I have never used dryer sheets because they smell so fake. I simply made peace with the fact that I occasionally leave the house with a sock or two clinging to my butt. Then I saw ads for those spiky rubber balls that look like a cross between a Medieval instrument of torture and a child's toy. I wasn't enthusiastic about using them at first since I never like the idea of doing anything that involves heating plastic, but I finally broke down and ordered some from one of the environmentally conscious-type catalogs.  Now that I have them I really love them. They seem to make the clothes dry faster and more thoroughly. They beat the laundry into submission, thus softening it, and they don't make your laundry smell like some powerful-smelling yet nonexistant flower. If anyone ever asks me "So, what's your washday secret?" I'll be able to smile sweetly and say "I've got balls."

I've been using my dryer only to de-wrinkle for years, just warming up the wet clothing for a few minutes to relax it. Secret to drying T-shirts and other light knit tops is using extra-large hangers---they're about 2-3 inches wider than the usual ones, so a large-size T-shirt can hang gracefully thereupon without getting shoulder bumps.
Haven't used dryer sheets since I got rid of my last polyester dress in 1986. Yuck.

I've doggedly tried line-drying for years, even in spite of my less-than-adequate clothes line that sags to the ground when I hang a hanky on it then eventually snaps. I keep knotting it back up and trying again. But more disturbing than the frayed line is the fact that during the hot, humid Missouri summers our clothes never seem to dry, and often acquire a lovely mildew scent. If the moisture eventually does get sucked out of them, they take on a peculiar cardboard appearance. Our towels can practically walk themselves back into the bathroom.

We use Ecover fabric softener in the washer which works nicely when we dry everything in the dryer. But for now, I feel like a moron because I can't do something as simple as get my clothes to dry in the sun. I'm not sure why I felt compelled to share that with the rest of the world.

I totally feel your pain about things never drying, although I have managed so far with only occasionally feeling like I must get a dryer before the next time I do laundry.  If it makes you feel any better, Massachusetts is no better than where you are, and Ireland (where I lived for a while a few years ago) is significantly worse.  Plus, in Ireland no one has dryers, and the ones at laundromats totally suck at actually getting things dry, presumably because they're more energy-efficient than the ones we have here.  

Here in MA, I hang things out, hope for the best, and often it rains before I can bring them in, so then they're even wetter, and they totally get cardboardy and funky-smelling.  If I can get them out on a sunny morning, I love the sun-dried smell, and they actually get dry during one day, but when that doesn't happen...ick.  I do sometimes dry things on a folding drying rack inside the house, which never makes them smell good but also never makes them smell awful.

So I didn't mean to suggest that line-drying is perfect all the time, by any means.  Well, except where I grew up--In New Mexico you can hang stuff out and within a few hours even jeans are bone-dry.  I love it.

Umbra didn't mention that dryer sheets and fabric softener make your sheets and towels less absorbent.  I always feel like I'm simply depositing lint on my skin when I 'dry off' with a 'softened' towel.

i cut down on dryer use and clothes wear & tear by
using the drying rack for all non-natural fabrics and only put cottons in the dryer.  
ratcheting down the temp in the dryer:  1st 15 min are full blast 'normal', 2nd 15 min are 'low'.  
I take out stuff as it gets dry, rather than leaving everything in till everything is done.  I find this keeps my clothes from getting cooked/lintbally and the remaining items dry much faster.

I understand how difficult it can be to use a clothes line east of the 99th meridian or up in the NW where it rains rather frequently, but in other parts of the West where one generally finds dry weather, putting the clothes out on a line or even indoors on a strategically placed line in the kitchen I find letting nature do the work the best policy.  Plus I like the way they smell, they smell clean.  Kind of a nice reward for washing your clothes that you don't get with a mechanical dryer.

  The folks where I live put the sheets and towels on the lines outside no matter what the weather.  I use indoor lines myself (since my schedule and laziness makes it easier to leave the stuff hanging).  Beijing is very dry so not much of a problem.  In San Francisco, indoor drying was a must! (The fog, the fog.)

  I have a small hallway with a few metal poles across the top, just inches from the ceiling.  I put my clothes on hangers, and then use a short pole with two notches which can fit the hangers to lift the hangers over the poles.  It works amazingly well (it was here when I moved in).

  The clothes are up high enough not to be a real nuisance (except perhaps aesthetically, but never mind).

patrick

I thought dryer balls might be a great solution too until i saw what they are made of:  the dreaded PVC.