There is disclosed a tumble dryer wherein the space between a housing and a drum mounted within the housing for rotation about a generally horizontal axis is separated intermediate the ends of the drum into one portion on one side and another portion on the other side of the portion, and heated air is circulated from an inlet to the one space portion into the drum and out the drum into an outlet from the other space portion. There are also disclosed alternate embodiments of means for separating the space including a plastic ring having an inner diameter closely surrounding the drum and an outer portion carried by a wall of the housing and received within an annular recess of the wall.