I see all sorts of answers online, but am not fully convinced. I tried finding some research on the longevity of clothes between wash and wash + dry. Considering that it dries for hours just the mechanical movement should damage the clothes I would assume?
Have you ever cleaned out a lint trap? All that lint used to be part of the clothes.
Just wanted to comment this. The amount of lint can be quite shocking, but explains why e.g. t-shirts seem to get thinner over time…
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My lint is always the color of the clothes in the dryer.
If yours isn’t, I’d start by deep cleaning your machine. Take the back panel off and vacuum any lint throughout the whole thing.
If you think it’s burning it to make it black. You’ve got a potential fire in your future you need to address.
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