How do you dry clothes?

[mrsjimhopper]

Tumble- dry towels pants socks joggers and bedding and most t shirts.

Everything else on an airer. It can take DAYS, especially as we have no heating on.

I hear of people who tumble dry everything- what is this witchcraftery that leads to no shrinking?

I'm trying to be energy efficient too hence (no central hearing on and I'm trying keep it off but we do have a nice big log burning stove and we aren't cold at all)

Tell me your secrets!

Tumble dryer.
Save yourself hours of work and faff.
Pays for itself in convenience alone.

On days like today when it's sunny and mild, I put the airer outside and everything dries quickly. I do the same 9n cloudy days too because the air and breeze dries most of the moisture.

I spin my clothes on the highest setting so it's practically dry when it comes out of the machine anyway. I avoid washing on wet days but if I have to then I put the airer near an open window. I turn the clothes over after a few hours so the underside dries evenly.

I'm buying a heated airer on black Friday this year.

@Maireas I have a tumble dryer and I agree but can you tell Me how things don't shrink!

Outside when possible.. @mrsjimhopper my sis's garden is permanently in shade, she would defo sympathise.. otherwise on the rads but no heating on yet. They'll dry within 24 hrs. Also what a PP does, hang stuff on doors, on a hanger on curtain rail in the sun, etc.. small house so my tumble dryer lives in the shed, but Jan / Feb will reappear indoors & I'll be forgetting & walking into the thing all the time.. ;-)

long line outside
whirlygig
clothes horse in catio
ceiling airers (kitchen & landing)
shelf/racks in airing cupboard
radiators

or any combo of above depending on weather, weight of things needing dried, urgency or energy levels

line dried remains my favourite even in winter, maybe even especially then with the sharp cold fresh smell of the sheets/clothes when brought in

I do still get a feeling of joy going upstairs when clothes are on the landing ceiling airer though, partly the lovely scent that gently increases as you go upstairs & partly the comfort of nostalgia

Using a line prop for the outdoor line helps a great deal to catch more breezes/sun especially for sheets

Still on the washing line at this point. Midwinter on the airer or bannister. Often start putting big things out and underwear and socks on the airer sometime soon so it is quick to get things in half dry if need be. Usually wash on the weekend unless it's rainy (two of us so only one clothes wash, one towels/bedding).

On the line, then indoors on the airer with a dehumidifier. Even with the horrible rain yesterday I got 1.5 loads dry. I use those round thing with loads of pegs hanging down for underwear and socks and only wash towels on a dry day. I don't like towels from the dryer.

I tumble dry everything and I've never had an issue with things shrinking. If you use the machine properly it's not an issue.

Great tips!

Is drying things on a radiator bad? My MIL said it is but when growing up my mum did it.
Does it release too much moisture into the air or something?

They don't shrink. Have it on a cooler setting for many items - they get tumbled around with less heat, come out fine. Sometimes with non tumble items I just give them a 10 minutes finish off.
Only sheets and towels on high heat.
A warm, fluffy towel straight out of the dryer - bliss 😊

On a maiden

I have a tower airer in the kitchen so the warmth from the oven etc helps. I put a wash on as soon as I get up in the morning and hang it out around 9am. By then the previous washing (I usually do one load a day, large family) is mostly dry so I take that off and tumble it for just 10 mins. I used to tumble everything but find this system works well. The key is to get it on the airer as early as possible.

Mine all dried yesterday on the line. West facing tiny garden but a good breeze, rained on a bit in the morning. A clothes wash and a towels/bedding wash. I spin at 1400, twice if drying inside. Rarely wash jeans or jumpers, DS's joggers would be the biggest/thickest clothes item but they are polycotton. Towels are small and lightweight for easy drying.

I do the same as you, I used to never use the tumble drier or only for the odd load of towels. Now we have a baby and at first I was scared to tumble dry his clothes in case they shrunk even slightly. Now I tumble dry his pyjamas, vests etc, our towels, underwear, socks, pyjamas, anything unlikely to crease. I always seem to have a backlog of washings as I get on top of getting loads done then hit a point where I can’t wash anymore as I’ve got nowhere left to hang it up.

I’ve heard a lot about dehumidifiers and we have a small utility room that I thought would be ideal if I put one on in there and hung loads of washings up. They are a few hundred pounds for the big ones though and we have a fire getting put in so I’m thinking I will just hang it in front of that at night instead. Really hoping that transforms my life 🙈

I watch the metoffice website like a hawk. Any day with less than 10% chance of rain is a washing day. Metoffice also shows humidity and sun rise and set times. Line dry almost every time.

Everyone has different ways to dry their clothes as everyone’s house/family/location is different.
Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s clothes were spun dry and either pegged out or draped around the open fire. Nobody had many charges of outfits, we wore clothes for days in a row and so not so much dirty laundry was produced. I think the bed linen was triple spun or mangled and ironed dry before going in the airing cupboard.
When my 3 were young in the 80’s and 90’s I had a twin tub/washing line/airier around the radiator combination. As sporty teenagers I did buy a tumble dryer for the mountains of sports socks and towels etc.
Now there’s just 2 of us I weather watch in the winter, do the laundry on a non rainy day and hang it out. If wet on an airier by the sunniest window and then in the airing cupboard.
My local adult children do similar but finish stuff off in the tumble dryer as they don’t have airing cupboards.
Dont forget hot air rises, so If you have the airier upstairs, even if the radiators are downstairs they should dry in a day or two if you have given them an extra spin.
Id probably need a tumble dryer in my life still if I was doing laundry for children, particularly through the winter in the UK. I appreciate it is very very time consuming to be hanging out/ talking in from the garden on repeat!

We only wash when the vast majority of day is forecasted dry.
Washing machine on overnight then it goes out on the line first thing before going to work.
Gets finished off overnight on an airer but it's mainly to warm up a bit as opposed to drying

Tumble dry everything. Low heat for things that might shrink. And if something shrinks enough then replace it if needed. Anything needing ironing gets sent out. When I lived in a flat ages ago I hung everything on a drying rack as i didn’t have a tumble dryer and really didn’t enjoy air dried towels and such.

November to March- tumble drier. Rest of the year outside on the washing line

Tumble towels, bedding and underwear.

Trousers, shorts, PJs, sports kit - get hung on two free standing clothes airers, each item over two bars so there's plenty of space. I put them on the patio outside to get sun/wind as much as poss but they can be carried in easily if it looks like rain. Sometimes they go in and out several times a day but it takes 30 seconds. I wouldn't risk line hanging most days through autumn or winter, it's too much faff having to peg out/take in.

Tops get hung on hangers and hung over curtain rails upstairs with the window cracked. They get the benefit of sun (if there is any), wind from the open window and then are directly above the radiator if we stick the heating on at night for an hour. If we have any stuff on airers still, I also make sure that's in front of a radiator whenever it's on.

This works really well for us, never have condensation issues or damp smelling clothes.

If they take days don't they smell ? Also it I isn't good to have damp clothes in your house !

Dryer. It's a washer/dryer so if doing not dryer items I wash them together and just drape them over towels on the bannister (my washer/dryer is in a cupboard upstairs). But I generally will not buy stuff that can shrink/need special care.
I had a meeting at a woman's home and we sat at her kitchen table next to an air drying rack full of clothes. It was the same during our first meeting (social that time). I couldn't bear to have laundry out all the time.

To add she's wealthier than me - it's her preference not due to finances that she dries her clothes there.

I feel the same, I'd hate to have laundry hanging around the house all the time.

PS I’ve never heard about using a dehumidifier in conjunction with indoor drying until I’ve read these threads on mumsnet. I’ve always just opened a window and have never had a mould problem.
Laundry drying is an age old problem! I’m now having vivid memories of my mother being incredibly stressed on Mondays, the traditional laundry day for 1950’s housewives! Me and my sister learned to keep a low profile on wet Mondays!