Any suggestions for drying washing indoors

gildius

This looks amazing notanewuser - thanks!

pigpen

notanewuser wrote: »

My sister lives in a flat with no tumble drier. She has the heated clothes horse from Lakeland and absolutely raves about it. She can get 2 loads of washing on it at once, including bedding etc and it dries overnight for a few pence of electricity.

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/21736/Dry-Soon-3-Tier-Heated-Tower-Airer

I have this too.. it is much better than the pod ones it heats a small room beautifully too though I put an old double bed sheet over which holds in the heat so things dry much quicker.

Heavy items I put on a standard airer while lighter items dry then by this time the heavy items are much dryer so need less time on the heated one.

notanewuser

ETA - most of the "housey" magazines at the moment have a small lakeland booklet in them which has a £5 off voucher on the back page. Might be worth looking around magazine stands for one.

short_bird

As it's 20 years since I had a washer/dryer, this may no longer apply
The problem I had was with how wet the clothes were after washing and spinning but before the dryer kicked in. Stuff would take forever to dry. So I set it to wash, gave everything a second spin, removed anything that could go on hangers over door frames then tumble dried.

Now? Wash, remove anything that can go on hangers over door frames, the rest goes on an airing rack with a dehumidifier that's on two thirds capacity. Works for me as we're in a small flat.

Justamum

If you've got the space I'd buy a spin dryer. They take out quite a lot of water which the washing machine leaves in, which means that if you have to hang things on airers it will take less time to dry them and they are less likely to smell damp afterwards.

Years ago I lived in a rented house which had a washer/dryer and after the whole cycle clothes weren't dry, they were just steaming and wet. It doesn't sound like they've improved much over the years.

unimaginative_user_name

I've just bought the Lakeland 3 tier rack and it is expensive but will save in the long run in terms of central heating as in previous years I have ended up putting the heating on earlier in the autumn than would otherwise have been necessary just to dry laundry. I have used it to dry bath towels which take ages to dry this time of year if the heating is on. If I were you, I would wash a load in the evening, hang it up in your living room just before you go to bed so you're not sleeping in a room with wet laundry, then get up a few minutes earlier in the morning and if the washing isn't quite dry move it to the bedroom to finish off. If you find things are bone dry in the morning you could experiment with a timer on the electric dryer so it switches off after a few hours.

I also use cheap radiator airers for socks and underwear as even in the autumn things dry quite quickly before they start to smell. It also means that I can dry more than one load on my heated dryer so I don't need to have it on so often.

Another thing I used to do when I lived in a flat was install an extra shower rail in the bathroom and hang shirts on hangers from that. They needed barely any if any ironing and dried quickly provided I left the bathroom door open to allow the air to circulate.

I have also taken wet washing to the launderette to dry though this isn't suitable for all items.

C4Tim

Wow,

I'm amazed at the amount of response there was to my initial question. Thank you all for your input.

Beckyy

Do you have an electricity monitor to see how much you're using or what uses the most etc.? We have just been given one with our new smart meter and it's made me very aware of what each appliance costs. We also don't use a huge amount but are around £40 per month.

We used to have a washer dryer and I found that unless you had a small load in it often came out warm and damp, rather than dry. maybe worth splitting a load after washing and then tumble drying it? Not necessarily cheap, but an option

unimaginative_user_name

C4Tim wrote: »

Wow,

I'm amazed at the amount of response there was to my initial question. Thank you all for your input.

I think it's at this tricky time of year just before the heating goes on and it's too wet to dry things outside that lots of people think about the best and cheapest way to dry washing. I'm glad you found the responses useful and my guess is that others reading this thread will as well!

C4Tim

Beckyy wrote: »

Do you have an electricity monitor to see how much you're using or what uses the most etc.? We have just been given one with our new smart meter and it's made me very aware of what each appliance costs. We also don't use a huge amount but are around £40 per month.

We used to have a washer dryer and I found that unless you had a small load in it often came out warm and damp, rather than dry. maybe worth splitting a load after washing and then tumble drying it? Not necessarily cheap, but an option

We are currently with a supermarket branded electricity provider, but will be switching within the next 6 months to someone a little more familiar in terms of past usage. I was thinking someone along the lines of British Gas and using their smart meter thingy-ma-gig.

I agree with the washer/dryer scenario, the amount of times that the dryer was on for an obscene length of time just for some damp clothes!! :rotfl:

@unimaginative username: We have a laundrette nearby, will have to check them out!