Drying washing in winter

willward

A tumble dryer is the way to go. Hang clothes on a dryer in a small room if possible. Shut the door after turning on the dryer. Clothes will be dry the following morning if you do it before going to bed. Cheap, quick, efficient, no damp and no streaming windows.

meanmum

I know the tumble drier is seen as an unnecessary use of energy - but factored against that is the fact that it minimises ironing, thus saving energy there - not to mention the cost of rectifying mould & rotten window frames if you dry indoors.

halfamo

We've got one of those dry stand things that you have a cover over. Its electric but cheap to run and the damp air seems to stay in it and not stick to the walls. We also have a wooden airer thing on the kitchen ceiling to drape wet clothes on.

julie1002

If you use a clothes airer put the washing on it and try covering over the top of it with a sheet or large towel - wet if you have just washed it or a dry one if not. Place the airer next to a radiator and drape one end of the sheet over the radiator.  The heat will be contained and your washing will dry much quicker.  Works really well. Same principle as the Lakeland driver.

kittieviolet

I put my washing over the rack for 24 to 36 hrs and then finish it off in the tumble dryer for 5 mins 10 at most and its dry. There's only me though so I could see how this may be difficult with family levels of washing

littlemoney

Do we need to do the washing as often as we do. It's so easy to do the washing these days with automatic washing machines, put the laundry in and start the machine and then walk away and do something else. When I was a child I remember helping my mother, the washing was a chore and a half, took a very long time and wasn't done as frequently. We wore our clothes more than once, often for several days..

joedenise

@littlemoney - I agree with you but of course our parents didn't have automatic washing machines.  When I was a small child my mum used a boiler and then washing was carried in buckets to the bathroom to be rinsed in the bath and then carried back to be put through the wringer - oh how I wish I could get hold of a wringer!  Autos are great in that you can just walk away but even with a 1400 spin speed I'm sure more water would come out with a wringer!

I certainly don't change all my clothes every day, just underwear/socks/t-shirts.  Outer garments are worn for a few days at least and sometimes just need to be aired between wears rather than washed.

KxMx

meanmum said:

I know the tumble drier is seen as an unnecessary use of energy - but factored against that is the fact that it minimises ironing, thus saving energy there - not to mention the cost of rectifying mould & rotten window frames if you dry indoors.

No tumble dryer here, we do have an iron but rarely use it, unless it's work uniform or formal clothes most modern fabrics simply don't need it, hangers do the job especially if the garment is hung up while wet, ironing is IMO an old fashioned hang up from another age which for some reason many people, mainly women, still insist is vital!

We do use a spare room as laundry drying room (3 standard racks and a tall wardrobe), we don't have rotten window frames or mould either as we are proactive about removing any condensation, using an inexpensive dehumidifier, good ventilation and keeping the temperature of the room balanced.

halfamo

We do have a wringer. I bought it from germany on ebay as it was cheaper to buy from there and pay for the shipping than to buy from here. It is from the 1940s but does work...However a high spin speed is still more effective and You do have to think about buttons and zips with the wringer as clothes fastenings arent made to stand the rollers like they used to be.

gozaimasu

My conservatory is used for drying clothes, but obviously on dull days or cold winter days, it doesn't work as efficiently as in the summer. I have a cheapo 600ml dehumidifier which I pretty much have on constantly during the cold/dull days. It's been on for the past 24+ hours and the clothes are still damp (2 washing loads) and starting to smell that damp/fusty smell.

Previous years I would have started putting clothes on the radiator around this time of year (with the dehumidifier on in the same room) but I really don't want to put the heating on. I want to work out which would be cheapest in the long run from the following options:

• continue to dry clothes on radiators in winter with the cheapo dehumidifier
  
• buying a Dry:Soon £69.99 pod from Lakeland
• buying a bigger dehumidifier (maybe 10L £150)
  

Working out which is the cheapest will involve some calculations based on wattage, running times and unit price of energy but I could do with your input based on your experiences.