Abstract: Fabrics are dried by tumbling the fabrics in a drying chamber into which hot air is introduced. The hot air is formed by passing ambient air through a solar heater to heat the air to a first temperature, and then further heating the air with a second heater such as a burner. The burner can be one which burns a fuel in the presence of combustion air. The combustion air can be a portion of the air that is passed through the solar heater.After drying the fabrics by this method, the drying zone can be cooled and the fabrics can be further dried by passing air through the solar heater, and then without further heating the air that has passed through the solar heater, introducing the air to the drying chamber.