5 Tips to Help Your Clothes Dryer Run Faster
There will be times when its just not practicable to use an outdoor clothesline so if you must use your indoor dryer here are five tips to make your electric or gas dryer more efficient.
Does your clothes dryer seem to take forever to dry your clothes? While older machines can be expected to run slower, sometimes even a brand new dryer can leave your clothes damp at the end of a cycle. Here are a few tips to help bring it up to speed.
Plan Your Load Size
The ideal load has enough bulk to force all of the clothes to tumble around and not get stuck on the fins inside the dryer while also being light enough to allow plenty of air flow.
Shake Out Your Clothes
Wet clothes often stick and may not tumble properly if tossed in the dryer straight from the washer. Shake each clothing item out before throwing it in to give it the best chance of drying quickly.
Test Your Dry Times
Some dryers dry faster if you set them to a specific drying time. Try out the maximum length, an hour, then a moisture-sensitive setting to see which one dries best and quickest. Often, a timed dry works more quickly, and the maximum time can slow down the drying.
Keep the Heat In
As with ovens, dryers stay warm if you keep the heat in. Try not to stop a load in the middle of a dry cycle. If for some reason you need to stop the dryer mid-cycle, open the door only as wide as you have to and close it as soon as possible.
Clean Your Lint Filter
A full lint filter slows down drying time dramatically. Check the lint filter after each load. If you are getting ready to run a particularly fluffy or lint-ridden load, make sure the filter is completely empty, and check it once in the middle of the cycle.
These simple tips can speed up a dryer cycle by as much as twenty to thirty minutes per load. When it comes to dryers, new and old, an ounce of prevention can be worth a pound of cure.