Any suggestions for drying washing indoors

GreyQueen

I have a tiny flat which has insufficient ceiling space for a hoist-style airer, although I have used them in other homes and can verify their excellence.

I have one accordian-type floorstanding clothes airer, which will acccomodate one machine load at a time and dry clothes overnight, although it does limit me to clearing away one load before another can be started, and this can be a nuisance when changing the bed, for example.

A neighbour uses 2 of those hinged inverted-"V" shaped airing racks which balance on the edge of the bath tub, with the bathroom door shut and the window ajar, and her clothes dry very nicely. I have bought one secondhand from a c.s less than an hour ago so am feeling very pleased.

My mother uses a combination of outdoor lines and 2 accordian airers. She accidentally discovered that the wallmounted pull-out multi-line airer (check out the Argos catalogue to see what I mean) can do more than dry socks and smalls. She now hangs sheets and very thick bathtowels on it overnight in winter, window ajar and bathroom door closed, and they will be dry by morning.

Line drying is by far the best way to go, and unless there is absolutely no breeze and a very dank atmosphere (like fog) they will dry somewhat and acquire that lovely outdoorsy smell. Unless it is high summer you will almost always have to finish them off on an airer.

PS In the mountains of Sloevenia, I stayed at a lodge which had a wonderful outside structure, about twice the size of an ordinary garden shed, handsomely built from wood and with a proper pitched roof. Its sides were open and it had sturdy racks built in, almost like old fashioned wall-bars on school gyms. It was a drying house and I coveted it.

PPS I think a greenhouse is an excellent OS-substitue for the above.

Flora_Poste

I dry everything on the line as fas as possible. It just feels fresher and smells nice. It's the undies and millions of socks I struggle with so We got one of those heated airers from Lakeland a few years ago.

Looks and works like a normal airer but it plugs in and heats up as well if you need it. It's in use all year round but only gets plugged in when it's really cold and wet. It will dry a whole machine full of undies overnight and at least I can put them all away. Otherwise they hang around for days and there is no end to them.

doelani

great thread, can I ask a question.

I have a airer I use indoor, use radiators, backs of chairs and bannister lol every available space.

I am thinking of buying a second airer ( large family ) and only place I can put it is in my front room which we do not use often but wonder will drying clothes in this room make it damp ? It has a radiator in it and can open the window during the day.

thanks

SpikyHedgehog

crazyguy wrote: »

I suggest you buy a lots more clothes and hoard them until the warm weather kicks in and then wash all at once, then theres no need to worry about cleaning them for now.

Very old style!

SpikyHedgehog

I do struggle over winter, it's dark before I leave to take DS2 to school before I go to work, and even if I do put washing on the line first thing, it's dark & damp before I get home again (DS2's a slow walker so it can be gone half four before we've walked the mile home). If I put the tumble dryer on, I need to open the back door to put the hose out, so the whole kitchen gets cold.

I got a good routine last winter of giving everything at least one fast spin before getting out of the washing machine, drying on the clothes horse all day & night in front of the back door & kitchen radiator, then shifting to the airing cupboard to finish off for a day & night. Worked for most stuff, but sometimes I'd end up with so much stuff to do, I had to use the dryer to get stuff dry before it started smelling.

Mumof2_2

MrsCrafty wrote: »

No it's not, mine is already up and running and I wish I had done it years ago. Even having the oven on sends heat upstairs and my washing dries overnight. it's the best thing I ever did. You can even hang sheets on it and it doesn't bump your head when pulled up to the ceiling. each rod is 7 foot so 28 ft of washing line and it's out of the way.

We've got one of these too - got it 2 winters ago and is the best thing we've ever had for drying the clothes (apart from a warm sunny day!) - I put the clothes to air after I've dropped the kids at school in the morning and 24 hours later, when I've got the next load ready to air, the ones I did the day before are all dry and ready to be put away.

sunflower76

We sold our tumbler last year, mainly because I wanted a freezer to live in it's place but also to cut down on the elctricity costs. I can honestly say we don't miss it.

I line dry wherever possible and also have an indoor airer which can hold three loads of washing but I only ever put one on and spread the items over as many bars as I can as I find this drys things better. I am also fortunate enough to have a galleried landing so can hang sheets and duvet covers over the railings to dry.

My only top tip is to buy some of the multi peg hanger things like this: Hanger. I find it so much easier to use a few of these for socks and small items, mainky because it can be fetched in from the line if it's raining but I can also hang it on various things around the house when doing indoor drying.

suki1964

doelani wrote: »

great thread, can I ask a question.

I have a airer I use indoor, use radiators, backs of chairs and bannister lol every available space.

I am thinking of buying a second airer ( large family ) and only place I can put it is in my front room which we do not use often but wonder will drying clothes in this room make it damp ? It has a radiator in it and can open the window during the day.

thanks

As long as the room is aired or heated theres no reason it will become damp

I have to have the rads on in the back bedroom because otherwise I I get mould growing in corner of a built in wardrobe. The room is never used so I refuse to waste the heat and have my sheets and towels hung in there

Kaz2904

I'm after one of those ceiling airers too, that way I would no longer have to use my TD! I don't have space for airers all over the house as everything would just get knocked off. When I have tried it, the washing just gets musty and doesn't dry Then the house gets all damp and we get mould. We had a dehumidifier last year and it was great, it was sat in the utility room by the loo so I was able to stick an airer in front of it. This worked quite well and dried the washing. At least when we have that going we manage to get some stuff dried without using the dryer and it cuts the damp out too.
I'm better at getting all of the windows open too during the day. DH is a terrible moaner about having any fresh air in the house but he doesn't seem to understand that if the windows stay shut all of the time, the damp can't get out. Can't wait until the hallway's replastered so I can get the ceiling one though

EstherH

How expensive are de humidifiers to run? Do they vary a lot from one to another? Are they cheaper than tumble driers to run?

I try and put washing out on line if it's not raining and then put on radiators but we have damp and hubby says it's because of washing on rads. He would rather use tumble drier but electrics expensive enough without that and the rads are on anyway.