How do I dry laundry in a cold house?

[NotQuiteUsual]

So not going into the energy price stuff. But basically our house is going to be really cold this winter and the tumble dryer is obviously off limits. But with three kids there's so much laundry. I've reduced the amount I wash stuff to the maximum I can.

But what I can't figure out is how to dry it when our house is as cold as outside. We have super limited space to dry outside. Half a loads room, not even enough to hang a single bed sheet. It gets no sunlight in the day and is only good in the summer, but I have been trying it. We've got two airers that stay under an open window to try keep the damp under control.

I'm sure i must be missing a trick though and I really don't want to smell like damp all winter either. So any tips?

But she has to buy it.... She's already said buying one would negate the cost of running it.

Do you have any fire places? We dry washing in front of our log burner. House is 200+ year old and always cold so we are used to layering up anyway.

If your tumble drier has a low heat setting then use that as it will save money for things like towels which are hard to dry.

Same with the washing machine, I put ours on eco mode for every wash except heavily soiled kids stuff. It takes longer but costs less according to our smart meter.

Saw an article today about this. A woman bought a cheapish pvc greenhouse just big enough to hold her clothes horse. She can dry outside with the greenhouse door open even in the rain.

www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/19964605/mum-genius-dries-washing-without-tumble-dryer-rack/amp/

The dehumidifier thing needs to be discussed.

I have one. I washed a carpet and used the dehumidifier in the room overnight to aid the drying process and next day my smartmeter which is always always below £5 for the full day was £9.87 already.
Maybe it depends on the model?

Hang some bits that you need drying more quickly in the airing cupboard if you've got one!

I have a heated airer and a dehumidifer. They give us some extra heat and water for the plants But not a very quick method of drying.

We have never had a tumble dryer; it's not something I'd even considered until lately but with the way electric has gone up there's no way I'd get one now. During the summer months, and on dry winter days, as much laundry as possible goes out on the line. But when it's as wet as it's been lately, we have to take stuff like bedding, towels etc to the launderette to dry them (costs 50p per 5 minutes, I normally spend £3 a time)
Everything else is dried inside. We have 3 maidens up in the loft bedroom, with a small electric dehumidifier on some of the time. I also have a couple of those 79p scented dehumidifiers from B&M with the absorbent crystals.

I second the PP who said hang stuff like shirts on clothes hangers from curtain rails. They dry in about an hour or two like that! And we also make use of banister on landing and backs of dining chairs etc for drying stuff.

Oh and again second the other PP who said about doing an extra spin cycle. We always do this, and the clothes are never sopping wet when they come out of the machine, which makes a massive difference to drying times. Going by our smart meter monitor, this costs about 1-2p extra per cycle so it's definitely worth it.

If you have an outdoor rotary clothes line you could put one of these over the top to keep any showers off but allow the clothes etc to mostly dry. There are cheaper ones, this is just the one that came up when I searched www.amazon.co.uk/Chimney-Sheep-Laundry-rotary-dryers/dp/B07MK3MJY1/ref=asc_df_B07MK3MJY1/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=330833577522&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8277243482164520435&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1007044&hvtargid=pla-656385162459&psc=1

How high are your ceilings, in particular your kitchen? If you have high ceiling a pulleymaid might work well, especially if you can get it in front of a south facing window.

I have a pully maid in my kitchen which is next to a window. I make sure the clothes are dried with lots of space between articles and the window open during the day helps too. I only use this if it rains a lot

There was a great post the other day from someone who fixed a heater in her wardrobe and dried clothes in there, a bit like an airing cupboard. I thought it was genius!

If you use your oven, put the airer full of clothes near it (assuming you aren't popping back & forth every few minutes to check the food etc). Then when the food is done, put the airer by the oven, the warmth that escapes as it cools will dry the clothes a little bit. Same principle as putting them by a radiator. When I'm cooking on the hob I don't use the fan, I put the airer by the back door & open it a bit, it lets cooking smells, steam etc out just fine. When it's cold I just close the door to the rest of the house & use a draught excluder cushion so it stays warm enough. We have never used the kitchen radiator in this or any of our previous houses.

Likewise, if you have a south facing room, put the airer in there. It'll be the warmest room. Use a dehumidifier, or ventilate it properly to reduce the damp.

I use coat hangers over the curtain rails for things like shirts etc - can easily get a couple of shirts on a standard window. And if you have the window open a crack, they'll be dry in a couple of hours, even in this weather (and your house won't be damp).

Heated airer from Lakeland

I hang stuff from the curtain rail using coat hangers in the window with the best sun

This is genius and will find a use for the greenhouse I put up when I was going through my short-lived grow your own phase

Definitely dry higher up in the rooms. Put an actual washing line high up across the room and leave it loaded over night or when you go to work.

You could use this for convenience. You need to know the power rating (on a plate on the item) and the cost of a KWh (price cap, presumably)

www.rapidtables.com/calc/electric/energy-consumption-calculator.html

We do about 3 extra spins and it makes a massive difference.
We inherited DM’s ceiling pulley dryer so that in the kitchen. Doors are utilised to hang big things like bedding over and I’ve put hooks EVERYWHERE in our house so we bung a coat hanger or those clippy hangers for undies and socks.
Beds are changed weekly(ish) and we all have at least 4 other sets of bedding for each bed so there’s no great hurry to dry covers and sheets.

We have some cheap coat hangers that are for trousers (so they have multiple horizontal gaps).
Smallish stuff gets put on that and hung over radiators or curtain rails. I’ve found that hanging tops on coat hangers is pretty useful as they can be moved around the house easily to the warmest bit without getting them of maidens etc.

I often think wistfully of the time we could afford regular family holidays abroad. Where any wet items would dry in a jiffy after being slung over a balcony rail or chair whilst sipping wine to the soundtrack of cicadas…

Now it’s soggy fucking hoodies and a lukewarm brew set to the theme of teens grumbling whilst I’m trying to listen to The Archers!

I'm loving the green house idea! Our house is a terrace facing East and West so absolutely the worst for drying laundry! The ceilings downstairs are mostly high, so I might look at making something to hang it up high. Problem is it's a damp Victorian building so I do need to play it carefully. The green house is a great idea though, I could easily make use when I'm growing vegetables in the summer too so I can justify the money moreso.

My husband hung me a couple of metal pipes on the ceiling in the utility (where the boiler is). I put stuff on hangers of peg octopi thingies and hang it on the poles and it's dry the next day

• Also it is the law that, when pitting the washing machine on an extra spin cycle you have to say out loud “spin again, begin again” like the end of There Was An Old Man Called Michael Finnegan.

If you don’t then the laundry poltergeist puts a hidden tissue in the pocket of an item of clothing creating ‘fun’ washing machine snow for everyone to enjoy/be bollocked for.

Wash much less.

I've always been appalled that people wash things after only one wear ( socks and knickers excepted of course.) So wasteful.

Second the idea of a drying rack on a pulley in the kitchen. Your high ceilings will be ideal. Heat from the oven will help. Also no need to iron most things that way as the creases drop out.

As someone of mature years, who remembers drying clothes in a cold house before tumble dryers were a "thing", here's what we used to do:
pulley in kitchen - yes, clothes may smell of food but you'll get used to it. Kitchen is usually warmest place in house because of cooking.
airing cupboard (if you have one)
Clothes horse in living room after everyone has gone to bed - residual warmth from heating/fire will help.
Don't even think of draping stuff on radiators (if you have them) as it will prevent them from diffusing heat properly and end up costing you more. You can hang stuff out on line no matter how cold the weather - I remember frozen nappies!!! It will help a bit, and you can let them dry off completely indoors later.