Any suggestions for drying washing indoors

tori.k

what sort of heating do you have? i have a combi boiler it kicks out some heat just to heat the water so hubby to fix a couple of hanging rails to the ceiling i hang shirts etc from wet and they are dry by morning (most dont need ironing either)

tessasmum

One of the reasons we had a verandah built across the back of the house was to have a drying line under it so we have been able to dry clothes outside year round for four years now. I know that is an expensive option and not something a lot of people can do, but the environmentally-friendly/cheap drying of our laundry was one of the reasons we saved up and did it. We also have a woodburner so I sometimes put the airers around that when we are off to bed and the heat retained in the room at night helps to dry the clothes. Again, that is not an option for everyone, but it is a perk of having one!

valk_scot

Right, there's money saving and there's giving yourself a headache from stress tbh. Realistically, how much does it cost to run a load through the TD? 50p? More? Work it out if you can then decide to "finance" the TD in poor weather by saving the same amount elsewhere. I'd rather run the TD four times a week in winter and forego two packets of biscuits for example.

My TD broke down last winter and just out of curiosity I thought I'd see how long I could last without it. We all have radiators in our bedrooms (there's 2 adults, 2 kids) so each has a radiator rack and all undies and small stuff get dried on these, sorted out so they can move straight from rack to neighbouring drawer. The towels/teatowels etc get dried on a rack on the dining kitchen radiator. Most of the rest gets dried in my small walk-in cupboard which has one of these retracting quadruple clothes lines you can pull across. There's hot pipes in there so the clothes dry fairly easily but it's small, takes 12 t-shirts for example, and even then they overlap. Anything that can get dried on a hanger does. I wait until a dry day to run the sheets and bedding through and dry outside. I do have a good clothes airer but I don't need to use it more than 1/3rd of the time as I wash one load every day when necessary and don't let myself get too far behind. One load will fit on my indoor arrangement usually. If I didn't have the airing cupboard I'd use the airer plus radiator racks.

I still haven't got the TD mended come to think of it. I'll get it sorted next time the washing machine needs a repair though. It's useful for holiday washing. But tbh my current system works better than using the TD because by the time it's dry it's almost all sorted out, it's flat and it just needs folded in situ. And everyone can find their dry clothes easily even if they've not made it into the drawers yet.

funkymonkey849

At the moment the answer would be - with great difficulty

I washed some towels last week and they took 5 days to dry! They went in the tumble drier in the end as they were starting to smell a bit musty.

I am saving up the washing until a few nice days come along but I have about 4 loads to do now lol!

This time of year is a nightmare for doing washing!

jcr16

were a smaller family than you. only 3 children. when i know it gonna be dry it goes on line. but i use the TD at the mo. i don't like using it. but it doesn't cost that much to run and tbh i'd be more stressed at having damp washing hanging around in our small house. when the heating is one then it dry's really quick, and i put the washing on in the evening, hang in airer and then by morning it is dry and i can put it away and then the airer doesn't get in the way. but it isn't cold enough for that yet, so it take ages to dry.

v8monkeyboy

Tumble drier, always. We have the world's smallest house and no room for driers etc, and the back yard is on a direct flightpath for ducks who make ever such a mess of your washing :rotfl:.

As I've never used a drier in the house, does it not make the rooms damp having all that washing hanging, especially as lots of people don't have the heating on either?

LondonDreamer

I have a TD but don't know how to use it. :rotfl:

I splurged on a Minky tower airer when I had an Argos voucher to use. It says it can hold up to four loads, but I like to space mine out to dry faster so it holds two loads for me. I have it set up in the corner of our bedroom which has both a radiator and the airing cupboard, so it dries reasonably quickly. Don't have a garden, so still use it in summer - just move it in front of a window to take advantage of the sun and breeze.

Penelope_Penguin

I keep an eye on the weather forecast and try to wash when it's good drying weather Alternatively I have a creel hung from the kitchen ceiling. We don't keep our house very warm, but even towels and jean are dry overnight.

I'll add this to the exisitng thread later, to keep ideas together.

mandi wrote: »

Hang on a minute " Old styless" Tumble dryers :think::whistle:

You don;t really understand the concept of the OS board, do you

Sublime_2

Its wet today, so I've got sheets hanging from doors, while the rest of the washing is drying (in my washer/dryer).

I tend to dry 1/2 my clothes in the machine, while stuff such as sheets, jumpers, I like to drape over backs of chairs, or my airer, although I'm running out of space with kids toys everywhere.

I haven't got the heating on today, so no point in hanging wet clothes over radiators.

clairehi

Working fulltime and having 2 kids who come home wearing their packed lunches on their shirts, waiting for the weather to be good to do the washing is not an option. I do have a concertina type clothes airer https://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/minky-trio-concertina-clothes-airer-white_1_40573.htmlwhich I use for drying synthetics and things that will be ironed. In a south facing room everything dries quickly. However I cannot stand air dried towels or underwear, it all goes hard and scratchy! I am also not into the "Widow Twanky's laundry" effect of clothes draped over all radiators...

it costs about 30p a time to run my tumble dryer according to the instruction booklet and my current electric tariff so running it a few times a week is not going to bankrupt us.