Redlemon

I've been looking at the laundry tags on my clothing recently. It struck me that I can't find a single piece of clothing that recommends "tumble dry high". It's always "low", if it allows for drying at all.

It's not like the clothing in our house is fancy or anything. Has anyone out there seen "tumble dry high", and if so, on what?

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Demeter

I usually dry all my clothing on lower settings, I don't think high heat is very good for fabrics.
I haven't used the 'high' setting since back in high school, when the hair was big and teased, and the jeans were oh-so-tight.

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ngdawg

"High" would ruin the clothes faster and run up the utilities bill.
Personally, I run the dryer 10 minutes, then hang everything except underwear and towels. Saves a ton of cash and saves the clothes and nothing's wrinkled and in need of either more dryer time or an iron.
Oops. That didn't really answer the question though. A low setting takes longer and won't 'fry' the wrinkles into the fabric; the longer it takes to tumble and dry, the less wrinkling due to the low heat coupled with the constant tumbling. Plus, some synthetics will actually melt or at least fuse on high settings.

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jorgelito

Then what is the point of the higher setting? I always wondered that too.

Cynthetiq

http://maytag.com/assets/pdfs/litera..._53-3650-3.pdf

Looking at that particular model, there is no HIGH.

there is REGULAR, MEDIUM, and LOW. Now, I have a problem with the whole Small, Medium, Large stuff for beverages ala Foamy the Squirrel.

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vanblah

IF you need to dry something quickly then it's there.

The_Jazz

On my drier, you have to manually override the machine's sensors to get it to use a "high" setting. I know this because of water, milk, a toddler, an incorrectly sealed sippy cup and an Easter outfit.

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ngdawg

Mine has a 'high' setting, but it's no match for the heat that comes from my mother-in-law's older dryer's 'high'.
It's fine for things like towels, jeans and sheets and, in the case of towels, probably better as the dryer won't run as long(if it has a dry sensor).

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MSD

Jeans stretch as you wear them, high heat while drying shrinks them back to the size and shape they were when you bought them.

snowy

I've never really not used the high setting. And no, it doesn't wear out your clothing, at least it hasn't worn out any of mine yet.

With the dryer we have now, we have no other choice--the other settings are just too wimpy to get anything dry. As it is, you have to run it on high for 140 minutes to get a full load dry. I'm going to have to get a rack.

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cyrnel

High, and I don't mean the wimpy high of modern dryers but the full Saturn V blowtorth effect of trusty old gas models, is for my sister's wool socks when she wouldn't let me watch Speed Racer. /laughs evily while wringing hands

I started hang drying everything a few years ago to save energy. It was later I noticed how my clothes were holding up much longer.

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Adri

Yeah, we use the apartment complex's machines, and they suck, so I always use the High setting. I also recall always drying my stuff at my mom's on the high setting. I dunno... I've never really had any clothes "wear out" on me. Maybe I renew my wardrobe too frequently for anything to have time to wear out, even using the high setting on my dryer.


Then again, I have a few staple pieces that I've been wearing for several years that are in excellent shape, and I know I've always dried them on high, as well. I really don't know the answer.

As far as energy savings... I never use "heat dry" on my dishwasher, if that makes up for it. And we don't have air conditioning...

snowy

threadjack: I tend to buy higher-quality clothing and replace it less often, though lately I've had to resort to buying cheaper clothing (yay for Costco deals) because I've been replacing my pants so often (45 lbs gone, 15 to go). I have a couple of J. Crew sweaters in my wardrobe I've had since high school. My dad balked at the fact that I spent $50 on a single sweater, but I still have and still wear that sweater 10 years later. That works out to $5 a year. And it's definitely been dried on the high setting.

All of my old pants are pretty much useless at this point, which is a shame, because they've worn so well, especially my one pair of J. Crew jeans.

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