Thanks so much for that for explanation. I have always wondered. Interestingly, none of the Bosch reviewers complained of knotting. I know Roc has a Bosch set now.

There are dryers where this DOESN’T happen?!!!? You just blew my mind. It’s one of those things that I just thought was life and I had to deal with it. We’re in the market for a new dryer. What should I buy!? Will it also keep the flat sheet from balling up and hiding in the corner of the fitted sheet resulting in it not drying?

"Kim Q: There are dryers where this DOESN’T happen?!!!?"

Yes. Some Miele models have reverse tumble which helps with that problem. GE has some, look for the Detangle Assist feature.

I have a Fisher & Paykel *topload* dryer that reverse-tumbles for 40 seconds every 4 mins throughout the cycle, no trouble with tangling. F&P unfortunately discontinued it several years ago. Electrolux had reverse tumble but apparently has discontinued it on current models.

Speed queen dryers are terrible at balling the sheets up. One sheet and its fine...more than one and its a big ball of cotton.

It's best to dry your fitted sheets alone and dry the flat sheet with your pillow cases. So for each bed, there are two loads in the dryer. They'll dry faster too.

@MizL - It's 6 months now with the Bosch compact pair with the condenser dryer. No issues. Very happy with these.

No idea about your SQ dryer. But I've never had a dryer that didn't have a sheet ball up occasionally. Much as I loved the Miele washer I was never as thrilled with the dryer and certainly not as much as Larsi. My sheets came out squished and occasionally balled up even with the reverse tumble. Not every time but it happened.

Bosch 500 has no reverse tumble. I can do the set but they dry more evenly and quickly in 2 loads. They don't ball up every time and no idea why. With centrifugal motion I expect that will happen. I have percale and linen sheets. The linen sheets, which are heavier are more likely to ball up. But I can hear a difference in the sound and I just shake it out.

OTOH, the linen sheets are amply dry in 40 minutes on low -- this is a condenser dryer. But it's very efficient.

None of my clothes ever ball up, however. Never. I partially dry a lot of my cotton knit nightgowns (low 30 minutes) and I can shake them out and hang them up with barely a wrinkle.

The only caution I would make is that the dryer needs ventilation and does get the area warm. As long as there is enough ventilation in a space you could put a stacked pair of these anywhere.

Good advice, littlegreeny. I will try that.

Thanks, Roc, for your insight. In this location, I was planning to panel the pair, stacked, with cabinetry to one side, nothing but space and a big window to the other side. The house is in the mountains, and most of the time the warmth will be appreciated. In July and August, however, not so much. But the room has a huge window that can be opened. What do you think? And what is it like to clean the condenser coil? You have to do that, correct? Your water drains out a plunbed line? You’re not dumping a water tank, are you?

I have used the small Euro washers and dryers for long stretches while in the EU and UK for work, so I have some idea of the learning curve. But still, I welcome any advice. Thanks!

No idea about the dryer ventilation with paneled doors, or if Bosch can be paneled, but the downloads should specify that. Mine are in a closet. What you're describing is why they design these compacts and it should look great.

The condenser cleaning is a big nothing. No tank. Takes about 5 minutes to clean and a towel soaks up the very small amount of water that can drip out. It's never completely dry but never more water than a microfiber can absorb. There are two grills that just get rinsed so the lint comes out.

I found another Fisher & Paykel toploading / reverse-tumble dryer via a local seller on Facebook Marketplace, so now I have two. Rare to find one in my little town, there has never been local dealers for the brand. Eight years old so right at the end of production when F&P had a manufacturing facility in the U.S. (Ohio). It had a lot of lint accumulation and somewhat dirty but cleaned up nicely.

Score!

Go dados. How did it go MizLizzie?

So far, we haven’t found a contractor to renovate the upstairs, and we close in two weeks. We found a guy who is willing to do the main floor – – install all hardwoods and renovate the kitchen – – but he won’t touch the upstairs. We probably won’t get to move in until February at the earliest. So I guess we will haul the giant Speed Queen up there and put it in the unfinished basement for large bedding. Then we have to decide whether to undergo a second floor renovation while we live in the house, or put the Bosch units in that awkward main floor closet. Hey, first world problems, right?

Yup, first world. However, nonetheless annoying, right? Renovation takes so much time and effort and it's so disruptive. But when it's done it's always worth it. Itching to do another reno project but it takes over life for so long. You can complain here LOL! Much luck.

Your Keyword is - Clunker. It may sound a little off, but I think this problem is more common with smaller dryers. When you use a bigger dryer, the additional space prevents fitted sheets from swallowing everything whole! I've never had this problem with larger dryers, but every time I use a smaller one it seems to happen. Maybe it's just the design of the dryers I've used, but I swear it has to do with size!

My 24" GE dryer balls sheets most of the time. I do them one at a time and monitor the dryer to unball them a couple times. Fortunately, one sheet dries in about 25 minutes.

I have a 24" miele and have never had a balled up sheet. I use only flat sheets though. 2 sets of king size flat sheets with four to six pillow cases without an issue. Are you sheets mainly fitted?

I have a Speed Queen dryer..2016. Big enough drum but the sheets ball up.

Agree with @homepro01 fitted sheets ball up more than flat. However, I will only use fitted bottoms. Unballing takes about 30 seconds.