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squeezebox
10-25-2016, 13:03
I got back from a bicycle trip yesterday. I need to do some laundry. Can the wool and silk base layers go in the dryer, or should I use the curtain & towel rods in the bathroom? Synthetic should be fine in the dryer? I will wash and dry on gentle.
Thanks!!

chknfngrs
10-25-2016, 13:11
Any fragile piece I have, be it wool or down never touches a dryer but DYOL

chknfngrs
10-25-2016, 13:12
Sorry, I did put my down sleeping bag in the drier with a tennis ball on low heat and tumble

Another Kevin
10-25-2016, 13:38
I hang synthetics to dry if they have any amount of spandex in them - they last a lot longer that way, and in the house they're usually dry in an hour or two anyway.

Down I'll do in the dryer with the tennis ball.

Wool gets blocked in a bath towel.

I don't own anything silk but neckties. Neckties are best just kept clean. "Reputations may be salvageable, but ties very seldom are." - Judith Martin

DuneElliot
10-25-2016, 13:39
The only wool I put in the dryer is my socks

Bronk
10-25-2016, 14:03
You can usually get away with it...don't put it on the hottest setting...we're talking luke warm here.

egilbe
10-25-2016, 14:04
I put everything in the dryer. If a little laundering is going to ruin anything, I'll never buy it again.

tiptoe
10-25-2016, 14:16
I put nothing in the dryer (well, a sleeping bag, maybe) when I can hang my laundry outside. And in the winter, only bed linens and maybe jeans go in the dryer. The rest hangs festively around the woodstove.

swisscross
10-25-2016, 14:22
The only wool I put in the dryer is my socks

I hang my wool socks.

HooKooDooKu
10-25-2016, 14:26
I wash everything (wool, synthetics, etc) together in cold on the gentle cycle. Then toss it all in the dryer and run it on "air dry" (on heat) for two full cycles. If anything is still damp, I'll add another short cycle at minimal heat.

Zach ADK
10-25-2016, 15:38
We haven't had a dryer in 15 years. Synthetics dry very fast compared to cotton, I don't have any wool clothes so I don't know about them. Wood clothes racks that fold up are very handy for smaller things, and indoor clotheslines work well for bigger ones. In the winter the boost to the humidity is always welcome, and in the summer the windows are open anyway so it doesn't matter much.

peakbagger
10-25-2016, 15:57
I hang everything as I have never owned a drier. Gear lasts longer, the only downside is towels don't fluff. (I live with it).

Hosh
10-25-2016, 17:22
Hang on fold down clothes rack. If you use dryer, don't use dryer sheets with any synthetics or wool based clothes. The dryer sheets reduce the wicking effectiveness of the fabrics.

Dogwood
10-25-2016, 17:31
The only wool I put in the dryer is my socks

this. after damaging several pricey various wt 100% merino torso pieces all merino is dried flat in the shade and always washed separately on fragile setting according to appropriate label instructions. merino knits are easily pulled from unclosed zippers/zipper pulls, velcro, metal buttons, metal burrs inside a washer/dryer etc. the 150 wt and less torso pieces will pull and get holes just by being g caught up in a waist belt buckle. do as you want.since dryer hat settings can vary from machine to machine i never heat for long periods on high and check settings before drying any clothing a long time. for myself, i spend $$$ on my performance apparel and don't leave it unattended or wash carelessly, heat to death, or wash with any other hiker's gear.

rocketsocks
10-25-2016, 18:14
I'm a bad luanderer, that's why my shirts look like I've had em since the 8th grade, and why my wife insists on doin' the laundry...wool gets lays flat on a towel, and synthetics on gentle cycle of hung to dry in laundry room where its warm.

Trailweaver
10-26-2016, 01:14
All clothes come with a laundry recommendation label. It is there for a reason, & you would be wise to read it and pay attention. As stated above, these clothes are pricy, and I never just aimlessly toss them into a drier. It only takes a little while to hang them & it's worth it to have them years (instead of weeks).

Leo L.
10-26-2016, 06:05
Never owned nor used a dryer.
When coming home soaked the wet stuff crowds around the wood stove.
For normal household laundry our very old house has a special kind of roofed balcony facing south just for the purpose of drying clothes.

garlic08
10-26-2016, 08:30
A variable here is the washing machine. Since having access to a front loader, I've noticed it's quicker and easier to dry, and stuff lasts longer. Agitator machines seem primitive now.

I also never use a dryer, simple to do here in the arid West. where the extra humidity is always welcome.

turtle fast
10-26-2016, 11:33
Though I have a front load dryer, I always line dry wool or synthetic gear. Wool items I set on a flat slatted rack to dry. I also tend to use a mild wool wash detergent. Now in a trail town, if doing laundry I would use a dryer on low and keep an eye on it.

Raid
10-26-2016, 17:09
I put my wool socks, Darn Tough and Farm to Feet, plus my Smartwool shirts and base layer bottoms in the washer and dryer. I have not had any issues. I do not know if other brands would fare the same. Full disclosure though, I'm not too picky. I make two piles of sorted laundry, whites and everything else.

jeffmeh
10-26-2016, 18:09
I put my merino socks in the washer and dryer. Other merino pieces go individually into delicates bags in the washer, but never in the dryer, rather laid flat to dry.

theinfamousj
10-29-2016, 00:03
Wool shouldn't ever go in the dryer on any kind of heat. Wool shrinks. Even treated wool will eventually shrink (though will it be enough to be noticeable, is the question). But one it has shrunk it won't shrink further.

There is debate about whether wool can be hung on a rod or must be dried flat. I "abuse" my merino full zip fleece by hanging it. Even now it has just come out of the washer (bye bye hiker stink!!) and is being hung from a travel clothesline where you pinch it between twisted cords. The thing is 6+ years and still going strong with no fabric degredation or size change. (this also can be a testament to REI's construction quality)

I also air dry my silk, though I do believe it can handle heat. But since I already have a drying solution going for most of my technical clothes, why not add my silks?

And on that note, if it is a technical fabric, it gets air dried! Except: anything with a DWR finish. DWR finishes need heat to re-activate after being washed. And speaking of washing DWR finishes, don't use a laundry *detergent* on them. They need a (best case scenario) tech wash or (good enough case scenario) soap such as Ivory Snow or the one I am using for my hiker laundry tonight: Dr. Bronner's.

Hope this helps!

Mountain Mike
10-29-2016, 01:49
I put everything in the dryer. If a little laundering is going to ruin anything, I'll never buy it again.

Once while visiting mom she decided to do me a favor & do my laundry. The two new Pendleton wool shirts were worn once. She shrunk them down to a kid's size!

jeffmeh
10-31-2016, 16:34
Wool shouldn't ever go in the dryer on any kind of heat. Wool shrinks. Even treated wool will eventually shrink (though will it be enough to be noticeable, is the question). But one it has shrunk it won't shrink further.

There is debate about whether wool can be hung on a rod or must be dried flat. I "abuse" my merino full zip fleece by hanging it. Even now it has just come out of the washer (bye bye hiker stink!!) and is being hung from a travel clothesline where you pinch it between twisted cords. The thing is 6+ years and still going strong with no fabric degredation or size change. (this also can be a testament to REI's construction quality)

I also air dry my silk, though I do believe it can handle heat. But since I already have a drying solution going for most of my technical clothes, why not add my silks?

And on that note, if it is a technical fabric, it gets air dried! Except: anything with a DWR finish. DWR finishes need heat to re-activate after being washed. And speaking of washing DWR finishes, don't use a laundry *detergent* on them. They need a (best case scenario) tech wash or (good enough case scenario) soap such as Ivory Snow or the one I am using for my hiker laundry tonight: Dr. Bronner's.

Hope this helps!

While I agree that one should be very careful with wool, I have been put 100% merino (and high merino content blends) Darn Tough socks in the dryer for years with no deleterious effects. :)

egilbe
10-31-2016, 18:17
While I agree that one should be very careful with wool, I have been put 100% merino (and high merino content blends) Darn Tough socks in the dryer for years with no deleterious effects. :)

All my wool clothes go in the dryer. On high heat so the cotton clothes can dry. None of that namby pampy coddling with my fine woolens!

MtDoraDave
11-06-2016, 07:27
I recall reading the instructions for washing and drying the Darn Tough socks, and iirc it said to wash them inside out and not to put them in the dryer. My wool socks go on the hood of the car in the garage to dry. I'd like to give a lengthy and wordy explanation of how the fabric of the car cover improves drying efficiency, but it's just 3 feet from the dryer, so that's where they go to dry.

Also, my convertible pants also go on the hood of the car to dry after the heat from the dryer deformed the belt buckle of one pair. The Gander Mountain convertible pants have buckles similar to those on a backpack's waist band, and heat is not their friend.

colorado_rob
11-06-2016, 09:33
While I agree that one should be very careful with wool, I have been put 100% merino (and high merino content blends) Darn Tough socks in the dryer for years with no deleterious effects. :)Same here. I'm too lazy to do anything else, always have just machine washed/dried my merino wool, no problems whatsoever, and I don't notice any shrinkage on my shirts, at least (maybe the socks are a tad smaller). I do try to remember to take these garments out of the dryer promptly though.

Dogwood
11-06-2016, 13:04
Silk is usually hand washed. 100% merino knits(torso pieces) in the lighter wts(200 or so) but especially the 150 Micros especially washed in a top loading agitator machine and/or with mixed heavy linens and cottons and also dried the same way can deform merino and certainly light wt silk torso pieces. Again, I've experienced so many pulls, small holes, and extending existing small holes into larger ones by mixing 100% merino torso pieces and base layer bottoms with anything that has zippers, clasp closures, toggles, cord locks, velcro, etc.