Entire room taken up with clothes drying racks

Can't dry outside all year here as it rains180 days on average here well average for city and I think just under the hills we get slightly more than center.

We have a condenser drier - dry buddy and clothes horse and dehumidifier in kitchen dinner and Folding Wall Mounted Clothes Hanger next to clothes horse and dehumidifier. I think in next few years as kid leave for uni may get to take clothes horse down sometimes.

Saw a beautiful one in wrought iron like this one on TV in tiny New York house - Wall drier but when up and down looked more like an art work than that one can't find it now but some pricy.

Would love one of those ceiling racks but have false ceiling in kitchen and would take some work to find joists. We have a washing line in garden that can hoist up and means we can dry and use small garden without losing ground space - so love that more in the house.

I have never in my life turned clothing over to make it dry, and it doesn't seem to take an age - usually just a 'long' overnight (ie. 7pm - 10:30am) or maybe until lunch time if it's an especially thick item.

I live beside a loch in the west of Scotland, so even when it's not actually raining (which is quite a lot of the time), humidity levels are generally always high and drying stuff is a bit of a challenge.

I am fortunate enough to have a pulley and a utility room as well as outdoor space, but the game changer was buying a dehumidifier (a Meaco one, on the basis of Mumsnet recommendations!).

It's like MAGIC - stick washing on pulley, close doors and windows, fire up the DH (which costs pennies to run) and a full load dries in a few hours.

Gulp! 😬 I saw a couple for £600 which didn't seem too insane price wise which was the only reason I mentioned it, but on further googling the sites look a bit dodgy.

I do the hanger thing too. It makes them quick to put outside and bring in if there is rain. Hanging them on the curtain rails means they get some fresh air and being high up they get the most of the house's heat as it rises.

If it's really impossible to dry outside (usual default) we put laundry in the kitchen after dinner (when basically we've finished using the kitchen apart from making drinks etc) with the dehumidifier. Most of it dries overnight. On days when everyone is out/busy during the next day, it gets left until they are back and definitely is dry!

I was going to say this, when we re do our kitchen/ utility room we're getting these installed!

This’s something I’m going to be struggling with this year so I’m looking up a local laundry service. Mainly for the harder drying items and bedding/towels. I’m weighing up the cost of electricity and having the already damp house made worse.

Anything that goes on a hanger gets hung up on the upstairs curtain rails with the window cracked open (in the respective bedroom of the person it belongs to).

I find it the perfect system. They're upstairs out of sight and up high, out of the way so don't impact the use of the room. In summer the windows are just thrown wide and they get plenty of heat/sun/breeze. In winter the windows are cracked open to let the moisture out and they're hanging directly above the radiator so still dry quickly. When they're dry, just move from the curtain rail to the wardrobe in the room.

Me too. I am constantly looking at the weather forecast and plan my wash days around it. If the night before a sunny day looks dry, I wash and hang out before I go to bed. That load is usually dry soon enough to do another load and get that out mid morning. The only time I dry indoors is if rain is forecast for the next two weeks. I use a humidifier then.

Interesting about drying outside year round. We are often out during the day so I can't leave stuff and go given the amount it rains. I had also presumed it wouldn't dry without heat but maybe I need to experiment more.

My mum used to say if the paths have dried up the washing will dry. She was right.

I also dry laundry outside on the rotary line all year round though I do keep an eye on the weather forecast. Like you OP I am also in and out a lot but a minimum of planning is needed.

Not really, I live in a tiny cottage where the ceilings are very low, but my airer is tucked away in a middle room (hallway cum passage type room) to one side, so it's not in the way even when it's down. It can get annoying if sheets or duvet covers are hanging on it, because they hang low, but because it's not in a thoroughfare it's fine. Besides, I only use it for airing, so stuff isn't hanging there dripping wet. But you can have them with low ceilings as long as they aren't where you regularly need to walk.

Yep, I do exactly this. No tumble dryer, tiny house so no room for racks inside (apart from one very small one). My washing's on the line all year round!

Heated airer in the winter has been great. Bed sheet over it. If not it sheds a lot of heat, which still isn’t bad as it warms the room.

That only works if you have decently high ceilings. Ours are quite low (newer house), and even light fixtures have to be quite thought through.

Do you double spin your washing? Certain things will be too creased but the majority of clothes and towels benefit from being spun twice.

We have the exact same and nothing shrinks too. Or if you want specific items to not shrink then just put only those on a rack.

The humidifier/ airer is just as bad as the racks imo. Are you happy to leave it running if you aren't home? Also with the airer, you actually need to turn the clothes over otherwise it just stays partially damp until it all dries which is forever.

Also you would still need another room to run the airer and humidifier. It really is just another pain in another way.

I also loathed drying racks all over , just made the place look so untidy. I would invest in a dryer if you have the space. We finally have space and I would not be without it. I use it almost every single day.

I tumble dry everything, everyday. I've never had anything shrink. I think modern dryers with a sensor know when to stop so nothing gets too hot. Honestly I would just tumble dry. I can't stand having washing hanging around the house. If it's a fine day, I will dry outside but still give it a short tumble to thoroughly dry and ensure it's soft. And it's a heat pump dryer so more efficient

Mine is a 4
I WISH I had bought a 6

we have a home gym / drying room
it’s preferential to having a guest room imo but no real answers OP

I do this as well. Obviously there are times I can’t dry outside but the majority of it is dried outside 👍☀️

It sounds like your machine isn't spinning enough water out of the clothes, if you do a load every second day why on earth is it taking so long to dry? I do a load every day only only have one drying rack. Maybe check what the spin speed is on your machine. Synthetics like school uniform and swim suites come out almost dry in my machine. Another idea could be to get the racks that hang off radiators and put them in the bedrooms for additional drying space. Oh and one of those sock octopus things from IKEA.

you can dry washing outside when it's cold, just not when it's raining.

To be fair, losing a room to drying clothes isn't different to having a room, a utility room, for the purpose of drying them in the first place.

We have racks like yours, two at present but DC are still quite smalll so I can fit two items per rail. A third isn't far off. They live it the shit hole of a spare room, actually up on the spare bed. It's the only place we have. I hate it.