Is there a secret to tumble dried sheets?

[superelectronic]

In an unusual twist of fate, a winter wonderland has descended upon London and put something of a spanner into the works of washday - i.e. my normal line drying routine has been scuppered (for the second day running as it goes - yesterday two charming folk decided to have bonfires...bearing in mind I'm in inner London it's hardly appropriate, but anyway...). Consequently, I have thrown caution to the wind and tumble dried the white wash including a white cotton double sheet. The result was rather crumpled and I have had to spend 20 minutes ironing every last damn inch - usually I need only shake, hang out then fold and hang over a radiator to air, living with the odd wrinkle. So my question is: what's the best way to tumble dry sheets without turning them into rags?

I'm using a standard European 5-6kg dryer BTW and I did use softener...

Not the most intersting of topics, I know, but any tips are gratefully received should I find myself in a similar situation in the future (heaven forbid I should ever be deprived of a washing line - it's just not right!).

Many thanks

Al, live from a snowy SE4.

 

[mrboilwash]

For me it works best to prevent wrinkels if I only dry to "rotary iron dry" then shake, fold once or twice and hang over a drying rack indoors to complete drying. No ironing needed if you are not too fussy.
If your dryer has only a timer, try 30-40 min. (cool down included)

If you need to dry sheets bonedry in a Euro dryer try to split one wash load into two dry loads.

 

[panthera]

Stefan is right -

Two dryer loads for one wash load will cut the wrinkling. Another trick is to not let them dry quite all the way through, take them out just a bit, a tiny bit still damp and then stretch and pull them into form.
Another trick is to dry them with "dryer balls". Not because of all the energy saving bullshit, but because they do actually help a little bit to prevent bunching up.
I loath fabric softener and think dryer sheets should be forbidden (I believe they were in Germany after several fires, actually) but in this one, single case I could well see the justification for a tiny little bit of non-scented fabric softener in the last rinse. Not one of the icky, greasy kinds but something which would just relax the fibres and cut down on the Klingon effect.

 

[sudsmaster]

Just bring a lot of very heavy people (or animals) to bed and by morning the sheets' wrinkles will be least of your worries!

;-)

 

[launderess]

Unless really pressed for time all linens are line dried. Even so, the only such items one considers tumble drying are those made of flannel or sateen, which benefit from fluffing in the dryer. Still all linens should be removed whilst slightly damp, and either folded and aired until dry, or ironed.

Even in large laundromat dryers, sheets can bunch up. Auto-reverse dryers seem to cope better, but think the secret is to having rather large space to sheet ratio in terms of the dryer. That is not to load the dryer too much, giving things room to move about.

L.

 

[MrX]

I found if you just use a hot dryer cycle and take the sheets out while they're still hot i.e. before the dryer's gone into cool-down mode.

Do not over dry them.

Put them straight onto the bed or stretch and fold them and put them into the airing cupboard.

Otherwise they will wrinkle up quite badly!

Failing that, if you have radiators (water filled only, anything else is a serious fire hazard) you can hang them over those and they will basically iron themselves.

A bit of good liquid fabric softener in the wash can help too.

 

[westtexman]

I'm Intrigued . . .

Do people actually fold sheets while still damp? Do they mildew if you do that?

Forgive me - I'm the daft Texan who grew up with a dryer.

Bryan

 

[sudsmaster]

Helpful Homemaker Hint

Remove sheets from bed before attempting to tumble dry them.

 

[sudsman]

Drying sheets

if you dry sheets to the point the main sheet is dry but the hems are still damp they will have just the right amount of moisture to "cure" properly overnight and will look just like they have been ironed. they will not mildew if the main portion of the sheet is not damp. This process is used by many hotel laundries tha thave no iron plants and works quite well.

 

[launderess]

Since I dry iron damp linens, am here to say "no", sheets will not mildew if only a touch of moisture is left. Normally this is the hems and in the case of fitted sheets, the elastic, which shouldn't be ironed anyway.

Linens are supposed to be ironed until smooth but barely dry, and then allowed to "air" which carries off the remaining moisture. There is less chance of scorching and killing fine linen this way.

If linens are coming from the dryer, they should be removed when the hems are barely dry,but the body is and then smoothed, folded and allowed to air. Again drying items in a tumble dryer until they are toasty, will greatly shorten their lifespan.