Electric clothes dryers (e.g. from Lakeland) - reviews?

[SWnewstart]

Does anyone have one of these? I'm considering an electric dryer and would be interested in pros and cons from a current user. Thanks.

I have this one from Lakeland

www.lakeland.co.uk/25593/Dry%3ASoon-2-Tier-Heated-Airer-and-Cover-Offer-Bundle

On its own i find it rubbish. It just dries the clothes where it touches the bar. So there is just a stripe of dry! But, I recently got the cover, and although it does take a long time to dry, if I don't overload it, it's not too bad. Doesn't replace a tumble dryer for me, but good if you don't need anything dry quickly.

Really love ours. We are quite organised with laundry and didn’t use our tumble dryer (combo with old washing machine but surprisingly good at drying) much even before we replaced it.

Without the power off it dries much better than a conventional air we because of the design. We only use the heating on it in winter and use the cover - it dries things well though obviously the top layer first.

I absolutely love it.

I should have said I have the Lakeland 3 tier one.

Don't bother - it's useless. I bought one a couple of months ago and even with the heat on washing isn't dry when it's been on all day. I actually think it dries quicker without the cover. Waste of money which I wish I had put towards a new and more efficient drier. When the cover is on it just seems to steam and doesn't dry the clothes particularly effectively.
They are also ugly and take up a lot of space.

Also it's really hard to hang the clothes on it. The struts are too close together so it''s fiddly and annoying.

I have the towel rail one. We don’t have a lot of space. I find it handy as an additional airier for anything that might benefit from a slightly quicker dry. Often put school uniform bits on it.

I have the 3 tier dry soon with cover & find it works well for stuff that cannot be tumble dried. I still use my tumble dryer for bedding, towels etc. As a pp said, don't overload it & it will dry more effectively. Thicker fabrics may take longer, but normal jumpers, t shirts, pjs will dry overnight. Strangely I find using fabric conditioner makes the clothes dry faster! And it makes the room smell nice.

Goodness - some completely opposing views! Thank you all. I'm considering for a student where it's either at least £6.00 a go spent at the launderette tumble drying (and a way to walk with heavy wet washing bags) or hard crispy towels from being draped all over radiators, together with other clothing! How can your experiences vary so, I wonder.

Time drying isn't an issue and I assume cheaper than the launderette but are my expectations too high?

We have the Dry Soon and use it for non tumble stuff. It really, really needs the cover imo - we had it for a year without and it just wasn't that impressive, but the cover is a game changer. It won't dry stuff quickly but if, for example, you left a load of school jumpers on it overnight, they'd dry.

Will the student have room for it? I have the 3 tier Lakeland one and it's pretty big.

We bought ours this autumn because we had a baby, and the baby now sleeps in the room we used to dry clothes in. No space for a tumble drier. I do the airer and definitely prefer it to using a launderette, but it has its flaws - it's not that quick to dry things, certainly overnight if not longer; and it's fiddly and time consuming hanging the clothes on it.

I have the Lakeland three tier one and I use it constantly. (I don't have a tumble dryer.) School uniform. leggings, jumpers, underwear etc are always put on the top tier and usually dry towels on lower two tiers.

Also have blouses, tshirts etc drying on hangers hooked onto side.

I never use any cover on it. Larger heavier items like bath towels can take quite a while to dry and I dry them flat rather than hanging over the rails but for smaller lighter items I have never had any problems getting things dried.

Just get a tower airer without heating feature. They spread clothing out much more than other types of airer and they take up very little floor space. One that can be half folded away is even better - I think the Argos one does this.

If the room they are dried in is cold, damp and/or has poor air flow, the clothing will dry slower and smell musty. If it is fairly warm (20C is fine) and unrestricted then they should dry in a day or so in summer, a couple of days for thicker things in winter. Because the tower airers have so much space on them, they can fit 3-4 loads of washing on so you don't have to wait ages for one load to dry before you can dry other things. Or if you're just one person and don't need to cram so much on there, you can spread items out with one line in between which helps them to dry faster as well.

I am a total convert and would never use any other type of airer now. The balcony type is also OK - but takes up much more floor space. I honestly think though that the efficiency of the heated ones is much more down to the space and arrangement of the drying lines, and not so much from the heating element.

my mum uses hers all the time. i think she's mad for not having a tumble dryer 🤷‍♀️

This one:

www.argos.co.uk/product/8500368

Ive got electric airer i bought from factory shop for 30.00 and its fab....love it ..x

Normal airer and dehumidifier?

I have the Lakeland 3 tier one and love it. It does need a cover though (I just use a sheet or duvet cover). I get loads of washing dried on it - hanging from the top 2 shelves plus folded on top of each shelf. Never had a tumble drier and don’t need one.

I really like my heated airer! It works well if you use it overnight, mine is in a small room so I guess its not losing too much heat. You can add a sheet which works like the cover. Best for clothes and linens. Towels and thick sweats best in tumble dryer.

Iv had the lake land 3 tier one for 3 years and love it for stuff that can't be tumble dried.
I just throw a sheet over it to dry quicker.

We have two of the 3tier ones and only use the tumble dryer for the knickers and socks.

I think the varying opinion is all about expectation. I love ours, but that's as an alternative to unheated maidens and drying on a radiator. They're big, but that means I can fit multiple loads on one and the heated aspect means it dries quicker than without. We don't have the cover, but it definitely drys quicker if I have a duvet cover over the top. It's not as fast as using a tumble dryer, but I can fit more on it so for me that's fine. That's basically all there is to it.

Look at it in terms of how it will benefit....
As an alternative to having to lug wet washing to the laundrette then back home again, it'll definitely be easier. As an alternative to a standard maiden it'd definitely be faster at drying washing.

They are pricey, but at £109 after 18 trips to use the dryer then your better off.

I got a basic one in Lidl or Aldi some time ago but didn't rate it at all. I ended up giving it away to DS, who uses it to dry clothes without bothering to plug it in because he says it doesn't make much difference.

I have a dri buddi and would highly recommend.
www.argos.co.uk/product/7219492

I love mine, I've had it for about 7 years and I think it's been on since the day I got it!

We just have it in the spare room and i find it dries stuff pretty quick, I hung a load on yesterday and it's dry now for me to wear to work.

Mine is a lakeland one.

In the summer I mostly hang stuff outside, we have a tumble drier but don't use it very often. Maybe just if bedsheets etc need finished off.

I have the 3. Tier lakeland and a cover and I couldn’t live without it. I bought DD the 2-tier version for when she went to uni. The only thing is that it streams up the room so that she has to open a window. Also, some landlords/ladies don’t like them because they will encourage black mould if there is not enough ventilation.

Lakeland 3 tier here. No problems drying at all, it dries overnight, no musty smell or any other problems that other posters referred to.
Had one for donkeys years.