I decided to hold off replacing the broken clothes dryer and am hanging the clothes to dry. I do find hanging the clothes a pleasant task. That is working well for delicates, perma-press, synthetics, and most pants. Towels and underwear, not so hot. The towels come out pretty awful: stiff, scratchy, very unpleasant. I saw an article online that recommended adding a half cup of white vinegar to the wash to soften the clothes. I see a small improvement in the towels and cotton underwear when using the vinegar, but they're still pretty bad.
Instead of using laundry detergent, we use a couple of good squirts of dishwashing liquid in each wash to save money, a recommendation in an AARP article that appears to be working well. When I told DH about adding the vinegar when he does the wash, he said, "The dishwashing liquid (we use Ivory Liquid) is base and the vinegar is acid, so does that mean the clothes aren't going to be as clean?" I don't know, do you?
Aargh! Doing the laundry has gotten complicated! Do you have any suggestions, short of buying a new dryer, for getting clothes clean and soft?