A review of domestic tumble drying: Mechanisms, influencing factors, fabric property alterations, and environmental implications

Domestic tumble drying provides rapid, weather-independent garment care but is energy-intensive, can impair textile durability, and may generate particulate and gaseous emissions. This review synthesizes recent advances in heat and mass transfer mechanisms, dryer technologies, and the coupled effects of key operating and material variables, including temperature, air humidity, airflow, drying time, mechanical action, load characteristics, and fiber composition, on drying performance, fabric integrity, and environmental sustainability. Particular emphasis is placed on stage-dependent fabric deterioration, including wrinkling, shrinkage, pilling, strength loss, and microstructural damage, as well as associated environmental burdens such as microfiber shedding, and volatile organic compound emissions. By integrating these aspects, a process-based coupling framework is proposed that links operating, material, and control variables with evolving fabric thermal and moisture states, coupled transport and thermomechanical interactions, and their joint outcomes in drying efficiency, fabric integrity, and environmental emissions. The framework identifies the late drying stage as a critical control window and highlights the multi-objective tradeoffs inherent in tumble drying. In particular, although heat-pump dryers can substantially reduce direct electricity consumption, their overall sustainability also depends on drying duration, mechanical exposure, filtration performance, garment durability, and emission pathways. The available evidence supports a cleaner-production hierarchy prioritizing source prevention and intelligent process optimization, complemented by lint filtration, exhaust treatment, and appropriate disposal of collected fibers. Machine-learning-based soft sensors provide a promising basis for adaptive multi-objective control, whereas ultrasonic, vacuum-assisted, and renewable-energy-integrated drying technologies require further validation under full-load household conditions.