worth! I don't want to run the risk of everywhere getting damp and mouldy though if I have stuff drying indoors.

I'll give it a couple more test runs on old clothes and towels and see haha!

xx

jools27_2

The drier on mine doesnt take too long, however if I do a quick wash the spin speed is only 800, as opposed to 1400 on normal wash, might be worth looking at!

Silaqui

Oh good idea, thanks!
x

babyshoes

I suspect it will just be a case of experimenting. At worst, if things come out warm and a bit damp, airing them overnight should finish off the drying without making the whole place damp!

squeaky

21stCenturyPioneer wrote: »

Hi there!

A washer dryer works by condensing and they do not normaly have hot air being blown through the machine. if you watch the drum then just turn and there is no noise of air being blown in. You will hear water being let into the machine though, this is because to cool the moisture in the drum they run a trickle of cold water and flush evrything down the drain.

Actually that's not fully accurate. Most systems use the heating element (but not on full blast) to warm the air in the drum, and a small fan (usually a quiet one) circulates the now warm air into the inner drum where the clothes are. As it passes through it picks up moisture from the clothing. Then, when it moves on into the space between the inner and outer drums the moisture condenses out as it comes into contact with the cold water that is running in the gap.

There's no outlet vent for this warm air because the fan just circulates it round and round, first picking up moisture from the clothes, then dropping it in the gap between the drums... and round it goes again.

While this is the most efficient way to use a washing machine as a dryer it doesn't really compete very well with a proper tumble drier. These things were invented to help those who don't have enough space to have both a washing machine and a tumble dryer. If you've got the space then having the two machines will be a best option.

Bear in mind that you can stack the tumble dryer on top of the washing machine - and most companies make a holder strip that will allow the stacking without the risk of the tumble dryer sliding/shaking/vibrating off the top ;-)

Anyway... just thought I'd tell you that :-)

Hellyboo

Washer dryers do take longer than a tumble dryer because they have to dry the machine before they can dry the clothes IYSWIM. I have a washer dryer but have a separate tumble dryer too because I found things were just not getting dry in the washer dryer. Also, I can save time if I have more thean one load to do as I can have the TD going at the same time as the WM. It might be useful, as you say, to semi-dry things in the washer dryer and then hang them around, so it takes less time to dry and you have less hanging about. If you do want things dry from the machine though, you'll just have to experiment! Towels will take longer than cotton t-shirts, for example, but jeans and heavy fabric will probably take longer. And bear in mind that if you have anything in your wash that can't be tumble dried - wool or delicates - you'll have to take them out before the dryer cycle or you'll end up ruining them! Hope I've helped x