Any suggestions for drying washing indoors

skintmumof3

i am trying to be old style and money saving.
i am now wrapped up well in my fleeces etc as i haven`t put the heating on as yet.
but i am also not using my tumble dryer and am hanging my damp washing around the house....
now with a cold house, damp washing and no heating.......will this cause problems....
as i have noticed condensation on the upstairs windows for the first time this autumn...i don`t want to end up with a damp problem.
thanks
skint
xx

fiscalfreckles

If you are drying washing indoors it is better to have a bit of ventilation in the room, I'd open the windows a crack. (If its too cold, just do that in a room you're not in and close the door.)

Pink.

Hi skintmum,

As fiscalfreckles has said the key to avoiding damp is plenty of ventilation. There's an earlier thread with lots of tips on drying washing indoors that should help so I'll add your thread to it to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

nesssie1702

Ikea are doing a clothes airer/pulley thing for around £12 - you fix this to the ceiling.

I managed to get two loads of washing dried outside on Saturday - it's a combination of wind and sunshine that dry my clothes. Not too bad for October in the Hebrides

kiwifruit_2

on a day like today the washing definately goes out on the line but on those horrible all day wet days ive got the most awful looking but very effective indoor line lol....i live in a semi and our lounge/dining is really all one room..sooooo down the dining room end (which is the first in the house to get the morning to all day sun), Ive put 2 hooks in the wall and then straight across in front of the window to the other wall, I have two more hooks. When I need to aire or dry washing, I just put up two peices of that plasticy clothes line and hey presto the washing drys. The fire is on in the lounge and the hot aire rises -yeeha lol....

ksh123

What do people think about this dehumidifier - primarily for help with drying clothes?
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4150664/Trail/searchtext%3EDEHUMIDIFIER.htm

thanks

Lalaladybird

I have to put my heating on to dry laundry at the moment because it won't dry on the line in this cold weather, I don't have a tumble dryer and if I don't turn the heating on the laundry is still damp after about 3 days on the airer but I really hate putting the heating on/leaving the heating on just to dry laundry but I can't think of another solution. I was in the habit of snuggling under a blanket with a hot water bottle in the evening to keep warm watching tv but I don't need to because the heating is always blasting out heat....sometimes I'm too hot:mad:. Any suggestions would be gratefully received. I can't afford to waste money like this.

oystercatcher

Why not get a heated towel rail to dry the laundry , or one of those small long cylindrical electric heaters that say they cost 1p (I'd query this with the price rises but they used to advertise as this) an hour to run and pop it under the airer, that way the heat would rise up and dry the washing but not over heat the room if you are comfortable enough. You'd have to ventilate a bit to let condensation out.

Oystercatcher

fernliebee

You have probably thought of these ideas already but just a thought:

pulley airer- as heat rises they dry much quicker! We have a 'pull out' line on our top landing and stuff dries really quickly on there! (only £3.99 from wilko)

Turn your washing regularly and remove dry stuff as it is dry. You prob already do this but I used to be rubbish and hang my washing up and just leave it and it would take ages to dry now I make sure I turn items over regularly especially heavy items as it stops the damp smell.

Put heavy items on an extra spin cycle not very mse really but it might be cheaper than heating on? though not sure if it would make enough of a difference. My washing machine has a 1600 spin speed so stuff comes out practically dry.

put heavy items on top of doors- nearer the ceiling so dry quicker.

Spread out items as much as possible, I've found that a lot of airers are really cramped so your clothes can't get a good air flow.

Don't put items on radiators when heating is on, but as soon as you switch it off put garments on them to use the warmth up!

Ummmm! Think thats all I can think of! I know how you feel as we have no tumble dryer and have to dry my DD nappies so have to do most of these. Hope you find a solution- it's no fun living in a tropical house when you know how much it's costing you!

SunnyGirl

I use two clothes maidens to dry our 2 - 3 loads a day. They're at the top of the stairs where the heat seems to get them dry really well. Admittedly I do have the heating on but only from 6am - 7am and 4pm and 9pm, with the boiler set to 55 degrees and this works for me. I used to have a tumble dryer but when it went to heaven I went to Argos & got the maidens. I'd have the heating on anyway in the winter.

One tip I've found works is to make sure that you've shook the wet clothes out & put them on the maidens as flat as possible with room for air to circulate.