Drying clothes in winter

I can't have a pulley maid as my ceilings are not 'solid' as it were. They are lowered and are thin plasterboard.

You can get wall mounted ones.

We have a small tumble dryer - it was about £200 if I remember correctly. It's in the garage now but in our old house it was in a tiny cupboard under the stairs - as in, not a full height door, about half size. It's not a condensing one but we had no issues with damp or mould under the stairs.

It's small enough that if you're handy, maybe you could sew a cover for it and fashion a removable table top so it can live in the bay window? A nice disguise!

Yes a dehumidifier helps a lot! We have two and we really couldn't do without them very well at all.

Decent quality dehumidifier (meaco).

Double spin your clothes at 1600 rpm washing machine.

Do not buy loads of clothes that retain water. For example fleeces and joggers come out almost dry. Jeans will still have a lot of water in them.

You can get a washer dryer to take the edge off really damp stuff like jeans. I have one and it is OK.

Continue to line dry even in winter. Need to plan a bit and keep eye on the forecast for the best days but it’s worth it to get some of the damp out. Then tumble dry towels, undies, bedding, but other clothes go on the minky. I’m lucky I have a utility so I can shut the door and use the heat from the tumble drier to help finish dry the clothes on the minky. Dehumified is also a good bet to stop too much moisture in your home.

Have been debating this too.

Very tempted by a dry:soon except for the price. Does anyone have experience with these?

Can anyone recommend a reasonable priced dehumidifier?

Thanks

If your clothes are very wet - once your load of washing is finished, spin it again on the highest spin setting. They will dry quicker.

I hang my clothes on my curtain rail and slightly open the window, they dry fine and dont smell

I also have 3 extension rods on my stairs walls, clothes dry really well there

I agree. My W/D is a fairly inexpensive Indesit. It works well for lots of items, although some, like woollens, I hang on or near a radiator in the spare bedroom so they don’t crease. Window open some of the time stops condensation.

do you have an attic?
we have put a washing line up there, plus a heated airer (which is only switched on if we need things dry urgently)

I have four teens and all I use is an airer with a dehumidifier next to it and a sheet on top of it all. I don't have the heating on very much because of cost. My heated airer died last year but to be honest it was such a pain and I had to keep turning things over to get them dry. Dehumidifier is brilliant!

I spin mine again, and if it is dry, hang it outside. Did a full
load of bedding and tea towels the other day, hung out to dry. The sheets, tea towels and pillow cases were all dry, if cold, and I put the duvet over the airer in the bathroom to finish off overnight. The extra spin really makes a difference.

I've got this one and it does the job. I only use it for towels, socks and boxers, everything else goes on an airer in winter.

I find putting an old sheet over the top of the airer and tucking the dehumidifier underneath speeds things up quite a bit. That and putting in it the smallest room.

I'm going to get a heated airer this year as this drives me nuts too!

Unless it is actually raining I hang washing outside all year round. It comes in still damp but dries on my Sheila Maid pulley system in an aired room quickly.

The key is properly spinning. I spin mine at the highest number possible.

Apropos of nothing I was talking to a complete stranger in a queue the other day and we started talking about drying laundry. It was brilliant. I would be sad to miss this potential chance of instant social connection just by living in a hot sunny country where it is not such a complex and fascinating topic.

I have done this when without a tumbledryer for whatever reason. I don’t go home; take a book and a drink and have a little time out. You need to be there to check dryer(s) and remove anything dry or ready to iron and to reload coins, etc. otherwise you risk crispy overheated clothes.

We went to Thailand once for 3 weeks, was unlucky with the weather as very rainy and humid, staying quite remotely and our clothes did not dry, well they did but had the horrible damp musty smell. So hot countries can have clothes drying issues too!

Washer dryers work perfectly well to dry things, you just might have to change your expectations slightly or the way you work with it, just a touch.

But even if they don't dry things to completely dry (which both of mine did/do) it's still way more efficient to be able to dry clothing partway and then hang.

I don't use mine unless I have to (finally got one again after 4 years of making do without and it's wonderful) but it's so much better having the option if I need it. And we can have beautifully soft and fluffy towels again! ❤️

I dry on airer overnight then fold and put in small piles in the airing cupboard. Thinking about it I guess it takes two nights to dry them, but I have a nice little production line going. I consciously didn't get a tumble dryer due to energy usage and cost.

I'm going to agree with the suggestion to get a condenser tumble dryer. Just find space - pull out a cupboard, if necessary, anything. They're a game changer and save hours of drying time.

We have a Hoover washer/dryer - cost less than £500 and works perfectly. I can get a small load washed and dried in 90 minutes and larger loads (bedding, towels) in three hours.

It's fantastic and barely costs us anything.

Mine always worked but things dried better and faster if the dryer wasn’t too full

I can understand this

I'm originally from Lancashire and every time I go back (live abroad) I cannot get over how ardous it is getting stuff dry

The tumble dryer is the size of a microwave, and it is always damp. Always always

I dry outside in airer

then bring into house in evening and place by kitchen door at night

usually dry by morning

if not then put on radiators to finish off, so not wet clothes but nearly dry clothing

what spin is your washing machine? 1400 or 1600? It helps if you use extra spin at end of cycle to take every last drop out of laundry