You're making a great effort, and don't let anything I say discourage you because I'm a firm believer in using the line when possible. That said, I love my dryer too. For casual, professional wear, I'm way too lazy to iron (and with 3 little ones, you're most likely way too busy to iron unless it's the way you get your relaxation or something), so those clothes go in the dryer. For clothes where wrinkles matter a bit less (like your kids' everyday clothes), there are a few tricks to hanging clothes to decrease or avoid the issues you mention. Someone above mentioned shaking the clothes before hanging them. I would agree but not describe it that way. It's more of a shake-snap. (Sorta like the thing a big brother does with a dish towel to hit someone with it.) Use two hands and lift it up and whip it down so that it makes a snap sorta sound. (Maybe you can find a video on You Tube??) As for marks, I usually put things on the line (rather than hangers). Where you put the clothespins should be chosen rather strategically. I tend to hang shirts upside-down and pinch them at the side seams. My husband learned (yes! and yes!) to hang them right-side-up and pinch them on the armhole seams. Some things I do use hangers and I often use two hangers and pull them about an inch apart to distribute the weight better. Anything that has a "poor stretchy to heavy" ratio should be laid out flat. Most of the drying racks mentioned above probably have an area where multiple "spindles" are close enough together to use for this. (Sweaters fall into this category and usually tell you to dry flat; jeans are heavy but not stretchy so they do great on the line.) Oh, and socks and underwear (and other little stuff)...I usually use what I call "pinch racks." They have a hook at the top like a coathanger and multiple "arms" (that usually fold up for storage) with permanently attached clothespins. It's much easier to me to hang it near the washer and load it there even if I plan to take it out to the line (which I may or may not do depending on weather, my energy, the phase of the moon;-) etc). Hope that is helpful.

The other consideration not mentioned yet is the capacity and load. My old dryer was undersized for my washer and would take 70-80 min to dry heavy stuff like towels and jeans. My new dryer is nearly 2 cubic feet larger and dries much faster. Also if it's sized close, are you overloading the washer? I assume you're cleaning the lint filter each load?

Thanks for the help! I couldn't fix a gas dryer, so I appreciate everyone's input. I ended up going to a local appliance store. They had a brand new (never used- never left the store) scratch and dent that had just a small dent on the side that wasn't even scratched. It was a little more than the Sears dryer, but it wasn't a return and it was in perfect shape otherwise and obviously never used. Many of the returned dryers Sears had were obviously used- lint in the filter, and one was really messed up on the inside. (paint discoloration, big wad of dog hair between the drum and dryer, some weird goop inside, etc) They were also pretty battered. Maybe the Sears delivery truck crashed?

I've had an increasing pile of sheets, shirts, underwear (summer and winter), and some pants waiting for mild weather to be washed. I was beginning to think that I might need to buy some more underwear ... and how much of that does one need, as one crowds age 80? It was mild two or three times but rain promised at about the same time: not so great, as washes take longer to dry in winter. We had a mild day the other day and I did two loads, even hung them without feeling the need even once to bury my hands in the unhung stuff (fairly "warm", though it had been rinsed in cold water) in the basket to thaw the fingers out. Took them down just before dark, which is a faster, but colder, job and accomplished the task all in one go. Spread most of the stuff out in the living and computer rooms and bedroom, to add some humidity to this house, for the air in houses in northern climes in winter gets as dry as the desert air. Doing too much of that might cause danger of moulding, but I don't have any such worries. No kids in (cloth) diapers, the kind that everyone used, a generation and a half ago and, though I'm nearing second childhood, haven't started using them again ... so far, at least. As that was about last Friday, I guess that it's time now on Monday that I do some folding and storing. Have a great winter, everyone. ole joyful