In this blog post I will be reviewing some of the popular portable clothes dryer on sale in the market that can be used in small or big apartments, RVs, when you travel or even camping. I have reviewed 3 portable clothes dryers. Of these 3, two are ventless while one requires a vent. These are:-
- Panda Ventless Dryer
- Manatee Clothes Dryer
- Panda Portable Dryer
Table of Contents
1. Panda Portable Ventless Clothes Dryer
This portable dryer is ventless and has been designed to gently dry your clothes using warm air that is passed through the clothes using an air motor. The manufacturer also claims that it helps minimizes
the appearance of wrinkles on your clothes.
The dimensions of this dryer are 9.5” x 11.2” x 21” and it weighs about 8.5 pounds. It can hold up to 22 pounds of garments. The folding clothes rack has the ability to hold upto 18 hangers. Its cover opens and closes through a zipper and is made of heat-insulated material.
It is easy to assemble this dryer. Simply hang the clothes and set the timer dial, cover the clothes with thee tube cover, start the motor and let the warm air dry the clothes. You can set the timer to an hr,half an hour or even 20 minutes depending on what you want.
The package content include:- The clothes rack, upper support pole, support pole connector, lower support pole, waterproof protection plate, heater, heat insulated tube cover, dryer legs.
The voltage of the air motor is 110v and the maximum drying time is about 180 mins. This dryer is perfect for people living in apartments, dorms or who travel using RVs.
This portable dryer takes a little longer to dry clothes compared to the time taken by a normal dryer.
PROS
– Compared to going to a laundromat, you will save a lot of money in the long run
– Easy to assemble and fits well in small spaces
– Does not consume a lot of energy compared to normal dryer
– Although ventless, it doesn’t heat up the room. It’s absolutely silent and safe
– Allows you to dry clothes that you wouldn’t be able to place inside a regular dryer. Clothes that will shrink in a regular dryer will not do so with this one.
CONS
– Some people are complaining that it takes too long (more than 180 mins) to dry their clothes. Could it be for people living in more humid towns will naturally take more time to dry?
Panda Dryer Video
2. Manatee Portable Drying Rack
This clothes drying rack is designed for people living in tight spaces such as apartments, RVs and also for business travelers. It is a ventless drying rack and is able to hold bulky items without sacrificing on its performance. The maximum drying time for this dryer is 240 minutes and has been designed to fold a maximum of 33 pounds.
It comes with a remote control that works within a range of 8 meters. This drying rack can also be controlled by a LCD touch screen. The temperature control function controls the fan from overheating to
ensure safety in your home.
It also has a -ve ions function whose main purpose is to sanitize clothes against issues such as pollen, mold,dust, pet dander, spores, cigarette smoke etc. The electrical consumption of this dryer is 110v and uses a normal three prong plug.
Manatee Dryer Video
PROS
– A convenient, durable and innovative product.
– Its on wheels which makes it easy to move around
– Energy and eco conscious
– Saves you space and can be stored under the bed or in the closet
– The shut off timer function is great especially if you want to dry overnight or want to leave your house
CONS
– This product height is about 4.5 ft which is short. So if you have long garments such as towels thy might touch the floor.
3. Panda 2.65 cu.ft Portable Laundry Dryer
This is a conventional dryer but I included it because its portable due to its small size. It has a capacity to hold a maximum of 8.8lbs cloth. You can use it to dry clothes and other types of garments. I don’t think this is appropriate for camping but can fit well in small apartments or small spaces at home.
It runs on 110 volts with a rated input of 1400w/800w and its perfect for apartments and other small spaces. Since it runs on 110v, it might take a little longer to dry your clothes compared to a 220v dryer.
It has 4 temperature selections to choose from and its dimensions are 23.62″ x 17.12″ x 27.56″ (W * D * H). In every purchase you get wall mounting brackets to use, a removable lint filter and 1 year
warranty.
The machine weighs 44 pounds and is white in color and comes with a 1 year manufacture warranty. Its weight is portable enough to move it around or take it with you in an RV or camping trip.
Would you need to vent with this dryer? Well that depends. If you are the type of person that is not comfortable with a lot of humidity in your house or room, then I would suggest you have this set up.
The challenge of not venting is that mildew will develop over time. One user said that when using an indoor venting kit, the humidity in the room jumped by 30% when the dryer was being used. The vent
is about 3 1/2″ in diameter & has plastic vent tubing
If you find that this dryer is leaking water, probably its because its clogged with lint. when overloaded, this dryer give a high pitched noise otherwise its silent when loaded properly.
PROS
– Does not use a lot of electricity.
– One user commented and said they have used it to dry 4 big towels in a decent amount of time. The person added that they have also dried a sheet, fitted sheet, and 4 pillow cases in under 30 minutes
– Silent when properly loaded
CONS
– Its was never designed to dry heavy loads at a time or garments that still hold water. So for people who like to dry huge loads at a time, this is not for you
Dryer Fires Prevention
Most people are ignorant of operating dryers in a safe manner. Did you know that there are over 15000 fires, 10 injuries and 10 deaths that are caused by dryers every year? Its also reported that there are several hundred people per year who are poisoned by carbon monoxide from improper dryer safety measures.
The financial implication of these problems runs to $100,000,000 per year. To be fare, some accidents are caused by faulty dryers but on the other hand, many of these fires can be avoided with proper dryer safety precautions.
When there is an accumulation of lint coupled with reduced airflow feed, this create the optimal condition for fires to occur. Lint is a material that easily catches fire. Did you know that lint is one of the ingredients found in a recipe for home-made fire starters?
In most homes, clothes dryers are normally placed in the basement. With the increasing house demand for apartments, its not uncommon to find many houses to have dryers located away from outside wall in bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens and hall closets.
Placing dryers in these locations will mean that they will have to be vented longer distances. To add to the challenge, these same vents are in most cases installed with sharp turns and bends to accommodate the structure of the house. This creates a problem where dryer vents are harder to reach & more surfaces for lint to gather.
Short, straight dryer duct venting is recommended. If this is not possible, then a dryer vent booster (though not ideal), can considerably improve your dryer venting where your venting is longer and/or
has more bends than it should.
In addition to creating a fire hazard, if the venting is too long and/or has two many bends, it will cause your dryer to take much longer than necessary to dry loads.
Within The Dryer
Like we mentioned before, the biggest problem is lint. If you’ve ever cleaned your lint filter, you will notice that it catches a lot of lint. The general assumption is that lint filters will trap all the lint & they
need to do is clean them with each load.
This is not the case because a good amount of lint escapes and is not caught within the filters and over time it builds up (even on the heating element itself) causing it to overheat and catch fire.
For those that are doubting, I would ask you go to your dryer and remove the lint trap & check underneath it. Don’t be surprised to discover big mounds of lint hidden within!
Outside the Dryer
Some technicians employ improper dryer vent practices which can result in fire accidents in the long run. Some of these common dryer vent mistakes are:-
1. When the vents are installed in buildings and have long or too many bends, with inferior or no dryer duct booster. This results in lint buildup. We recommend shorter dryer vents.
2. Installing flammable or foil duct extenders. Make sure that ONLY metal vents are installed, which is what is recommended. The reason we recommend metal vents is that they are able to resist being crushed better than plastic or foil, which in turn allows the lint and warm air to be expelled out efficiently.
When the flow of air is reduced will result in overheating and the effect is that it causes clothes to wear out and the appliance to break down faster.
3. Small clearance space between the dryer and the wall. When you place the dryer right against the wall, you can destroy the venting material in the process and causing overheating. Overheating causes the high temperature safety switch to to go on and off. Since these switches were not designed to switch on and off frequently, they break down over time.
4. Failure to clean the dryer duct properly.