Drying Clothes Outside Query

firefox1956

We have started drying our clothes outside to save a bean or two.
The wife puts Lenor in the appropriate drawer in the washing machine.
When the clothes are dry the towels etc are so rough it is unbelievable.
Its like running a piece of coarse grade sandpaper over your skin !!
What's the problem ???
And more to the point what do we do about it.
TIA

katipip

The only way to guarantee soft, fluffy towels is to tumble dry.

Air drying does cause "cardboard towel syndrome".

Blackpool_Saver

This is what I do. I run the full wash without putting fabric conditioner in the drawer, I then put the m/c on again with some fabric conditioner in the main draw and let it run a while, I then put it to drain and spin, take out clothes put on line. When nearly dry I put in dryer for about 2 mins to fully air out/dry, Result soft fluffy clothes with only a bit of electric used. If it isn't a fine day I dry them on clothes airer until almost dry and then 2 mins in dryer.
I have done this for years, another side result of this is that you hardly ever need to use an iron, I takes clothes out of dryer and hang them up.
Don't let your machine tell you where to put the fabric conditioner, you control the m/c.

andrewf75

Get used to it? or get new towels?

I've never owned a tumble drier as it seems like the biggest waste of money possible and I've never noticed rough towels

Dan-Dan

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

This is what I do. I run the full wash without putting fabric conditioner in the drawer, I then put the m/c on again with some fabric conditioner in the main draw and let it run a while, I then put it to drain and spin, take out clothes put on line. When nearly dry I put in dryer for about 2 mins to fully air out/dry, Result soft fluffy clothes with only a bit of electric used. If it isn't a fine day I dry them on clothes airer until almost dry and then 2 mins in dryer.
I have done this for years, another side result of this is that you hardly ever need to use an iron, I takes clothes out of dryer and hang them up.
Don't let your machine tell you where to put the fabric conditioner, you control the m/c.

Oh the irony

Vampgirl

I always thought that fabric conditioner shouldn't be used with towels: it may make them soft but it stops them absorbing water properly - which kind of defeats the object ;-)

We try to line dry as much as possible but for towels we do use the tumble dryer - it does seems a waste of electricity but its the only way to get them soft and fluffy.

Cherryscone

I dry all my clothes outside or on the radiators my towels i put in the tumble dryer for 10 mins to soften them .

firefox1956

Thank you all for your replies..........
Not very MSE drying the clothes etc outside & then putting them in the dryer to soften them !!
Oh well rough towels for me from now on...............

Blackpool_Saver

Charming, I shan't bother replying again, how bloody rude

Norman_Castle

Cherryscone wrote: »

I dry all my clothes outside or on the radiators my towels i put in the tumble dryer for 10 mins to soften them .

Does this work? I suggested it to a friend recently.

Dia_Pita

Hi, we got rid of our tumble drier over 18 months ago, this was the best thing we have ever done. Our electricity bills have been cut by 50% and as we can not dry things in a hurry, the washings is always done on a daily basis.


To make the towels softer, when taking them out of the washing machine give them a really good shake out in the air before hanging them on the washing line.


Unfortunately if I have to hang them up inside they always seem to go a little hard, especially in the winter, this is when I add a small amount of fabric conditioner into the washing machine.


Still I would never buy or have a tumble drier in the house again, such a waste of money.