How do you dry clothes if you don’t have a tumble drier?

[Spotty528]

We currently have a washing machine in the kitchen and dryer in the integral garage. We’re converting our garage next year and DH is talking about putting the drier in the shed but I know that I won’t be faffed to trek to the bottom of the garden in the middle of winter to use it. Combo washer/driers are supposed to be useless aren’t they? What’s the alternative? We don’t have the heating on all the time and I don’t like the idea of clothes hanging around damp everywhere. We do have a spare box room that I could use to dry the clothes in during the winter but any ideas?

I've never had a tumble dryer. Did have a washer dryer years ago but the dryer was useless, maybe they ve improved since then. I dry outside on th line in summer and on those things that hook on radiators or use a clothes horse in winter.

We have our dryer in the garage at the end of the garden. A trek but I only us it for bedding, towels and underwear so not a trek I do too often.

All other clothes go on a clothes horse in the spare room or outside if the weather is good.

i can't bear drying clothes all over the house. i use a regular crappy little concertina airer which i move to patio, conservatory, dining room depending on the weather, also use clothes line and tumble dryer. i tend to hang adult clothes and TD all the little bits and pieces, baby clothes, socks etc in winter. otherwise it all goes outside. this arrangement is only not annoying now we have a lot of space. otherwise i'd probably rely on TD more (our TD used to be at the bottom of our garden but we didn't have space to hang there so that was that!)

my mum really likes her heated airer, she got it from lakeland. she's never owned a TD despite having 4 children. says they remind her of work (nurse), mental and saintly!

We line dry, even in this wet winter but I Wk from home so can be flexi and pick dry days. Then finish stuff off on an airer- not heated.

Two of these in spare rooms, no damp as I open the windows a smidge - I dry a load of washing on each one overnight.

I dry things outside on the line all year, provided it's dry outside - especially towels and bedding which are a pain in the backside to dry indoors.

If I'm not able to put a washing out I use a clothes horse beside a radiator and leave a window open. Most things are dry within a few hours.

I've had tumble driers in the past but I find them more bother than they're worth. You can't leave them unattended, they're sore on electricity, don't hold an awful lot and they need to be near a door/window unless you have a condenser.

Tower airer. Either the Minky one from argos or the Ikea version. The main benefit of those heated ones is the shape and these are the same shape. Take up very little room, so not clothes "all over the house". I think the heated ones are a false economy. Clothes dry on these in a day in summer, two days in winter, even bulky things like jeans and hoodies (maybe add half a day for them in either season).

We ideally need two but one of ours has broken and I can get by on one if I do a wash every 2 days out of 3. On the third day I use that to take everything dry down and put it away.

Lakeland heated drier (didn’t buy the cover - I put a sheet over the top) with a window open to stop damp. I can get two loads on and it dries in a couple of hours.

I should add I can fit 2 loads on our 3-level one (the one we have remaining), I can fit up to 3 on the 4-level one but that's the one which has broken.

Clothes horses and a dehumidifier.

My home isn't designed for the double glazed windows that are installed.

Not all washer driers are rubbish - I have a good one. Usually only use it to dry bedding and towels in the winter and everything else goes on a clothes horse in front of the big floor to ceiling vertical radiator in our dining room.

Clothes horse and radiators

Clothes airer. The fold out metal ones not the heated one. I use one from ikea with long arms so the clothes aren't all on top of each other. We got a de Humidifier last week. It's definitely cut the time down to dry washing. But it's a good 12 liter one and you have to close the door to the room the washing is in for maximum effect.

I have a tumble drier but rarely use it (when the cat has been sick on the duvet etc) so normally dry stuff on a clothes airer in the spare bedroom, up against the radiator. It's normally fairly dry the following day, so then I put the clothes on radiators till they're fully dry.

I second @gertrudesgarden the heated airer from Lakeland is fab. We use that during the winter then the washing line outside in the summer.

Like a previous poster, Lakeland heated aired. I don’t have the cover but a full load dries overnight. It wasn’t cheap (just under £100 iirc) but it makes life so much easier.

Can you not vary the days you wash to choose dry days to hang outside on the line? Even in Winter, you can dry outside. I've done two loads today and both now dry despite no direct sun. I've a drier but probably only use it a handful of times per year on the few occasions it's day after day of rain.

Another vote for the Lakeland Drysoon & cover. Mine lives in the conservatory, with the windows open. It’s fab.

We have a washer dryer so we tend to do a load of washing and dry the pants, socks, vests, old t shirts etc in the dryer then hang the clothes and pyjamas on the clothes horse which sits under the stairs directly across from the radiator out of the way. In the summer, I put the same items in the dryer but hang the clothes outside on the line. You're right that washer dryer tumble dryers aren't as good as stand a lone one's but you can get all your little bits dried easily in them. With bedding for example, I will roll the duvet up and place it over the radiator in the winter then finish off the drying in the dryer along with the pillow cases and sheet. Summer time is a breeze as I just hang them outside.

I give the load an extra spin as well which helps get more excess water out of them to aid the drying process!

I always use powder and for some reason, the clothes dry faster. I think liquids and capsules leave a coating on the clothes and it makes them harder to dry

We have a washer-dryer (and no, it's not useless; it dries perfectly well), but we only really dry big things like sheets and towels in it.

Everything else goes on a big airing rack - I can fit four loads on it if I hang it carefully. Socks and knickers go on one of those peg hangers. This is all in the utility room so I can close the door on it, and it's dry in 24-48 hours.

In the summer, it all goes on the washing line (wash in the evening, hang out first thing).

The only time I struggle is in spring/autumn when the heating is off, but it's not warm/dry enough to hang outside. The rack takes longer to dry without the heating being on.

We've got a tumble dryer in the spare room - it's one of the lighter ones & has a cover over it when anyone comes to stay!

Start them off outside wherever possible.
Even an hour blowing in the breeze (assuming no rain) makes a massive difference to how long they take to dry afterwards.

If it's a dry, sunny, winters day, I will get 2 or 3 loads done. If its chucking it down with rain, I'm usually limited to a load every other day on airers with the window cracked open.

Can you not just put the dryer in the spare room and get him to box it into a cupboard? Or leave it in the garage boxed in to a unit or something?

Spin dryer and an airer. We also have a couple of over radiator airer things. Sometimes we put coats or cardigans or jumpers on a coat hanger and hang them from the curtain rail so the heat from the radiator dries them.

at one stage I had a small tumble dryer which I could move around near to a window for "trunk" extractor I used for towels. jeans & sheets (heavy items) the rest on airier -