Most dryers will do what they are designed to do: dry clothes. Some, however, dry clothes more efficiently than others, with less work and less wear on fabric.
Dryer Types
The choice between purchasing a gas dryer versus electric will depend on whether you have a gas line in your laundry area. Most homes are equipped for one type or the other. Gas and electric dryers have many of the same parts and are designed to accomplish the same tasks and operate in the same way.
Performance Features
When selecting a dryer, look for features that will add convenience and time-saving efficiency to your laundry efforts.
- Cycle selections: Before you choose a dryer, think about the types of fabric and clothing you dry most often. Typical cycle selections include delicate, permanent press, and regular. Special cycles will allow you to handle special fabrics with greater ease and can increase the number of fabric types you are able to put in the dryer. A wrinkle protection option, which tumbles clothes for a period of time without heat after drying so they don't wrinkle before you unload them, is a useful feature if you can't remove the clothes immediately at the end of the cycle.
- Moisture monitors and sensors: Monitors will indicate how damp your clothes are at any given time in the cycle, so you can take out, for example, a 100% cotton item before it shrinks, or a piece of clothing you'd like to iron while damp. Moisture sensors help reduce over-drying and, in the process, spare fabric and save energy.
- Special features and options: Some clothing requires that you lay it flat while drying. If you launder a lot of these items, look for a dryer with a drying rack. If your dryer is located in a dimly lit area, choose a model with an interior drum light, which illuminates the entire drum so you have an easier time loading and unloading and can see small pieces of clothing, like socks, anywhere inside the dryer.
Whirlpool® is the best-selling laundry brand in the world, offering smart washers and dryers that take the guesswork out of laundry day, including Duet®, the #1-rated front-load washer in America.
Learn more about Whirlpool dryers.
Every KitchenAid® dryer was designed to provide you with professional performance load after load.
Learn more about KitchenAid dryers.
