A clothes dryer or tumble dryer is a household appliance that is used to remove moisture from a load of clothing

Clothing

Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...

 and other textiles, generally shortly after they are cleaned in a washing machine

Washing machine

A washing machine is a machine designed to wash laundry, such as clothing, towels and sheets...

.

Most dryers consist of a rotating drum

Drum

The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...

 called a tumbler through which heated air is circulated to evaporate the moisture from the load. The tumbler is rotated to maintain space between the articles in the load.

Using these machines may cause clothes to shrink

Shrinkage (fabric)

Shrinkage is when a fabric becomes smaller than its original size, usually through the process of laundry. Novice users of modern laundry machines sometimes experience accidental shrinkage of garments, especially when applying heat. Others may intentionally try to shrink a garment in their size...

, become less soft (due to loss of short soft fibres/ lint).