I toss sweaters and dance gear in for 15 minutes of air dry to help grab those stray dog hairs before proceeding to either hang things to dry or lay them flat.

Dripping-wet clothes should not, of course, be put in a dryer. Air dry is used for heat-sensitive items that may contain foam rubber and the like. Some kinds of shoes for example, on a drying rack (if the machine in question has a rack). One of my mattress pads instructs to tumble-dry without heat.

Years ago, when ironing was much more common, some dryers included a sprinkler tube or ball or a built-in water dispenser to dampen dry clothes (line-dried for example) in preparation for ironing. The air setting was used for that.

Air is also useful for dusting/freshening drapes/curtains, pillows, quilts and blankets, etc.

About tossing them in the dryer on air dry to get the dog hair/cat hair or lint off........That's a great idea. I never thought of that. One thing's for sure. Air dry WON'T dry anything.

Air dry WON'T dry anything.

Takes a while, but it will. Similar in time to simply setting the item out on a rack, but there is forced airflow through the dryer.

Our F&P Aerosmart defaults to air dry when you select bulky comforter mode for example. 80 minutes of air dry in that wind tunnel when it's 8% humidity outside does quite well.

One of our comforters specifies air dry only. Being very light and cloud-like, it does actually dry pretty quickly without heat.

I use Air Dry for all my "Dri-Fit" and similar performance fabric clothing - gym clothes, hiking shirts, etc. Drying without heat extends the fabric life and prevents damage.

- IT Geek

I use air dry to soften my line dried clothes. 10 minutes in the air-dry cycle is all it takes.