The modern-day washing machine comes with a variety of settings and features that customize wash cycles to suit the material of the clothes inside. So it takes some effort and a little research to figure out which setting to use for different fabrics. Want to know what does tumble dry low mean? Here’s a brief guide to help you out.
What Does Tumble Dry Low Mean?
Getting right to it, so what does tumble dry low mean and what kind of fabric are you supposed to use it for?
The term “tumble dry” refers to drying washed clothes in a dryer machine by spinning them in hot air. The “low” refers to the temperature. So if the washing instructions on your label say “tumble dry low,” that means it is safe to tumble dry at the low temperature setting.
Tumble drying is ideal for delicates such as spandex or loosely woven fabrics with buttons or sequins on them. It beats hanging them up to dry on a clothesline. It’s important to understand which setting each fabric requires otherwise you risk shrinking or damaging the clothes. That’s probably one of the most notorious disadvantages of a tumble dryer.
What Dryer Setting Is Tumble Dry?
As mentioned earlier, tumble drying refers to drying clothes inside the dryer by spinning them quickly and blasting warm-to-hot air. Fabrics such as cotton take longer to dry so might require a higher setting.
If you’re looking for the correct setting to tumble dry your garments, it should be “Delicate/Gentle Cycle” for your delicate garments and “Regular/Automatic/Timed Dry Cycle” for other types of clothing.
There are various other settings on a dryer as well, such as the “Steam Cycle” that is used to refresh clothes that don’t require washing but might have some lingering odor.
What Temperature Is Tumble Dry Low?
It may vary from machine to machine, but the average temperature of the tumble dry low cycle is 125°F and on high it’s 135°F. It doesn’t take too long for the tumble dryer to reach this temperature, but how long it takes will depend on the cycle you’ve chosen.
The tumble dry low setting is best suited for the following types of clothing:
1. Stretchy Items
This includes activewear such as yoga pants or joggers as they’re usually made from lycra spandex, nylon, polyester, and cotton. Stretchy clothing items tend to have delicate fibers that can take damage from heat and lose their stretchy quality. These items must be handled with special care during washing and drying.
2. Polyester Blends
Most sportswear such as swimming trunks and jerseys are made from a blend of polyester and other fabrics. What sets polyester apart is its poor ability to retain moisture. Anything formed majorly of polyester will dry very quickly. Overheating it can cause the fibers to ripple and damage the clothes, so all polyester blends need to be dried on tumble dry low.
3. Babywear
Babywear is usually made from organic cotton, bamboo rayon fibers, and other lightweight fabrics. But the key thing to remember about babywear is that it’s ultra-light, a bit more stretchy, and much thinner than your jeans. So while most cotton garments are safe to tumble dry on high heat, it’s best to tumble dry all your baby’s clothes on low heat.
4. Intimates
Most manufactures would recommend drying intimates such as bras and underwear flat rather than in the tumble dryer. They’re the last clothes you would want losing shape or getting snagged. But if you’re going to dry them in the machine, at the least, set it to low. High heat can also deteriorate the elastic used for the waistband.
How Long Does Tumble Dry Low Take?
As long as you don’t clog the machine, a regular load can take anywhere up to 2 hours to dry on the tumble dry low heat setting except for towels. Towels are a lot thicker, so they tend to take about 3 hours.
If you’re drying thick or layered cotton fabrics such as jeans, you’ll get much faster results on high. You need to check the tumble dry symbol provided on the brand label of your clothing items before selecting a setting and timer.
How long your dryer will take or how many cycles you’ll need will also depend on how wet the clothes are. But here’s a neat hack. If you’ve got a load that’s too wet you should add a dry towel to the dryer. The towel will absorb some of the moisture during the spin cycle and help your clothes dry much faster.
5 Tips On Tumble Dry
#1. Keep similar clothes together for each dry cycle. Don’t lump in your thick garments with lightweight items because the lightweight items might overdry. The best way to go about this is to sort your laundry out into categories even when you store them back in your wardrobe. This makes it quicker for you to organize when you need to wash them.
#2. Washed clothes can be wet but if they’re dripping, you can either squeeze the water out by hand or you can put them back in the washing machine for a quick spin cycle to get rid of the excess moisture. But bottom line, don’t put dripping clothes in the dryer.
#3. Ensure the room your tumble dryer is in has adequate ventilation to let the heat from the machine pass out. It helps reduce the risk of your dryer overheating.
#4. Do not fill your dryer up by more than 75%. There’s a sweet spot between half-full and full that provides the best conditions for expedient drying.
#5. If you hang and fold your clothes immediately after the tumble dry cycle, you won’t need to iron them. The retained heat from the tumble dry cycle can help flatten out the creases and rumples but only if you hang and fold the clothes immediately while they’re still hot.
A Few Parting Words
To quickly recap on what does tumble dry low mean, it’s the low temperature setting for a tumble dry cycle, generally set for delicate fabrics such as wool, nylon, latex, silk, and Velvet. Learning how to get the setting right every time might be a little arduous, but you’ll get to look chic and put together every day.
