Line dry, or dryer at lowest setting?

[bengaltiger]

I just bought some CT slim-fit shirts, and they fit quite well.

The instructions recommend line drying. But I don't have room for that in my dinky little (SF) apartment. Can I get away with drying them in the dryer at the lowest setting?

 

[Sanguis Mortuum]

Ideally you should never put anything in the dryer. Ever. Your shirts aren't going to explode if you do so though, but their lifespan may be shortened.

Surely you have room to put up a fold-out clothes-horse to dry things on?

 

[Jay Gatsby]

I have a metal rack that goes next to the washing machine. The rack holds a load and in my opinion is the safest way to dry clothes. And it saves on your electric / gas bill. Another plus is that in winter I can bring the rack in off the balcony and use it and its wet clothing content as a free humidifier.

 

[Not Ed Harris]

Originally Posted by Jay Gatsby

I have a metal rack that goes next to the washing machine. The rack holds a load and in my opinion is the safest way to dry clothes. And it saves on your electric / gas bill. Another plus is that in winter I can bring the rack in off the balcony and use it and its wet clothing content as a free humidifier.

That's pretty much what I do. If you don't feel like getting a rack you could put them on hangers and find somewhere to hang them to dry like a curtain rail or something.

 

[S. Magnozzi]

Originally Posted by Not Ed Harris

That's pretty much what I do. If you don't feel like getting a rack you could put them on hangers and find somewhere to hang them to dry like a curtain rail or something.

+1. If you have time to spare, you might as well start ironing them whilst still damp.

 

[DrPsycho]

I find my shirts too damp right out of the washer, so I don't iron unless I've employed one of the aforementioned drying options... but rarely wait until they've bone dry as some wrinkles become a little more of a pain to press out. Which drying method I choose usually depends on timing... do I want to iron in 20 minutes or can I wait to let them hang dry longer. I know hang-dry is the safer option.

 

[westinghouse]

Line dry outside only. Doing it inside will create mildew and make your clothes smell like a mailbag over time.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Originally Posted by westinghouse

Line dry outside only. Doing it inside will create mildew and make your clothes smell like a mailbag over time.

Not true in my experience. I line dry my shirts in my closet. I just leave the closet door open all night and iron the next day.

 

[Joffrey]

I always hang dry my dress shirts.

 

[PhiloVance]

Not to hijack the thread, but are you guys generally washing by hand or in the machine?

 

[bengaltiger]

Ugh... I was hoping to use a modern-era tool

Do you guys hang the shirts in their hangers when line drying? Doesn't it leave little dimples in the shoulders?

 

[Holdfast]

I machine-wash & tumble-dry (to iron-damp only) all my shirts. Partly for space reasons, admittedly, since I don't have a garden to line-dry.

I think the worries about wear & tear and shrinkage are overblown. Suppose it reduces shirt lifetime by 5% or so; in the grand scheme of things, that's really not an issue worth worrying about. A commercial laundry would be far more destructive. And I haven't noticed any major shrinking on good fabrics (a couple of lesser quality fabrics did shrink though). The shrinkage I notice on good fabrics is very limited, but enough to take into account on my bespoke shirts, esp. at the collar (they tighten up a fraction to "just right" after the first wash & dry).

Mind you, I do have a fairly decent washer-dryer, which probably helps minimise problems. I understand that in the US, top loaders are more common, which tend to be harsher on items.

 

[Not Ed Harris]

Originally Posted by bengaltiger

Ugh... I was hoping to use a modern-era tool

Do you guys hang the shirts in their hangers when line drying? Doesn't it leave little dimples in the shoulders?

Well that depends on the hangers you use. Problem is, if you use good hangers with decent shoulders they take up twice as much room in your wardrobe.

 

[Ataturk]

Ironing the shirt while it's still damp from washing is not a good idea. The shirt (like all laundry...) dries on the outside first and inside last. So the seams and collar/cuff will still be damp to the core. When you iron you'll dry the outside, then the water will be drawn right back into the seams and they'll pucker.

The best way to do it is to dry them completely, then dampen slightly with a spray bottle. Then I'll put them in the dryer on the "no heat" setting for half an hour. They'll come out feeling very slightly damp (maybe just cold to the touch) and very, very soft. The end result is much better than either heated mechanical drying or line drying by itself.

 

[Holdfast]

Originally Posted by Ataturk

Ironing the shirt while it's still damp from washing is not a good idea.
Yeah, I should point out that when I typed "iron-damp" upthread I probably should have typed "iron-dry". What I mean is that I select the iron programme on my washer-dryer which stops the drying when the humidity level is just slightly higher than fully dry. It's not really damp, but it's not bone dry either. By the time I get round to actually ironing, it's like 99% dry, which works out just great and far easier to iron than bone dry would be.