Grex Laundry Conference

Item 5: \Dryers and the college student.

Entered by hunter on Tue Mar 28 09:03:17 1995:

Dryers.  Has there ever been a dryer installed on a college campus that
\dried a full load of laundry on the first try?  I'd like more options
\than (1)sending it through a second time and scorching everything andd
(2)strewing damp clothes around my room for two days.  Is a dry waistband
or warm socks too much to ask for?
74 responses total.

#1 of 74 by remmers on Tue Mar 28 11:33:26 1995:

Ah, laundry, a subject dear to my heart.

When I was in college way back when, they had a humongous coal-fired
clothes dryer in the Student Utilities Building.  You'd take your wet
clothes, wrap them around this extra long pitchfork, open the dryer
door (standing a bit to the side so as not to be blasted by the heat),
and stick the pitchfork in for about 45 seconds.  The clothes would
come out bone dry.

They don't make 'em like they used to.


#2 of 74 by helmke on Tue Mar 28 12:23:54 1995:

When I was in college we had electric dryers, but to make them faster the
heat was turned up to 50% beyond the maximum...
The joke was that your clothes where dry when the zippers on your jeans
glowed red.


#3 of 74 by omni on Tue Mar 28 12:51:27 1995:

 we really need a laundry conference here on Grex.


#4 of 74 by birdlady on Tue Mar 28 15:28:46 1995:

rotfl...We must go to the same school, Hunter.  I have to put my towels in for
an average of 120-130 minutes, my socks are never dry, and I've learned to 
just hang my jeans up (this also saves me from ironing them).  I think it's the
school's ploy to suck more money out of us...NMU, however, includes laundry
costs in your room and board, so I never have to scrounge around for soda
cans to put a load on :)


#5 of 74 by popcorn on Tue Mar 28 15:47:28 1995:

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#6 of 74 by val on Tue Mar 28 16:54:21 1995:

do you clean out the lint trap?  
i have no trouble <except w/ jeans and they never dry completely even at home>



#7 of 74 by crisper on Tue Mar 28 17:56:45 1995:

Up at MTU in Wadsworth Hall the dryers worked pretty good and there were 
always a few that were stuck on... I have had dryer trouble in every other
place I have lived in since then, except for the house I am in now... crazy?


#8 of 74 by steve on Tue Mar 28 19:24:53 1995:

   Valerie gets an award for the most-you-can-easily-do-to-make-the-dryer-
work.
   The other thing to do, if you want to feel like a geek, is to get a
battery powered temperature probe (Fluke makes one) and get a strip of
bouble-sided sticky tape.  Use the tape to apply the temp meter to the
wall of the dryer and turn it on.  Some driers in big places are rather
cooler then others, owing to the fact that tend to burn out after a while.
So a cooler temp. driver won't really help you, even if you keep the clothes
in for many hours.  (You can also get weird stares as you attach the meter
inside the dryer, and even more stares when thats all you pull out of it.)


#9 of 74 by birdlady on Tue Mar 28 20:29:44 1995:

Crisper...my friend lives in Wadsworth!  :)  Anyways...one solution I have
come up with is to simply hang up my pants and shirts, and dry towels and 
sheets.  This also avoids any congestion in the laundry room.  We have four
washers and four dryers on a floor with 109 people.  :)  I usually do my
laundry at three a.m. to avoid the rush.


#10 of 74 by janc on Tue Mar 28 23:59:08 1995:

Driers?  You mean you aren't supposed to just put the clothes on damp?


#11 of 74 by arnster on Wed Mar 29 02:16:40 1995:

re #9...four washers and drieers for 109 people!!  That would be such a pain..
and I thought it was bad here with 2 washers and 2 driers for approx. 40
people....


#12 of 74 by nephi on Wed Mar 29 02:23:11 1995:

I know someone that said he puts his clothes in the microwave because
it doesn't cost $.75 a shot and they come out dry.


#13 of 74 by arnster on Wed Mar 29 04:11:04 1995:

Can I guess who that is, nephi...am I close w/my guess of Baker 316???


#14 of 74 by nephi on Wed Mar 29 04:52:34 1995:

No fair!  You were there for the conversation!


#15 of 74 by rcurl on Wed Mar 29 08:03:05 1995:

Hmm..from 0 to 9 they were dryers, and then they became driers. How many
of you use dryers, and how many use driers?


#16 of 74 by otterwmn on Wed Mar 29 14:18:18 1995:

I noticed that, too, Rane. Now that the weather has turned, our clothes will be
dried by the world's most energy-effecient dryer. <DOH! Does she mean the sun?>


#17 of 74 by popcorn on Wed Mar 29 15:50:27 1995:

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#18 of 74 by srw on Wed Mar 29 20:53:18 1995:

dryer is an acceptable substitute for drier.


#19 of 74 by popcorn on Thu Mar 30 01:43:31 1995:

This response has been erased.



#20 of 74 by remmers on Thu Mar 30 02:42:03 1995:

My American Heritage Dictionary indicates that the spellings are
interchangeable but that for "machine that dries clothing", "dryer" is
preferred.


#21 of 74 by rcurl on Thu Mar 30 07:13:03 1995:

The drier meaning less wet is a comparative form of the *adjective* dry.
The material that accelerates the "drying" of paint is usually spelled
drier. Is one that drys, a dryer or a dryor?


#22 of 74 by ajax on Thu Mar 30 13:31:56 1995:

Dunno, but the dryor who dries with the dryerier dryer dries driest.


#23 of 74 by crisper on Thu Mar 30 17:40:22 1995:

is there another name for that machine that makes wet pieces of clothing dry?


#24 of 74 by janc on Thu Mar 30 20:50:28 1995:

The Sun?  I remember a couple of hostel owners in New Zealand laughing their
heads off at the sight of an American girl who didn't know how to operate
a clothesline.  I guess there are also "manglers" which both dry and iron,
but that technology is also rather forgotten and the term with it (though
that new movie may bring it back).


#25 of 74 by nephi on Fri Mar 31 05:57:22 1995:

        ((Don't see that movie!  It's *really* stupid.))


#26 of 74 by aruba on Fri Mar 31 06:35:54 1995:

(What movie are you guys talking about?)


#27 of 74 by nephi on Fri Mar 31 06:44:20 1995:

        ((((_The Mangler_))))


#28 of 74 by rcurl on Fri Mar 31 06:53:42 1995:

En droogtoestel. (In Dutch)


#29 of 74 by omni on Fri Mar 31 07:53:44 1995:

 The book is better.


#30 of 74 by otterwmn on Fri Mar 31 12:30:08 1995:

I believe it was a short story.


#31 of 74 by val on Fri Mar 31 16:44:28 1995:

Well my grandmother owns and uses a mangle <it's a real interesting 
and very large appliance>  All of the grandkids used to <still are?>
afraid of the thing.



#32 of 74 by zook on Sat Apr 1 05:00:45 1995:

The "Y vent" thing used to get me.  On occasion, I might let my fully
dried clothes sit awhile before removing them.  Someone else would fire
up the neighboring dryer with their clothes, thus resulting in a bulk
transfer of water from their dryer to mine --> wet clothes.  It would
also happen in tandem if their dryer was set to a higher temperature than
mine.  Most annoying.  (The higher fryer beats the wrier dryer :)


#33 of 74 by brenda on Wed Apr 5 09:06:10 1995:

Another suggestion is to run the spin cycle twice when you WASH your
clothes.  I do this with the jeans at home and they dry more quickly.
Less water in the clothes to start with means less drying time :)


#34 of 74 by tsty on Sat Apr 15 12:07:31 1995:

Using a centrifuge will save several dryer cycles. 


#35 of 74 by nephi on Tue Apr 18 02:14:02 1995:

Now to find a large enough centrifuge.


#36 of 74 by birdlady on Tue Apr 18 02:22:37 1995:

I've noticed that if I put my clothes in for about ten minutes, then hang them
up, they don't wrinkle...it saves on a *ton* of ironing.  Plus, people are
happy to have the available dryer.


#37 of 74 by scg on Tue Apr 18 03:02:02 1995:

I've noticed that if I put my clothes throught he drier normally, and then
dump them on my flor for a few days until I get around to putting them
away, they do wrinkle.  I've also noticed that having wrinkled clothes
doesn't bother me at all.  I really don't understand why some people seem
to go to such great pains to keep their clothes from getting wrinkled.


#38 of 74 by abchan on Tue Apr 18 11:30:03 1995:

One of my friends in another dorm here has a dryer in their dorm that
never stops and you don't even have to put money in it.  Consequently, 
he always leaves it in there too long and when he has to take it out,
discovers that it's not only dry, but REALLY hot. ;)

Wrinkle clothes don't bother me either, at least not up here at school.


#39 of 74 by popcorn on Tue Apr 18 15:07:38 1995:

This response has been erased.



#40 of 74 by peacefrg on Tue Apr 18 15:41:07 1995:

Yeah, I never iron my clothes...I put them in the dryer for 20 minutes (if at
all) and then put them on wet. Then they fit your body and don't bunch up.


#41 of 74 by nephi on Tue Apr 18 15:45:57 1995:

<nephi wonders why popcorn thinks that abchan has chest hair>

        8*)


#42 of 74 by birdlady on Tue Apr 18 17:17:40 1995:

Well, I don't iron *all* of my clothes, but the ones I wear for work or
important occasions have to look nice!  When it comes to jeans, it's wash and
wear.


#43 of 74 by omni on Tue Apr 18 19:26:03 1995:

 take it to laundry!
/


#44 of 74 by abchan on Tue Apr 18 19:44:57 1995:

Re: 41 Where did *that* come from? *sigh*


#45 of 74 by nephi on Tue Apr 18 21:36:57 1995:

You did see the smiley, right?

(38 & 39)


#46 of 74 by abchan on Wed Apr 19 00:58:52 1995:

Of *course* I saw the smiley *sigh* I guess you didn't "see" mine... it
was intended thought... I forget grex doesn't let people hear you say
what you type. ;)


#47 of 74 by gull on Tue May 30 00:23:02 1995:

Anybody heard about the microwave dryer one company is working on?  It's 
faster and uses less energy.



#48 of 74 by marcvh on Tue May 30 05:29:18 1995:

I've always wondered why most places seem to offer the same number of
dryers and washers in most facilities, despite the fact that running a
load through the washer takes around half the time it takes in the dryer.
Strange.  I guess it evens out in the fact that you can make due with
non-dryed clothes.

When I was in school, I'd hang-dry all my t-shirts (and I mostly wore
t-shirts, because the buildings were overheated so much that even in
the cold of winter one had to go down to a tshirt to be comfortable
indoors.)  Hanging them dry prevents shrinkage, prevents heat damage to
the design, and makes them easy to grab the next day.  You can dry at
a lower temperature to achieve the same effect, but since most college
dryers charge by time it's a waste of money to run them at any setting
other than "incinerate".

Jeans are always the hard stuff, of course.  I'd just hang the jeans, not
straight out of the washer but after one dryer cycle.  They weren't bone
dry, but they're dry enough that if I hang them they'll be dry tomorrow.
Things like socks and underwear are the only thing that really need to
come out of the dryer bone-dry, and they're not that hard to do.

Putting clothes through an extra spin cycle generally isn't an option for
most municipal laundry machines, as you cannot control the cycle other than
plunking money in to start it.  We did have one machine that acted as a
centerfuge, in that you would put clothes in, deposit your money, and it would
just spin for about five minutes and then stop.  Unfortunately this did not
seem to effectively spin the dirt out of the clothing, though it did help
make up for the machine next to it, which had a habit of stopping during
the rinse cycle without draining, let alone spinning.


#49 of 74 by nephi on Tue May 30 07:17:44 1995:

Whatta scam!


#50 of 74 by tsty on Tue May 30 13:50:29 1995:

the centrifuge will  - and does -  save mucho dineros on the drying
time and money (not the one disguised as a washer though).


#51 of 74 by freida on Wed May 31 01:55:38 1995:

I could not live without a washer and dryer in my house.  In fact, this year
my old pair bit the dust and I spent aconsiderable amount of time and 
money purchasing a new pair with stainless steel drums.  I also take the 
clothes out after they are mostly dry and hang them to avoid wrinkles...
I also refuse to buy stuff which has to be ironed to look decent, thereby
avoiding ironing all together!  I do not like to send my children to 
school in wrinkled clothing, nor do I like to wear my own when wrinkled...
just doesn't seem to fit well.  However, I have noticed that my children
do not seem to mind the wrinkles...as noticed after examining their drawers.
I may just quit folding the clothes and toss them in like they do...it will
save a lot of time and effort...either that, or make them do their own
laundry!!!!  Yeh! that should teach them!  And save me work too! Should have
thought] of this before!


#52 of 74 by omni on Wed May 31 07:16:39 1995:

 agora 43=laundty 5


#53 of 74 by gull on Thu Jun 1 14:48:58 1995:

        Here's a good question:  Why do socks disappear in the dryer?  I 
have a theory that the rapid spinning action occasionally allows a sock 
to reach c and warp into the future.  That's why you usually find the 
missing one later -- you've 'caught up' with it again. ;-)

        Further research is needed.



#54 of 74 by rcurl on Thu Jun 1 15:38:59 1995:

Something has to disappear now and then to provide the source for
the lint production. 


#55 of 74 by bruin on Fri Jun 2 00:50:52 1995:

Did anybody see the Ren & Stimpy episode where they went into the Black Hole
in space and found out what happened to all the left socks?


#56 of 74 by freida on Fri Jun 2 04:32:21 1995:

Actually, I've discovered that we have a sock monster in our dryer...
Even if I match up all the socks before putting them in, at least
one always disappears...it has to be a sock monster!


#57 of 74 by gull on Fri Jun 2 15:03:02 1995:

I like #54 - makes sense to me!  After all, the mass for that lint has to 
come from somewhere, right?



#58 of 74 by popcorn on Fri Jun 2 15:04:00 1995:

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#59 of 74 by popcorn on Fri Jun 2 15:04:18 1995:

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#60 of 74 by sbj on Fri Jun 2 15:15:27 1995:

Life as a sock is dangerous.


#61 of 74 by janc on Fri Jun 2 15:23:12 1995:

I think part of the problem is actually sock mutation.  I put a pair of
plain brown dress socks in the drier, one turns greenish, and the other
sprouts ridges, leaving me with two unmatchable socks.


#62 of 74 by sbj on Fri Jun 2 18:59:04 1995:

Has anyone ever actually seen these socks do this, or is it just speculation
based on circumstance?


#63 of 74 by janc on Fri Jun 2 23:12:36 1995:

Yes, I once followed a pair of socks through both the wash and dry cycle
(you need very large capacity machines, and lots of dramamine) and watched
them mutate before my eyes.  Never saw any vanish though.


#64 of 74 by gull on Fri Jun 2 23:14:47 1995:

Maybe these dryers all have a secret sock compartment -- it could be a 
conspiracy with the sock manufacturers, to give them more business.



#65 of 74 by rcurl on Sat Jun 3 07:47:02 1995:

When I clean the lint trap, I take it out, and there is a *hole* there -
a very black hole. There was a lot of lint around the event horizon,
but little below. Perhaps some socks enter that black hole, and get
crushed to nothingness - or even reappear in another dimension! 


#66 of 74 by sbj on Sat Jun 3 19:57:30 1995:

Yeah.. on other planets they have too many socks, and all their unmatched
socks start matching spontaneously.  Of course.. there's also that nifty
feature they have which adds lint to all their clothing.


#67 of 74 by jemart on Tue Jun 6 13:37:17 1995:

I thought you were never suposed to have socks that match...even at our house
where I know I put in 2 socks alike I never get 2 back...and I do most of the
laundry.... I wonder where they go?


#68 of 74 by sassy1 on Wed Jun 7 01:36:51 1995:

what are matching socks?


#69 of 74 by rcurl on Wed Jun 7 07:08:35 1995:

When I buy socks I buy a dozen identical pairs - no matching required.


#70 of 74 by popcorn on Wed Jun 7 13:02:32 1995:

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#71 of 74 by mju on Wed Jun 7 15:02:59 1995:

I have about 2 dozen pairs of socks.  About as much underwear, too.
You tend to do this sort of thing when doing laundry is something
that requires you to leave the building...


#72 of 74 by sbj on Wed Jun 7 17:06:33 1995:

I have three socks which I wear in cycles.


#73 of 74 by tsty on Mon Jun 19 06:16:46 1995:

tricycles?


#74 of 74 by lee on Mon Feb 24 23:42:12 1997:

When I was in college, we had working dryers.  Of course, seeing how it
seemed like at least two or three were broken at any given time, we ended
up standing on lines for them.  Officially we had 6 washers and 6 dryers
for about three hundred people but I don't remember ever seeing them all
working at once.


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