What's the Lakeland 16 Soft Grip Pegs Smalls Dryer like to use day to day?
Laundry accessories have to make life easier to earn their place in a busy household, so I wanted to know whether this would prove genuinely useful or end up forgotten at the back of a cupboard. During her two-month test, Poppy found herself reaching for it regularly.
"It's about as simple as laundry gadgets get," she explained. "Over two months I used it for socks, knickers and pants, bras, wash cloths and spray mop pads, and it quickly became part of my everyday washing routine.”
The attached pegs are a small but genuinely handy detail. Poppy could load and unload the dryer without rummaging around for loose pegs or collecting them afterwards. When you’re dealing with several loads a week, I think those tiny bits of saved time soon add up.
It didn’t get in the family’s way either. Poppy found that nobody needed to duck underneath the sock dryer when it was hanging from her ceiling-mounted laundry maid. In door mode, it sat close enough to the surface to be a realistic option for flats, utility rooms or anywhere an open airer already feels like an extra piece of furniture.
The feature I’d find most useful is being able to move a whole collection of socks and underwear indoors without unclipping everything. Given the unreliability of British weather, that could save a frantic few minutes when the first drops of rain appear.
As Poppy adds: “One feature I ended up using more than expected was being able to carry the whole dryer indoors without unclipping everything first. If rain starts or you simply want the washing line clear, you just lift the whole thing down and move it inside.”
How well does the Lakeland 16 Soft Grip Pegs Smalls Dryer perform on smalls and delicates?
Soft-grip pegs sound reassuring, but do they make any real difference? According to Poppy, they were one of the dryer’s strongest features.
“The pegs are spaced far enough apart that everything dried properly instead of bunching together. Socks, underwear, bras, cloths and spray mop pads all dried evenly throughout testing.”
The pegs sound better than your average washing line peg. During testing, Poppy found that the rubber grips held lightweight cotton securely without leaving marks, while still being strong enough for heavier wet items such as spray-mop pads.
Lakeland promised the cushioned pegs are designed to avoid leaving imprints on delicate fabrics, and Poppy’s experience supported that claim. She didn’t test silk or satin lingerie, so we can’t say how the dryer would perform with particularly delicate or slippery materials. However, the everyday underwear and bras she did test came off without stretching or peg marks.
For a product designed primarily for socks and smalls, I think that’s exactly the balance you want: enough grip to stop wet laundry landing on the floor, without leaving every pair of knickers with a peg-shaped dent.
How well does the Lakeland 16 Soft Grip Pegs Smalls Dryer save space?
This is where it shines.
Socks and underwear can take over a surprising amount of washing-line or airer space when they’re hung individually. Keeping 16 smaller items together left Poppy with more room for towels, jeans, trousers and T-shirts - a noticeable advantage in a home where the washing machine rarely seems to stop.
As Poppy shares: “Drying socks one by one across a washing line or airer uses far more space than most of us realise. Keeping all the smaller items together meant I could leave the main drying area free for larger things like towels, jeans, trousers and T-shirts.”
I think the Lakeland Smalls Dryer would would work particularly well with one of the best rotary washing lines. It takes up only a small section of line while keeping the longer arms free for towels, bedding and clothes.
Poppy tested the dryer during summer, so she didn’t use it with a heated airer. Socks placed directly on heated bars may dry a little faster, but that isn’t really the point of this product. I see it as a simple way to make better use of the drying space you already have, whether that’s indoors or outside.