Tumble Dryer Sales Fall

Rainy-Days

Dryer sales tumble as we switch back to pegs to save cash as energy prices soar



Families are switching off their tumble dryers and pegging out their washing to save money.As a result, sales of dryers have slumped more than 30 per cent. The tough economic conditions and rocketing energy prices have persuaded many people that there is no shame in hanging out their smalls to dry in public.

The trend is being embraced by celebrities such as actress Jane Horrocks. ‘Invest in a washing line and peg your washing outside instead of putting it in the tumble dryer,’ she said recently.It seems people nationwide agree and it has had a dramatic impact on the sales of dryers, which are down from 1.3 million in 2006 to 900,000 last year.
Less than half of the country’s 27 million households now own a tumble dryer.Supermarkets have expanded ranges of lines and pegs, fuelling a boom for manufacturers of traditional clothes lines, rotary lines and indoor airers.


The LinePost Company, in Maesteg, South Wales, has seen orders double in the past two years.
A spokeswoman said: ‘We’ve had enquiries and orders from all over the country. We hear the same story.

'Families are finding it difficult to cope with the higher electricity prices. They need to make savings.’
Consumer analysts Mintel have found that less than three in ten families who own dryers actually use them.

The firm’s Jane Westgarth said: ‘Dryers have taken a greater dip in the recession because they are not necessary, and people think they are heavy users of electricity.’ The Energy Savings Trust says using a tumble dryer for every wash costs more than £70 a year.



But pegging out the washing comes with its own cost. More than 400 people a year are admitted to hospital with clothes-peg related injuries.

Rainy-Days

The question is this - who the heck is getting injuries from pegs then? :rotfl:

Anyway, it makes sense really. I have just bought a couple of new sets of pegs to replace my old ones which are gradually becoming brittle and giving up. I just don't know why more people don't put their washing outside to dry. I have always done it, my mum did it! It's just laziness on some peoples parts and you can actually wear you clothes away quicker in a tumble dryer!

sharloid

I've never had a tumble drier and don't intend to get one. I know it can be hard work having to find somewhere to put the maiden when it's damp outside but we're going to treat ourselves to a dishwasher when we get the kitchen done rather than a dryer.

POPPYOSCAR

I have never wanted one anyway, regardless of saving money.

Butterfly_Brain

I always hang my washing out because it smells so much fresher being out on the line, and I love to watch it billowing on a windy day. I have just got rid of my tumble dryer because I begrudged paying any extra to the huge foreign owned power company extortionists and bought 3 more airers so that on wet days the washing can go in the bathroom with the window open.

Another thing to factor in is that you don't get so much shrinkage like you do with a tumble dryer especially with the cheap materials that have flooded the clothing market

I had a tumble dryer fire once and that is pretty scary

jcr16

i like my tumbly, but that dsoesn't mean i don't use my washing line.

my tumbly is there as a back up as i don't like havign washing hanging around the house to dry in the winter. i still use the line as much as i can in winter but tumbly doesn't cost anything sitting in the toy room. and we got an a rated one , haven't found it that expensive to use.

but peg related injurys. wow 400 a yr. the only one i can think of is when you use those horrid wooden pegs ( which i hate to admit i'm using at mo,lol 100 pegs in £land how could i refuse) and they ping off the line and the little metel hinge flys off, that would hurt if caught you in the eye.

Rainy-Days

I know I agree with you Butterflybrain - it's the white sheets that give me the most pleasure seeing them blow up like a balloon with the wind going through them little things like that please me so much!

seafarers_wife

I miss having the use of a tumble drier but in the 4 and a bit years since i moved from my parents ive managed without it, ok it does take a little more planning on my part to keep on top of the washing so that i always have clothes that i want to wear but i dont know where i would put one.

ive debated buying one but have gone instead for a heated airer from lakeland to dry the heavy stuff that bit quicker. plus it folds away and stores in the cupboard which i wouldnt be able to do with a tumble.

Triggles

How do you like that heated airer? I looked at those and contemplated buying one, but never did. Still browse at it occasionally. LOL

anguk

I used to have a tumble dryer but I mainly just used it for undies or as a back-up when it rained but I found that lots of our clothes couldn't be tumbled so they ended up on airers anyway. Ours broke last year and I haven't replaced it but I can understand why some people love them especially if they work and aren't able to run outside and fetch the washing in when it rains. They're also handy if you're in a small flat and have no drying space outside and little space inside.

GreyQueen

I'm running a washload now, mainly for the workclothes I'll need for tomorrow. I got a bit folorn wheh I took the last wash in from the pocket-hankie sized back yard of my previous flat and realised that was the last load I'd be able to line-dry for the foreseeable future.

I have a single, accordion-type airer which sits in the living room as have no outside space but even then it's a pain to sidle around it. I have to limit the laundry to drying one load before I get another load wet.

Bit of a pain at times, but the stuff dries fairly quickly with the windows ajar for a through-breeze.

Have to admit, line-dried laundry is one of my favourite smells ever and I wish I could do mine outside.

Mum has a tumbler which gets used about twice a year, if that, and they do scalp your clothes.