If you’ve been looking for a new tumble dryer lately, you may have seen tumble dryers described as being ‘reverse action’.
While these are relatively new on the domestic market, reverse tumble dryers have been on the commercial market for some time.
Many commercial laundry services use reserve tumble dryers, but are they any better at drying your clothes than a typical tumble dryer?
There are certainly pros and cons to both reversing tumble dryers and typical dryers. As we’ll see throughout this article, reverse tumble dryers could just be the best way of drying clothes in the home moving forward.
Let’s explore these dryers and find out what makes them different to a standard dryer and whether you should buy one if you’re in the market for a tumble dryer, shall we?
What Is a Reverse Action Tumble Dryer?
Essentially, what differentiates a reverse action tumble dryer from a regular tumble dryer is that the direction the drum spins changes mid-cycle.
While this may not sound like a big deal, what happens in the drum shows otherwise. As the drum reverses its rotation, more water is pushed out of the clothes, resulting in quicker drying times.
Plus, the clothes tend to tangle less in these tumble dryers because as the drum reverses its rotation, the clothes are free to spread out again.
Reverse tumble dryers need a bit more technology installed to pull off the reverse action. Firstly, a bypass must be installed so that the computer controller inside the dryer can accept the reversing action.
The hardware of the tumble dryer also needs to be changed to support this reversing action. Most tumble dryer hardware is designed to work in one direction, so it will become damaged if used in reverse.
All of this means that reverse action tumble dryers are often more expensive than a standard dryer. However, they also have plenty of other features to help you dry your clothes even quicker than before.
Benefits of Reverse Action Tumble Dryers
Prevents tangling
We briefly mentioned the twisting and tangling of clothes above, and we’re sure any long-term dryer users have experienced their clothes being tangled after drying. Well, this is prevented with a reverse action tumble dryer.
As the drum changes direction mid-cycle, this allows the clothes to relax and untangle themselves during the drying process.
When you open the door, your clothes will be free of tangles. This means that these dryers are a lot gentler on clothes, and as a result, you’ll experience less wrinkling and creasing during the drying process.
Quicker drying
Reverse action tumble dryers also bring a full load of clothes to complete dryness much quicker than a regular tumble dryer.
The change of direction allows for water to escape from the garments much quicker. This, of course, means that every load will be completed faster, and this can save you time and energy.
So, a reverse tumble dryer can help with the energy efficiency of your home as well as drying your clothes quickly, evenly and easily.
Can You Buy Reserve Action Tumble Dryers in the UK?
A quick search of the usual appliance sites shows that there are a number of reverse action tumble dryers available to domestic customers in the UK. However, they can be tricky to spot.
Oddly, this new-to-the-market tech isn’t the front-runner when it comes to selling points for tumble dryers right now.
This is likely because companies are pin-pointing the energy efficiency benefits of these machines and spending less time focused on the complex technology that helps them be so energy efficient.
Reverse tumble dryers are out there, though. Companies like Beko, Bush, Logik, Indesit and more all have reverse action tumble dryers available right now, and some are very reasonably priced.
When looking for a reverse action tumble dryer, though, ensure you take a look at the description of the dryer to double-check that it does indeed have the reversing action.
In Conclusion
Reverse action tumble dryers are a fantastic addition to a home, whether you’d like to dry clothes really quickly or improve the energy efficiency of your home’s appliances.
To find out more about reverse action tumble dryers, or any other tumble dryers for that matter, please explore In The Wash further.
We have loads of tumble dryer articles just like this one that can give you a great insight into buying a new dryer.
We also have lists of the best tumble dryers available in the UK right now if you’d like to buy the best dryer for your budget.
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