Getting Washing Dry

madmum33

We have a tumble drier for towels/undies, but we also have a tatty lean-to on the back of the house with two washing lines and alot of the washing goes on them in bad weather. Not sure what we'd do without it, our house is full to bursting with two adults and three late teens!

kittykat500

What I've done in the past is hang clothes on an airer in my conservatory for a day - this isn't always long enough to dry everything so I split a load of washing into two driers at the launderette bung some dry towels in with each load. I make sure I use driers that have just been used as they are obviously warm then put as little money as possible into each machine. I go to the launderette when it's not that busy, take a book and leave the clothes in for as long as possible after each load has been tumbled to get the max. heat from the driers. This is usually enough to get them dry.

Pipkin

We've just returned from living abroad for many years, and conscious of how the price of energy has changed and not having had an actual bill yet in order to try and guage my way with it all I have been trying really hard to be extra sensible with our usage.

But I have a problem, I cannot get the washing dry!

It has been raining almost constantly since we got here.

I don't want to use the tumble dryer unless I have to because obviously it uses loads of electric, its not genuinely cold enough in the house to put the heating on (I can sit in the house with a t shirt on and not feel cold, and I feel the cold very easily) but bizarrely its not warm enough to get anything dry!

Just as one example - I've had DD's ra ra skirt drying on a dining room chair for 2 days now, and it's still damp.

What should I do?

What would you do?

Anyone else find this?

Slinky

I use drying racks over the bath and keep turning things over and inside out to encourage them to dry before they go musty.

Olliebeak

Pipkin wrote: »

I've had DD's ra ra skirt drying on a dining room chair for 2 days now, and it's still damp.

I think I would have put it on a coat hanger - especially one with an expandable waistband thingy! T-shirts and dresses can go on ordinary coat-hangers and be hung from curtain rails, over the tops of doors (those hooks that you attach over doors are great for this, from door handles, from picture rails (if you have them).

You will find that a couple of airers are invaluable if you don't want to use the TD - and I wouldn't buy the cheapie ones either. Good sturdy ones are so much better.

Good Luck - this climate must be a bit of an eye-opener to you after all this time .

poppyoscar_3

I use a drying rack in the shower and turn over regularly (as does slinky)...but there's only me, and so not a huge amount. I put sheets and duvet covers over the bannisters on the landing. If possible I leave a window open on the front and another on the back to get a through breeze too.

Works for me!

PO xx

Penelope_Penguin

Hi there :beer: I've never had a TD (and don't want one, due to the amount of energy they use - cost and environmental impact :rolleyes: ). I use a creel airer, and never have problems

I'll add this to the existing "problems with drying laundry" thread so that you can see what others do

Penny. x

oldMcDonald

We don't have a tumble drier, either, we are a family of 7 and I can just about keep on top of the washing when drying it indoors.

We have taken the shelves out of the airing cupboard and have replaced them with 2 poles, one as high as I can reach and the other in front of the tank and about 3ft high. I put wet clothes onto coat hangers and hang them off the top pole and use two of those 'smalls' plastic peg hanger thing that you get from the £1 shop on the bottom pole. This has worked really well for us and a full load will pretty much dry overnight like this.

As mentioned by others, larger items such as bedding and towels get hung over the bannister and dry quite quickly. Jeans also dry faster like this rather than hanging them over wire radiators due to the heat rising up the stairwell.

skintmumof3

i remember my mum having a gadget (back in the 70`s). it looked like a top loader w/machine. but you lifted the lid and there were load of wooden hanging bars, which she then hung the washing over and closed the lid and switched in on.. and then it heated up and voila ..wasing dry.....after several hours.
i can`t remember what it was called, but it was rather large and she used to wheel it in from the shed.......

oldMcDonald

skintmumof3 wrote: »

i remember my mum having a gadget (back in the 70`s). it looked like a top loader w/machine. but you lifted the lid and there were load of wooden hanging bars, which she then hung the washing over and closed the lid and switched in on.. and then it heated up and voila ..wasing dry.....after several hours.
i can`t remember what it was called, but it was rather large and she used to wheel it in from the shed.......

We had one of those! It was bright yellow and clattered and banged when you moved it around. We always called it an airer, but I doubt that was it's really called. I bet it cost a bomb to use, if I am guessing correctlyhow it worked, it was baisically a fan heater in a box!