Do you have a heated air dryer?

[EyUpOurKid]

I have just moved. There isn't space for a dryer, so I had to get a washer-dryer combi. I HATE it. Hate it. With foot stamps and folded arms and dramatic throwing of self onto beds in a toddler/disney princess style.

I am not being dramatic but it's more complicated to programme than a space ship, and I'm quite good with technology (DH hasn't got a chance, he's only just learned to use WhatsApp and thinks online banking is witchcraft).

It doesn't dry anything properly, it had two jobs and it doesn't do one of them properly. It beeps a lot when I'm not expecting it and changes its mind mid cycle from like, 13 minutes to 33.

I'm thinking of getting a heated air dryer, probably from Lakeland. They look good and fold down flat. Do you have one and are they any good? It could be the answer to my frustrations. Help.

I have two Lakeland heated airers and they’re great. I used to use standard airers in a room with a radiator on, just for drying purposes, until a plumber told me how inefficient this was and recommended the heated ones. They are cheaper and quicker.

I still hang outside when the weather is on side though - that’s the cheapest and quickest of all.

We have a dehumidifier.

I cannot believe the amount if water it takes (we have usually 2 airers on the go. Occasionally 3)

We have it on for a few hours each day and I have to tip the water away every 3rd day.

LRD it depends on your house and lifestyle though. I don’t have any radiators, my kitchen is too small for an airer, and if I had one up in the living room I’d have to edge around it every time I wanted to move. I’m generally at work all day and several days a week I’m out all evening too. I don’t heat an empty flat. If I hung washing in my unheated, single glazed spare room it would still be wet in the morning. If you can dry washing overnight in an unheated room then your house must be very warm and dry generally.

Opening a window doesn’t work in the colder and damper months, i.e. the months I’d use a dehumidifier, because the air outside is likely to be even damper than the air inside. If I leave one running for a few hours on full blast with a load of washing hung up, or overnight on low, it can pull 8 litres of water out of the air. That’s 8 litres which otherwise be condensing on the walls and windows - it has to go somewhere!

Oh, goodness, of course!

I'm only responding to the OP and my experience of it. They are quite expensive, and my flatmate wasted money buying hers at a time when both of us were really watching the pennies. When I lived in a flat with no heating, I would have loved one of these, of course. But I would suggest if you've no heating, you would be better buying a quality electric heater. They are still pricey, but much better than nothing.

But - do keep opening windows. It's a misconception it doesn't help. People think that because they're not keeping the house warm enough, but the thing is, you can't just get rid of damp. No dehumidifier in the world will sort the problem. Eventually, you will need to open some windows. Ideally, you do it in sequence - open some windows upstairs while you are downstairs, etc.

Mind you, I'll be using my washing line for a while yet, as these days if I put things out in the early morning they are dry enough by 3pm that I only need to spread them out for half an hour inside before they are fine. Is that an option?

(Oh, and my house is single-glazed with rising damp - which one day the landlord may sort - so you can believe I have thought about my options to find the best one.)

I have much to think about here. Thank you all for the replies!

I don't know what a dehumidifier is, so I shall have to do a bit of research. I'm a sahm so am in much of the time with a toddler wreaking havoc so being able to put something on as I go to bed and find it dry in the morning would be a bonus. That blowy up thing looks pretty awesome too!

I always dry outside of possible but living in the NW means a LOT of rain, especially at this time of year. Hmm. Much to consider! Thank you everyone so far!

We have a black mould on walls problem in our bedrooms. A builder told us to leave the windows open a crack each day. But now I'm thinking dehumidifier may be better.
What do you think?

I also have the lakeland drier and it's fab. Just have to keep moving the clothes around as only dries the part of clothes touching the bars.

OP, I've had the Lakeland one for a couple of months and think it's brilliant. The reviews are mixed but mine is v positive.
My tumble dryer broke and I couldn't actually move old one and replace with new (it's on top of washer in a cupboard) and needed to dry clothes.

The Lakeland dryer imo is much quicker than the airer I was using. You need to lay the clothes across the bars rather than hang them over one bar. I put a load on it about 6pm and it was dry about an hour ago (turned it off to come to bed). That's including a pair of jeans!

I agree that you might was well use an airer and radiators if you’re going to have radiators in anyway, but your windows theory doesn’t make any sense I’m afraid! If you an open a window, warm, damp air will escape but it will be replaced by colder air from outide, otherwise it would create a vacuum (and all your washing would be sucked outside ). When it’s damp outside the air outside will be just as damp as the air inside, therefore no overall reduction in dampness - you’re just swapping warm damp air for cold damp air.

Whereas a dehumidifier literally takes the damp out of the air and deposits it into a container which you empty. It is, in fact, exactly how you tackle a damp problem at this time of year.

I do have plug in electric heaters by the way, I don’t live entirely without heating!

@Magpie1976 in our old, damp, solid walled house, a dehumidifier was a great help. Definitely better than leaving the window open a bit.

I can never work out how other people manage to get washing dry overnight. Mine takes a good two days to properly dry!

I have a heated dryer and at first it seemed amazing. I was really pleased, especially when DD was a newborn. But for some clothes, it just doesn’t work - for me, anyway. I end up with lines across the clothes. Not lines where they have been hung but genuine, lighter than the rest of the garment lines, still very visible when ironed.

I’m going to sell mine I think because I just don’t need it anymore and it’s only useful for white or pale washes where the lines won’t show.

I do live my dehumidifier though,

love not live, clearly:

I never understand why people rave about the Lakeland heated airer when you have to move things about to get them to dry or that they dry over night or that you need to put a sheet on.

The dri buddy someone linked to above is literally all of those things that the heated airer should be - you just hang everything up, zip it up and hot air dries the clothes in s few hours. Costs about 7p an hour. It’s brilloant.

Yet everyone raves about the heated airer when the dri buddy is everything the heated airer should be.

Magpie, yes, a dehumidifier would be better at this time of year. Shut the windows whilst it’s on though, otherwise you are effectively trying to dehumidify all the air outside too!

Just noticed a typo in one of my messages above. The model I mentioned can pull 8l of water out in a day but the container holds two litres so when I said it would be full after a few hours it’s 2l rather than 8l. (For really damp situations or where they will be left unattended for a long time they can be set up to drain into a sink.)

This moving things around and covering up a heated airer is news to me - I’ve never done either of those things with mine and it dries everything beautifully. I don’t lay items flat either - I hang them over the rungs. It’s all dry the next day. 🤷‍♀️

Same as @VenusClapTrap
Love mine. I don't tend to leave it on overnight but it's dry anyway.

Dri-buddy is really good had one for several years would not be without it.
Everything on hangers, drys within a couple of hours then straight into wardrobe no ironing required.
Cheap to run easy to store.
It would be my number 1 gadget.

I don’t get it.

I even went in to the store and asked what I was doing wrong. But it just doesn’t work well and everything has that damp, musty smell. Even when it’s dry.

I have one. I like it. Works best with a duvet or sheet thrown over the top to keep the heat in. I leave mine in the conservatory so it doesn't get in the way. When not in use it slides under the sofa out there. I'm not a fan of tumble dryers. I have one in the garage, don't even remember when I used it last.

Don't bother with a heated airer.
Get a dehumidifier with a boost/ laundry function.
It literally sucks the water out of the wet clothes.

We have an ebac one which is brilliant.

We are looking at getting a Lakeland heated airer but now thinking the dri buddy might be the way to go.

2p an hour. It’s a gentle heat so woollens etc are ok on it. I stick clothes on before going to bed, come down to a dry load. And a happy cat who loves it as much as I do

Exactly this. My jeans are dry by the morning.
I use the cover with mine.
I fold up a load that dried over night & leave it on the top shelf, then hang the next lot up.

Thanks witchmountain looks like I'm going to get a dehumidifier. Any one got any recommendations?

I love my Lakeland drier. It has a name and a personality.

So long as you drape something over the top (duvet cover, a few large man shirts) it dries loads of stuff overnight.

www.ebac.com/dehumidifiers/2250e-15-litre-white-dehumidifier-dd295wh-gb

This is the one we've got. It has the laundry boost which puts it on full power for 8 hours.