Best way to dry tons of washing in the Winter?

[peachcake]

I have stacks of washing with 2 adults and 4 children in a reasonably small house and have 2/3 loads of washing to do everyday, that's fine but drying it is a huge messy problem!!

I use all available rads and tumble all our smalls but the tumble shrinks stuff (gets too hot) and I still end up with piles of washing waiting for rads! i have airers/clothes dryers but the clothes don't dry thoroughly and sometimes get that damp smell which means I have to start again arghhh!

Anyone have any clever ideas, I don't have an airing cupboard & my drying outside is hit and miss at this time of year, help needed please!!

[daenerysstormborn]

i still line dry as much as i can during the winter. no clever ideas, and i do still have to bring it in and hang it on the radiators (no tumble dryer here), but if it's been out, it dries quicker once it's in. in our old house, i had one of those ceiling hanging drying racks, that was fab. doesn't look particularly tidy, but as hot air rises, the ceiling is the best place for drying indoors!

[slartybartfast]

i line dry as well, and only tumble dry towels. and perhaps sheet.
i dont do as much washing per day as you currently. i have about 3 airers.
i have put the heating on specifically to dry the washing. i think you just have to accept a growing laundry pile.
keep moving the washing around on the airer, putting various pieces closer to radiators.
i had a friend who hung thigns over doors, towels for eg.
i also hang as many shirts on coat hangers as i can. for space reasons. some people hang them in the window. i used to hang stuff on shower rail but our current shower rail falls off with a heavy weight on it.

[NonnoMum]

Couple of suggestions

• Can you get to a launderette? I take two or three loads there and shove it all in for twenty minutes for a £1. (Less than the time you would spend meeting a friend for a coffee)
  

• Heated airer

[TheFarSide]

2 or 3 loads of washing a day sounds like a lot.

[daenerysstormborn]

family of 6 though thefarside. my dc's are coming home from school filthy, needing clean uniform every day for ds due to playing outside at break times and mud!

[slartybartfast]

can you just brush the mud off?

[Seona1973]

I do a few loads most days too (2 adults, 2 kids but both me and dh go to the gym and dh plays football twice a week so generates a lot of washing). I use a tower airer and one of these too. I currently have a duvet cover hanging over the banister too!

[lollipoppet]

Ooh I hate that damp smell too. Can you not adjust the tumble to a low heat so it doesn't shrink stuff? Lakeland do a heated airer that's in a jacket thing. I've heard people rave about it. Think it is quite expensive though.

[Familydilemma]

If I have to do more than one load a day I try to do one where it all goes in the drier. Then it's airers and radiators.

[fastweb]

I am investigating dehumidifiers that are fairly small and cheap to run.

I can't have a tumble dryer cos as it is the amount of power available to the house means EITHER the washing machine is on OR the dishwashers is.

Add a tumble dryer to the schedualing of large appliance use and my organisational skills will hit overload.

I'm pretty sure in a small room a little dehumidfier should suck all the wet out of clothes so they just need a few minutes near the fireplace vents at the end of the day to finish them off.

In theory anyway.

[planetpotty]

nonomum you're a ledge!

Never heard of a heated airer just googled and this will (sadly) make my winter a much happier one - thank you

OP i googled the words. heated airers And looked at images and about 4 images in there is a pic of an outside tent sort of thing which if I could afford I would get.

[NonnoMum]

Yup - and you can put it away in summer.

Pleased to be of service!

[PigletJohn]

hanging wet washing around the house and draped over radiators is the main cause of damp, condensation and mould in UK houses.

I know tumble driers are expensive to run, at about 40p an hour at current prices, but the damp problem is very worrying.

If you have an extractor fan in your bathroom, you can hang stuff up in there, perhaps with a roll-away line over the bath, and leave the fan running and the door shut. This will prevent the moisture circulating round the rest of the house and causing damp.

You can then give it a short tumble to finish off. Those fabsoft sheets may help with the feel of it.

Only solution I know to shrinkage (it seems to happen worst with knitted cotton T-shirts and underwear) is to buy a bigger size to allow for it Sheets and towels it doesn't matter.

[FessaEst]

We have a (cheap, plasticky) gazebo up over part of our washing line outside, and if there's a blowy day, I put things on under it - they get almost dry, even on grey days - really reduces the time needed to tumble. Can definitely vouch for the banisters too, I hang a duvet cover down from the top rail, and peg a sheet around the handrail overnight, and they are always v near dry in the morning!

[PigletJohn]

I like that gazebo idea. A car-port kind of shelter is also good as you can use the washing line even in bad weather. I'm sure an outdoor line keep things fresher and softer than draped over radiators.



but I will admit my main concern is condensation and mould in the house.

[Catsmamma]

Get a more efficient tumble dryer!

I use mine all the time, electirc bills are not eye watering, and we still do not have the heating on!

I don't know that we will make it another week though!

Piglet John is right about the damp and condensation, drying laundry in the house is so bad for you.

[BoffinMum]

Use the highest spin speed that you can.

Install a old fashioned ceiling airer in one of your warmest rooms for all the big stuff - heat rises. The bathroom idea is good if you can remove humidity somehow.

Put smaller items on heated clothing rack.

Make people wear their clothes for two days in a row, and just sponge stains off (obv change underwear daily).

Consider organising regular service washes for sheets and towels.

[tasmaniandevilchaser]

I give everything (bar woollens) an extra spin. To create a bit of extra room hang sheets to dry over the edge of doors, (if your house is anything like mine, you'll need to give the top of the door a quick wipe before you start doing that). I wouldn't be able to keep up with 2 to 3 loads a day though, I would look at ways of keeping that down. If DC's clothes are getting muddy every day, then I'd question whether you need to wash them every day just to get muddy again! (but I don't have very high standards )

[Bunbaker]

I have one of these

2 - 3 loads a day does sound a lot. I know there are 6 of you, but I only get through 3 - 4 loads a week for the 3 of us, so double that would make one load a day plus one extra. How often do you wash towels and bedding? Ours get washed once a week.

[feelingratheroverwhelmed]

washing is one of the bains of my life as we live in a flat with no outdoor space, no tumble dryer, and there are four of us. Oh and we have storage heaters instead of radiators so no option to hand stuff there. I do one load a day, and constantly have three clothes airers stood at the back of the lounge covered in stuff, plus stuff hanging over the doors, on hangers off shelves and over the dining chairs.

It also means that I insist on hanging the stuff up myself, as when DH does it he over laps stuff and doesn't think and plan how to hang it. This sounds really anal, but drying it in the house means that if stuff is overlapped, it takes even longer to dry and starts to smell damp.

I hate it, but there's nothing I can do about it! Though the electric dryers my make like a little easier!

[alemci]

We have been fortunate with the weather for the last few days' meaning the washing has still gone out and got semi dry. My sheets were dry today. got towels in the TD to finish them off.

I bought a wall mounted rack from Lakeland which has a few rows and can be folded flat when not in use. Good for putting shirts on, on hangers. Also have a clothes horse.

[Chandon]

that is too much washing.

We do about a load a day, we change towels and sheets weekly.

Boys wear same clothes two days running (unless stained).

I have an old fashioned pulley hanging from the ceiling in a warm spot of teh house, which works well.

My washer is a washer=dryer, which is great for when I have slightly too much to fit on the pulley.

[BleughCowWonders]

2-3 loads a day too here, and no tumble dryer (by choice)

Hang as much as possible on plastic hangers and hang from the shower rail.

sheets/ duvet covers over the banisters

I have several of the little peg contraptions hanging from the ceiling for smaller items.

No choice with swimming towels but to leave on clothes horse in kitchen overnight and fold in the morning.

Works for us.

[AngryFeet]

I can't cope without a tumble drier. Mine is very efficient and only takes 30 mins to dry a full load so if I do 1 or 2 loads a day it is not too bad really. Worth it too me, especially as DD keeps wetting the bed so I have a lot of sheets to dry atm.

[FellatioNelson]

Get a better tumble dryer?

Do you tumble everything all together on the same high setting without sorting/separating stuff? I find it only gets too hot and shrinks stuff if things are not separated appropriately into high and low settings, and if it is over-loaded.