Drying washing in winter

Doom_and_Gloom

-taff said:

It's not just a calculation of the cheapest version though. It's a question of how much condensation is safe before it's mouldy, are you going to encourage chest infections by it being damp, are you going to need to put the heating on to dry things in rooms or on radiators, is it cheaper to run the TD for an hour rather than the heating for eight, have you got the room for a heated dryer, the time to sort it and hang it, room for an airer, or a horse. It's not just the cheapest because the cheapest for me would be to hang it outside until it dries which in this weather could be hours, could be days, could be weeks. Drying stuff is always a compromise between the cheapest and the safest or most practical.

Our dehumidifier runs most the year; if the back door and windows are shut anyway. Our landlord was visibly happy when we said we had one before we moved in as these flats are built to retain heat, they also retain moisture very well due to that even with all the air vents open all year! We use the air purifier on it when the dehumidifier function is not needed, this has helped greatly too.

We don't have the space in our small garden (paved outside area) for a line with the couple of chairs and the small greenhouse we have (mostly used for OHs hobby so it doesn't take over our flat instead, and when I say small he can get a chair and table in there only with the shelving lol).
We don't really have the space to put our washing up indoors but we make do. My wheelchair gets moved into the bedroom and we put the washing on our 3 tiered dry soon in half (heated function used when needed) and use an old fold flat clothes airer alongside if that isn't enough hanging space in the hallway along with the dehumidifier. Doors to the hallway are shut if windows/doors are open or washing needs to dry fast/heating element is on. There is just enough room for me to get by them on my crutches if I'm careful, yes I have caught my crutches on the airers in the past and it was not good.

Driers are killers to modern clothes. I have clothes over a decade old still perfectly wearable as we don't tumble dry them but line dry them, as even though they state tumble dry okay I just know they would have been useless ages ago if tumble dried them.

frank_olaf

Hi,

I'm starting to run into issues with drying my clothes now that it is getting colder. I put the clothes on 2/3 drying racks in the conservatory (which gets quite cold) during the day and then move it to the lounge next to the radiators in the evening. The clothes are starting to smell a bit damp as they aren't drying enough in the conservatory but I don't want to put the heating on all day and don't want them stinking up the lounge with the damp smell.

Would using a dehumidifier with laundry mode in the conservatory help dry them out more or do I just need a warmer room for them?

Thanks.

flipflopflo

A dehumidifier should  work well for you. 

Effician

Out on the washing line here, still good drying days to be had.

Kaylataste

Effician said:

Out on the washing line here, still good drying days to be had.

Yes, it’s out here,too.Blowing about quite happily on the line.

GaleSF63

KxMx said:

Edited to add, I'm definitely going to try and get down to 2 loads a week during winter more often, since I wash duvet cover once a fortnight (can't face wrestling with the winter duvet itself weekly), I could find a way to just have a bigger second load that week, instead of 3 smaller ones. 

Two of my friends put a sheet between them and the duvet, to cut down the washing frequency of the duvet cover. It doesn't really work for me as I tend to get a bit tangled up in the sheet, but you would know whether it might work for you?

mumf

Washing line when we can,tumble drier when we can’t. I will not have wet washing in the house. The damp does no good for building or my asthma. It is also unsightly and chaotic,which does no good for mental health.

greenbee

GaleSF63 said:

KxMx said:

Edited to add, I'm definitely going to try and get down to 2 loads a week during winter more often, since I wash duvet cover once a fortnight (can't face wrestling with the winter duvet itself weekly), I could find a way to just have a bigger second load that week, instead of 3 smaller ones. 

Two of my friends put a sheet between them and the duvet, to cut down the washing frequency of the duvet cover. It doesn't really work for me as I tend to get a bit tangled up in the sheet, but you would know whether it might work for you?

I do this - and can reduce the washing further by doing what we always used to do as kids pre-duvet. Top sheet to bottom and clean sheet on the top. So only one sheet to wash each week - and TBH I don't find it much more effort to make the bed with a flat sheet rather than a fitted one. 

timehastoldme

We caved this year and bought a tumble dryer. Was so fed up of radiator washing or slow drying musty washing, zero regrets.

LadOnTheHill

Washing line and dehumidifier here.

We get plenty of wind here, to the point where we have to put the garden furniture away if a storm comes. Unfortunately, we often get rain with it. On the occasions we need to dry indoors, I put the washing on an airer in a small shed and put the dehumidifier in there with it. The shed only just fits the airer, so there's not too much air space to be dried out. It makes it much quicker to dry in there, rather than a normal sized room which has a much bigger air space to dry out before it starts drying the clothes. Doing it in the spare room took a lot longer.

The dehumidifier only draws 650w on full on turbo mode, and it's generally done the clothes in an hour or two. I only use the tumble dryer for a few minutes to fluff up the towels.