Drying laundry when it's always raining

[YellowHpok]

Really trying to reduce my electricity bill and cut down on tumble dryer use. We do about 5 loads per week, but so far this week I've only managed to get one load fully dry on the line as its always raining.

How do other people manage it? I feel like I'm constantly watching the sky or my weather app. Loathe to air dry indoors due to damp risk.

Stuff doesn’t have to be getting bone dry outside to help. Even outside for a while can make a huge difference, things often just need to come inside to get finished off.
I don’t have a tumble drier and we manage fine.

Have lived in flats most of my adult life, without a tumble dryer.
I am indeed tired of seeing/moving/stumbling over a rack of laundry drying, but it’s not the end of the world.

Dehumidifier for me as not allowed to dry clothes outside
It makes a huge difference

I have my actual washing line fitted in the greenhouse! I can fit two full loads on it and the clothes dry much faster than even using the tumble dryer!
I'm amazed more people don't do this given our unpredictable weather?

Dehumidifier in the utility room

Where do you live that it's been raining so much? I'm in NI and we've had some patchy rain, but you can still get things mostly dry. They don't have to be bone dry, and if it looks uncertain then you can hang your small bits inside so it's easier to grab bigger things if it starts to rain.

Lancashire here, does nothing but rain
Plus I can't dry outside

I don't want to use the tumble dryer as much any more. You are right, it's so difficult with our unpredictable weather. I think if it might rain, the best thing to do is put the washing out on a rack rather than the line, then at least it's easy to bring it in (and out again!).

I put my washing out yesterday, then it was absolutely throwing it down before I realised, so I left it out. A couple of hours later it was almost dry again.

We have a tumble dryer but have used it twice in the last 12 months.
Top tip would be to put it on a timer so it’s ready to hang up first thing in the morning.
If not possible to dry outside (not sure where you are but the weather has been great this week) put on airer in the bath or next to radiator in winter.
we do a lot of laundry and reusable nappies and I don’t struggle to dry stuff

Clothes on a fold up clothes horse in the sitting room. Log burner on and job done.

Use clothes horse outside, under balcony overhang. It generally doesn’t get wet there, and can just bring whole thing in quickly if it does start raining horizontally or super windy. Lines annoy me as you have to hang everything up, everything off, then hang back up inside if still damp

And yes even a lot over winter we can hang reusable nappies outside ( and it gets minus temps and snow here) , and just bring airer in at night and they are a tad damp if overcast, and finish drying overnight inside.

Washing line in the garage - can fit 3 loads on it. Very handy in the rain!

We don't have a tumble drier and it's fine in winter because my heating is on but I've really struggled this month as it isn't cold enough to the justify turning it on but it hasn't stopped raining for so long. I had to switch the radiators on yesterday for an hour to give some of the clothes a chance🙁

I am WFH and literally run in and out with it on the line between showers

I've set the washing on a timer so it's clean now. It's raining here (again) up north so am gonna put it on the airer by the back door and see how it goes. If it gets nicer later I can pop it outside.

Essentially the answer to all of this is an airer that can be moved around. I stopped using it as the cat kept climbing it to sleep on top which was breaking it 🙄 but I might put a few pegs on top to discourage him.

Jealous of washing lines in the greenhouse!

I’m in the north of Scotland and the next week is looking amazing so I’ll be washing everything I can get my hands on!

I have a clothes horse by huge windows, but it doesn’t dry fast enough without the heating on.

if the weather hadn’t turned today, I’d have cracked and put the TD on.

im looking at getting a Sheila maid for the kitchen for the winter - although a friend warned me that it’ll pick up cooking smells. Oh well, we’ll fight off vampires with our dry clothes.

I have an airer in the conservatory in the warmer months, it dries stuff really quickly. I also have a drink rack that DH built in the top,of,a tall,larder cupboard so it can be pushed away out of sight completely when not in use. House never damp but we have windows open a little bit all year round.

I think on a clothes airer near a source of air such as an open window is good if it can’t go outside.

I often put an almost dry batch (along with a dry hand towel) into the tumble dryer for 10 mins. That means I don’t have to iron anything either.

A friend of mine has one of those hanging rails on a pulley that she has over the top of her stairs. Luckily she has the kind of landing where she can get the washing on and off easily.

Heat rises, so it’s a good idea.

Yes inside next to open windows is a good compromise in spring/ autumn when it’s warm enough but raining

Some clothes on hangers hanging on door frames, radiators and heated maiden which we don’t bother turning on in summer.

We have a lovely garden but not used it since we’ve lived here as there are far too many birds and birds shit everywhere.

I also save up all our towels, bedsheets and anything else that can go in a dryer and take to the laundromat every couple of weeks and do a bulk dry. I use to do it weekly but wasn’t filling the machine so now I do it every couple of weeks. Works out so much cheaper.

I hang my clothes on hangers on shower rail overnight, all mostly dry by the morning.

I also have a towel rack above heated towel rail from which I can hang anything for even faster drying in the winter as things would hang next to the towel rail.

I used to have a line over bath before we replaced it with a shower (like a fishing line so barely visible).

I have an airer that fits over the bath and I leave the bathroom window open a crack. I also have a tall thin airer a bit like an umbrella, it has fold-out arms for hanging clothes on hangers and at the top it has more arms with pegs on for hanging socks and small things. Clothes dry fairly quickly on this, maybe because they're hanging rather than folded over.
I also hang clothes out on the washing line at every opportunity even if only for a couple of hours, even just to take some of the dampness off. And I will hang clothes out overnight if the forecast is dry and breezy.

We have a pulley in the utility room (boiler is in there so it's quite warm), a crappy uPVC conservatory which is brilliant in Summer and a washing line. Also a moveable airer that's always falling down.
Tumbling is the last resort.