What is the best way to dry clothes?

jen007

For those of us without a tumble drier (myself) i'd like to know what others do on wet, dismal days (much like today, in west Scotland).
I have a clothes horse, but it can take two days for heavier stuff to be dried without putting the heating on.

I'll wait on tender hooks. seriously, it's not very MSE to put the heating on just to dry my jeans.

ciderwithrosie_2

I have to use my condenser tumble dryer for most things as I have at least 12 loads of washing a week. Five adults in the house -so work uniforms, football kits, exercise gear, bedding, towels & teatowels, every day clothes and going out best clothes! anything that can't be tumbled gets hung on the airer, draped over the backs of chairs or on the radiators. My house is riddled with damp/mould anyway so have given up trying to avoid it

no-oneknowsme

OP , I also hadtrouble with getting washing dried.

I have a family of 5 and the washing was never ending , it was always hanging round the house drying for days on end.

I just dont have room for a tumble dryer!

A friend then gave me a spin drier which is a lot easier to store.

I now do my washing , give it an extra spin in the spin dryer and then hang it on a clothes horse infront of a radiator - my heatings on pretty constant at the min anyhow

My clothes now dry over night instead of taking 2-3 days to dry.

The spin dryer really does drain lots of excess water from the clothes and I have noticed a big difference.

Lizzybop

To all those who have posted that they hang stuff on or above radiators and draped around the house do you not get condensation problems?? Even if you have the heating on?

Particularly overnight when temperature drops a bit outside and the windows cool down?

Mrs_Skrimper

silvermist05 wrote: »

Ok following in on from another thread I've been reading on keeping on top of the washing, I didn't want to hijack the thread.
Apart from the obvious line drying what is the best way?
We are a family of 5 2 adults 1 teenager and 2 girls.
Currently I have a vented tumble which is in the garage so not ideal in this weather so I dry most of the clothes on the radiators which I hate, apart from being unsightly and expensive I'm worried about condensation and damp. So any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
Thanks Silver

I have to say that, after living in a) a mid-terrace Victorian house, b)a 20th century bungalow, both efficiently insulated, and a poorly insulated ground floor flat, I've never noticed damp as a result of drying on radiators - a bit of condensation perhaps on the tiles in the bathroom on the rare occasions I use that radiator but you'd get that with a shower or bath.

Obviously, if you dry on rads when the system would be on anyway it isn't costing any extra money - assuming you don't cover all the available radiator space with heavy clothes so you have to use supplementary heating.

Tumble driers apparently cost around 25 pence an hour to run and they don't do fabrics a lot of good over time due to friction.

I have a very efficient "tent" fan drier (look in the Lakeland Catalogue although I bought mine in a "pound shop" for about half the price of the Lakeland one). It costs about 14 pence an hour to run and holds about the same amount, if judiciously packed) as a tumble dryer would with the added advantage that it packs away into a small bag when not in use if you don't want it cluttering the place up. (Sneakily, I put mine up in the sitting room in the evening when there's only me at home and it warms the room as well as drying the washing so there's a saving on the central heating too!)

NoAngel

Lizzybop wrote: »

To all those who have posted that they hang stuff on or above radiators and draped around the house do you not get condensation problems?? Even if you have the heating on?

Particularly overnight when temperature drops a bit outside and the windows cool down?

I pop the clothes airer in spare bedroom. Window slightly open and have never had condensation problems. I dry sheets and towels in the dryer though so its only clothes drying in the house.

good_advice

Hiya, I did x3 loads of washing yesterday. It built up from the weekend as I was unable to put washer on.
It was an unusual dry and windy day yesterday, but quite dull outside.
I had all all the washing out for a few hours. Different things through out the day. All only half dried. So 4ish collected it all in. I put one load in the dryer - 2x single duvet covers, all towels and some other big clothes.
Over a door x2 single sheets. The rest just on clothes horse's.
The washing was all dry by morning.

Today, it is raining. Have just put one wash load through and hanging on clothes horse's. Will be dry by morning, ready for the next load.

It winter we just live with the washing. One clothes horse is up permanently in recess at the bottom of the stairs. Small utility room has a high shelf I hang coat hangers from. I also hang some in the back room.

I think drying washing in the warmth of the house helps. Some put theirs in the cold conservatory - cold at night so will not dry as quick. I only use the tumble dryer if I have stacks of washing.

I open the house windows every day to air the house and heating is on x3 hours per day.
No damp or mold in this house.

Take care and happy washing days...

sammyjammy

Firstly and most importantly always give your clothes an extra spin once the cycle is finished. You would be amazed at the difference in wetness. I dry my clothes on radiators if they can't go on the line, to stop condensation etc I always open all upstairs windows when I go to bed once the heating is turned off. Never a problem although to be fair its just me on my own so a max of three washes a week.

whiteguineapig

i had problems with damp and condensation when i dried them in the house,
i wash them myself the night before then take them to the launderette first thing in the morning
cost about £1.80 to dry about 2 big loads which include jeans and towels

lowlitmemory

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/p21736/Lakeland-Dry-Soon-Range?intcmp=INTSRCH:drysoon

We have the big one and personally I find it well, well worth the money. Dries things really quickly, especially if you drape a sheet over the top.