Depuis que j’ai un sèche-linge, je repasse de moins en moins de vêtements le week-end.

Depuis que means since in the sense of from the time when. It introduces a starting point that continues up to the present.

So:

• Depuis que j’ai un sèche-linge = Since I’ve had a dryer / ever since I got a dryer

A key idea is continuity: the situation began in the past and is still true now.

Compare:

• Depuis que j’ai un sèche-linge... = since I have/have had a dryer
• Quand j’ai eu un sèche-linge... = when I got a dryer

So depuis que is the natural choice when the effect continues into the present.

French often uses the present tense after depuis que when the situation still continues now.

So:

• Depuis que j’ai un sèche-linge literally looks like Since I have a dryer
• In natural English, we often translate it as Since I’ve had a dryer or Ever since I got a dryer

French and English do not match exactly here. French is focusing on a present state that started earlier and still exists.

If you said Depuis que j’avais un sèche-linge, that would usually place the whole situation in the past, not continuing now.

Literally, it means I have a dryer. But in this sentence, because of depuis que, it often implies the idea ever since I got/had a dryer.

So depending on context, English might translate it as:

• Since I’ve had a dryer
• Ever since I got a dryer

French does not need a separate verb like got here to express that idea.

Un sèche-linge is a clothes dryer or tumble dryer.

Breakdown:

• sécher = to dry
• linge = laundry / household linen / washing

So un sèche-linge is literally something like a laundry-dryer.

It is a masculine noun, which is why it takes un.

Je repasse comes from the verb repasser.

In this context, repasser means to iron clothes.

So:

• je repasse = I iron
• repasser des vêtements = to iron clothes

Be careful: repasser has several meanings in French depending on context, such as:

• to iron
• to go back over
• to come back by
• to replay/review

Here, because of vêtements, it clearly means to iron.

After expressions of quantity like moins de, beaucoup de, peu de, and de moins en moins de, French normally uses de before the noun, not des.

So:

• moins de vêtements = fewer clothes
• de moins en moins de vêtements = fewer and fewer clothes / less and less clothing

This is a very common French pattern:

• beaucoup de livres
• peu d’argent
• de plus en plus de gens
• de moins en moins de vêtements

So the second de is required because the expression is functioning like a quantity expression.

De moins en moins means less and less.

It is the opposite of de plus en plus = more and more.

Examples:

• Je travaille de moins en moins. = I work less and less.
• Il y a de moins en moins de neige. = There is less and less snow.
• Je repasse de moins en moins de vêtements. = I iron fewer and fewer clothes.

In your sentence, it modifies the quantity of clothes being ironed.

There is no article because vêtements comes after a quantity-style expression: de moins en moins de.

French uses de in that structure rather than les / des.

So:

• je repasse des vêtements = I iron clothes
• je repasse moins de vêtements = I iron fewer clothes
• je repasse de moins en moins de vêtements = I iron fewer and fewer clothes

The quantity expression changes the structure.

In French, time expressions often use the definite article where English may not.

So:

• le week-end = on weekends / at the weekend / during the weekend

In this sentence, le week-end means the time when this usually happens.

French commonly says:

• le matin = in the morning
• le lundi = on Mondays
• le week-end = on weekends / at the weekend

The article is normal here.

Here it usually means on weekends or at the weekend in a general, habitual sense.

So the sentence suggests a routine:

• ever since having a dryer, I iron fewer and fewer clothes on weekends

If French wanted to mean this weekend, it would more likely say:

• ce week-end

So:

• le week-end = on weekends / at the weekend generally
• ce week-end = this weekend

French often puts time expressions at the end of the sentence, especially when they give extra context rather than being the main point.

So this order is very natural:

• Depuis que j’ai un sèche-linge, je repasse de moins en moins de vêtements le week-end.

The core statement is:

• je repasse de moins en moins de vêtements

And then le week-end tells you when.

You could move it for emphasis, for example:

• Le week-end, je repasse de moins en moins de vêtements.

But the original word order is very normal.

Yes, but the meaning would shift slightly.

• vêtements = clothes / garments
• linge = laundry, household linen, washing

So:

• je repasse de moins en moins de vêtements focuses on the clothes themselves
• je repasse de moins en moins de linge would sound more like I do less and less ironing / I iron less and less laundry

Both can work, but vêtements is more concrete and specific.

It suggests a gradual trend.

The expression de moins en moins means that over time, the amount has been decreasing.

So the idea is not just:

• I iron less than before

It is stronger:

• I iron fewer and fewer clothes
• the amount keeps going down

That makes sense with the dryer: as a result of having it, the speaker needs to iron less over time or in general.

Yes. That would mean:

• Since I bought a dryer

That version focuses more specifically on the moment of purchase.

By contrast:

• Depuis que j’ai un sèche-linge focuses on the fact that the speaker now has one, and has had it since then.

Both are natural, but they are slightly different in emphasis:

• j’ai acheté = the buying event
• j’ai = the resulting situation/state

The comma separates the introductory time clause from the main clause.

Structure:

• Depuis que j’ai un sèche-linge = introductory clause
• je repasse de moins en moins de vêtements le week-end = main clause

This is similar to English punctuation in sentences like:

• Since I got a dryer, I iron fewer and fewer clothes on weekends.

The comma helps readability, though punctuation can sometimes be flexible in informal writing.