I see all sorts of answers online, but am not fully convinced. I tried finding some research on the longevity of clothes between wash and wash + dry. Considering that it dries for hours just the mechanical movement should damage the clothes I would assume?
Have you ever cleaned out a lint trap? All that lint used to be part of the clothes.
Just wanted to comment this. The amount of lint can be quite shocking, but explains why e.g. t-shirts seem to get thinner over time…