Cheapest way to dry laundry?

aggypanthus

What CANT you tumble dry?

Zola.

Put a clean towel in the tumble drier with your clothes, it will absorb the moisture and your clothes will be dry quicker.

HappyMJ

Zola. wrote: »

Put a clean towel in the tumble drier with your clothes, it will absorb the moisture and your clothes will be dry quicker.

That would reduce the capacity of the machine. My bath towels weigh 500 grams. The capacity of my dryer is 3kg. Now if I follow that advice I can only dry 2.5kg of washing. For every 15kg of washing I'd be putting an extra drying load on (6 loads as opposed to 5 loads). Where's the money saving?...or when you say quicker is it 6 loads of 125 minutes duration as opposed to 5 loads of 150 minutes duration. So yes it's quicker to dry a smaller load but why bother putting the towel in? May as well fill the dryer to capacity and dry a full load at once.

bearcat16

Mother-in-law bought us a drying rack that is hoists to the ceiling.

Like this:


It works unbelievably well! Holds loads of stuff, and even heavy things like jeans and towels are dry in a few hours. We have it hoisted above the stairs where there is a lot of room for things to dangle, and it doesn't get in the way.

After seeing how well it works, I'm suprised everyone doesn't have them.

All the heat rises to the ceiling - something I found out when I climbed up to install the pulley wheels for it!

teddysmum

bearcat16 wrote: »

Mother-in-law bought us a drying rack that is hoists to the ceiling.

Like this:


It works unbelievably well! Holds loads of stuff, and even heavy things like jeans and towels are dry in a few hours. We have it hoisted above the stairs where there is a lot of room for things to dangle, and it doesn't get in the way.

After seeing how well it works, I'm suprised everyone doesn't have them.

All the heat rises to the ceiling - something I found out when I climbed up to install the pulley wheels for it!

Up to at least the 1950s, most terraced homes had them. My mother-in -law still had hers when she went into care in the 2000s.

benjus

Personally I prefer this style: http://www.cuncial.es/techo-avion/35-tezno-techo.html

Lighter and has more hanging capacity than most wooden ones.

edgex

At least one spin in the washing machine straight after the washing process is finished
then remove from machine & hang on drying rack (items will still be slightly warm)
make sure they are spread out & that air can get around the items

YORKSHIRELASS

aggypanthus wrote: »

What CANT you tumble dry?

Football shirts with numbers/lettering on. I do it as a favour but I have 14 of them to wash and dry every Saturday, plus 28 socks.

Mind you I dont tumble dry knitwear either.

Biggles

teddysmum wrote: »

Up to at least the 1950s, most terraced homes had them. My mother-in -law still had hers when she went into care in the 2000s.

I think they are what several earlier posts were referring to when they mentioned a 'maiden' (not a female servant that dried the washing).

red_imps_2003

We have never owned a tumble dryer, mainly due to space and running costs. We do find drying clothes a pain in the bum over the winter months; especially now that we have two young children (at least one wash load a day). Typically drying is done via a mixture of external washing line and indoor clothes horse (or whatever the modern parlance is).

In our experience, even an hour or so outside makes a big difference to both the subsequent time it takes to dry indoors and the amount of ironing required to get the creases out. It also leaves them smelling nicer (in our opinion). On days when hanging outside isn't possible for even an hour or so we rely exclusively on the clothes horse, usually placed by a radiator in our bedroom or the downstairs stairwell. I have never thought to use a fan to improve circulation; that could well be worth a try. We have, in the past, hung smalls on those racks that hand from the radiators, but have been dismayed at the damage they can inflict on the paintwork (the rubber ends come off in time and the boys often knock into them). We do occasionally place smalls directly on the radiators but are mindful of the effect this can have on the wallpaper, and also of the little sticker that reads 'do not cover' (!!!).

Without the external washing line it can still take more than 24hrs for heavy materials like jeans and towels to dry fully, but most other clothes are dry enough to have the last moisture pressed out with an iron fairly swiftly.

The thought of paying to run a tumble dryer makes me wince, but I do sometimes wish we had the facility available for emergencies. We do have the space available to accommodate one now, but it's one of those things where we would never recoup the outlay; just spend more and more money.