A laundry appliance having a laundry drying chamber and a sensor for measuring the humidity of laundry items contained in the laundry drying chamber. The sensor includes an operating support having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. The sensor also has at least one first pad provided on the first surface of the operating support and at least one second pad provided on the second surface of the operating support, both the first pad and the second pad being made of an electrically conductive material and being adapted to operate as a plate of a capacitor. Methods for detecting humidity of laundry items are also provided.