Dryer - Saving Money Tips

[jeffrey]

1. Make sure to close the door to your wash room in summer and keep it open in winter. Closing the wash room door will keep the dryer from heating up the whole house in summer. In the winter, keeping the door open will add a bit of extra heat to the house.

2. Clear lint from the lint tray before you use the dryer each time. Proper air flow will cut down the drying time, as well as wear and tear on the dryer and your clothes.

3. When drying clothes, factor in the cool-down cycle to allow the clothes to finish drying with the residual heat in the dryer.

4. Purchase a front-load washer. Front-loading washers leave less water in your clothes than top-load washers meaning your dryer doesn't have to work as hard.

5. When loading your dryer, place similar clothing types together (separate heavy cottons from lighter material clothes) to prevent over drying and wasting energy.

6. When drying more than one load, place the lighter garments in the dryer first. This will mean that the dyer is already hot from the residual heat to help the heavier clothes dry more quickly.

7. Don't overload the dryer. Overloading doesn't allow ample space for the clothes to tumble and they will take longer to dry.




8. Periodically check your outside dryer vent for lint clogs. Obstructed air flow will make your dryer work harder and shorten the life of the dryer.

9. Use an indoor drying rack when possible. Even if you can't let your clothes dry completely with the rack and need to use the dryer to dry the clothes completely, you can still save up to 75% off your dryer energy costs compared to if you did not use the indoor rack at all.

10. Hang clothes on a clothes line instead of using your dryer. If you average a load a day of drying, this can save your about $150 a year.

11. Gas dryers are much more energy efficient than electric dryers. Calculate the savings and it may be less expensive in the long run to have a gas line run from your kitchen to the washroom than to buy and use an electric dryer.

12. For heavy items such as jeans and towels, put them through an additional "spin" cycle after your wash is done. Heavier items retain water even after a regular spin cycle and an additional spin cycle will cut down on their drying time.

13. When drying heavy items, place a clean, dry towel in with the wet load. The dry towel will help absorb moisture cutting down the drying time needed by as much as 25%.

14. Don't over dry your clothes. If you dryer has a moisture censor or automatic dry cycle, be sure to use it over a timed cycle.

15. Try to dry a full load. If you dry a smaller load, this reduces the tumbling effect which will extend the length of time needed to dry the clothes. If you don't have a full load to dry, add a few clean dry towels to make it a full load which will cut down the time needed to dry the load.

16. Use the proper dryer setting. Many dryers have a delicate / permanent press cycle to protect fabrics which might be damaged by high temperatures. This setting also uses less energy for these lighter clothes that don't need the full dryer heat.

[pam333]

#9 (using an indoor drying rack) doesn't make sense the way it's worded. I use an indoor rack or clothesline so I know how it saves $$. But is there a "typo" in there? Or am I missing something?

[jeffrey]

I have a bad habit of thinking that people can read my mind It's been rewritten to make a bit more sense.

[pam333]

Thanks. And I just want to say that as an "English major" and subtitute teacher I have the habit of proofreading everything to make sure it's correct. But I really didn't understand what you were trying to say the first time.

[jeffrey]

It's much appreciated. Since I never seem to have as much time as I would like, I tend to go for getting information on the site and don't proof my writing nearly as well as I should. Hopefully there will be a day when I can devote all my time to this site and upgade the writing a notch or two.

[daveo]

I would also add to the list:

Resist the urge or temptation to use the fluff cycle on the dryer to get wrinkles out of clothing. Even a typical setting of 20 minutes on fluff or cool down can waste quite a bit of natural gas and electricity.

The other option you have it to hang your wrikled clothing in the bathroom on the door. When you take a warm or steamy shower, it should get most of the wrinkles out. The remaining few wrinkles you can simply "pull out" by gently tugging on the fabric.

[acezz4e_tish]

two things real quick here then bedtime. it needs to be stressed here, that fabric softener leaves a residue on the lint trap and this should be soaked monthly for more efficeincy. and throw a dry towel in a load that will shorten drying time.

[acezz4e_tish]

you can keep a jug of water, with a couple bounce sheets in it. after soaking a few days put in a spray bottle. you can spritz the clothes with this then rub the fabric with your hand, should take most of them out. also can use this like febreeze for your whole house.

[spendless]

"When drying heavy items, place a clean, dry towel in with the wet load. The dry towel will help absorb moisture cutting down the drying time needed by as much as 25%."

I'll give this a try......my electric dryer is very co$tly.

[acezz4e_tish]

i do it with any loads, not just heavy ones, arent they all heavy?lol. my electric bills is down another ten dollars this month. adding the towel to more then just towels and jeans and turning off power bar to pc is all ive added more of in the past month.

[Andysbunny]

I do an extra spin cycle on everything. I started it when the old dryer wasn' doing so great of a job.

[Scamper]

You can take a small sponge. Cut it into four pieces lengthways. Then put these in a bowl of fabric softener with a lid. Take out just one, and toss in the dryer with a load of clothes.

You can also take 1/4 cup fabric softener, and the rest water to fill a spray bottle. Put your clothes in the dryer. Shake this mixture up, and squirt five times inside. Now turn dryer on.

Wash your jeans. Then fold the legs together. Now lay them inside your dryer. Yes you can do two three pair this way. They come out really nice.

[Scamper]

You can also take that insertt out of fabric softener bottles. There's enough product inside for one or two more loads.

If your dryer stops before you can get there. Just take and old rag and pour on some fabric softener, then toss in the dryer. Turn on for five minutes or so. Good as new.

[Scamper]

Here are some other uses for liquid fabric softener.:

Apply some full strength on a cloth, and wipe down shower doors.

To get hard water stains off the windows, cover the stain with full strength softener.
Let it sit for about 10 minutes, before rinsing with a damp cloth.

If you over suds your washer, add softener to dissolve the excess suds.

Soften new jeans or any stiff fabric over night, in your machine with softener and water.
In A. M. run through the rinse cycle, and dry.

Get rid of static on carpets during the fall and winter, by spraying with a solution of equal parts of softener and water.

Rub your hands with softener, before stuffing pillows or toys with foam rubber chips. The chips won't fly all over.

Add a little softener to the final rinse of your paint brushes. It will keep them soft and pliable.

Remove old wall paper from walls. Fill a spray bottle with a solution of 2/3 hot water to 1/3 softener. Spray, and wait 20 minutes, and peel.

[Lenae]

Speaking of fabric softener uses...

I put 3 tablespoons of it with water in a spray bottle. It makes a wonderful substitute for fabreeze for furniture and fabrics. Another great use for it is a wrinkle release, wonderful since I hate to iron!

[Razzy]

I spin my clothes in the washer a few times so when I hang them inside or outside or use the dryer, they will dry faster.

I would love to get a spin dryer but we do not have the room or money for one. I have read that the Europeans use them and clothes takes less time to dry in the dry thus saving money on electricity.


Razzy

[Great to be Debt Free]

I am learning so much from all of you! Thank you for sharing all your tips -- I'm not working right now, so my contribution to the finances is saving all I can. Boy am I glad I found this site!

[SOPHIE9910]

Great tips everyone. Here's one for you: I cut the fabric sheets in half, all of them and use 1/2 for each dry cycle. Yippee........it works.

[Phantomfyre]

When transferring your clothes from the washer to the dryer, be sure to shake them out so they're not all wadded up - fluffed up clothes dry faster.

We purchased a thingamajobber called a "Heat Saver" at Menards (like Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.) that you install in the vent line. It has a flap that you can open or close seasonally, so in the winter, you can blow the warm, moist air into the house instead of outside. We make the electricity for the dryer do double duty - dry clothes and heat and humidify the house. NOTE: It is only recommended for electric dryers, because of possible exhaust fumes from gas dryers. In the summer, you flip the flap and it vents outside, but we don't use the dryer spring-fall - everything goes out on the line. The Heat Saver cost about $5. We haven't had to turn on the humidifier yet this winter, and the gas company says we're using HALF of the propane the previous owners did. (Our first winter in this house. The fairly mild winter and keeping extra rooms closed off with thermostat set to 62 day, 57 night might have something to do with that, too... )

Sophie9910, isn't that great? And your clothes don't come out over-perfumed, either. I found that you can use 1/3 sheet per load and it works too. But 1/4 sheet doesn't get the job done. (Discovered by playing the "how low can you go" game. )

Diana

[fe2o3ez]

I have always heard it said to empty the dryer vent (not just lint trap) every 6 months