How are poor people getting their clothes dry this winter?

[9thFloorNightmare]

I don't have a tumble drier. I hang the clothes on airers and leave it by the radiators.

Past winters, I would live the heating on most of the time and the clothes dried quickly but now that I am living in a place with a pre-pay meter and with the energy prices the way they are, I am leaning to 'heat the human, not the home' and the heating goes on for a few minutes a twice or 3x a day just enough to take the edge off / come out of bed / out of showers etc.

Up until December the heating was on more often and for longer and as long as I kept checking the clothes (changing position, creating room between them, removing the ones already dry etc) it was fine, but now in January, I noticed that I'm having to top up my pre-pay meter more often so I decided to be more careful and the result is the clothes are not drying quickly enough and I'm running out of things to wear, especially my go-to's.

I'm planning to get a new washer/drier for next winter (I don't have space to have it separately) but meanwhile, what can I do? What do people do??

Sometimes I find myself longing for the heatwave when everything got dry in 10 minutes or less (joking!)

We purchased a heated airer and it honestly heats the room too - cheap hourly cost

We do 2 spins after the wash. We are lucky we have a wood burner so put clothes on 2 airers in front of that at night. We have a heated airer which isnt great but doesnt cost too much and takes the edge off the wetness. All that still takes a day and a half to dry anything though.

Mine is in my kitchen and it’s an Indesit 8kg condenser dryer. The bit that looks like a washing machine drawer pulls out and it’s basically a big plastic tub that you empty out the water from.

Sounds lovely.

I guess you are not on a pre-pay meter.

When my electricity was direct debt I was blissfully unaware of how much I was spending and wasting (not saying that you are eating though) and just accepted high bills as 'life'. I wanted to be warm at any cost, I didn't care how much my bill would be. People would comment that my home felt like a fucking amazon forest and the water on the tap was so hot! I (used to) wash dishes with running water rather than a washing up bowl and you could see steam.

Now that I have to physically top up my meter key at the shops using preferably cash (they charge extra if card is used), and then come back home and top up the meter, it seems like money is evaporating out of nowhere - it is sad but also alarming. I can afford to spend a bit more, somehow I am scared.

Love receiving my energy voucher every month, even though only 1 shop in the neighbourhood accepts it.

from Lakeland?

I do the extra spin thing.

Then I don't do another wash until the last one is nearly dry. Having loads of washing hanging about is counterproductive.

I use the airing cupboard where the immersion tank lives to dry some things a bit quicker.

We're all doing our best to create less laundry without actually stinking.

We all now dry ourselves with a small towel then put a dressing gown on rather than washing a household's worth of bath sheets every week.

If I can wear something grubby to work out in rather than get out clean workout clothes I do that.

The night before sheet change I'll sleep in something already worn rather than put on clean PJs.

We're washing dressing gowns and outer layers a lot less often.

And I'm trying not to care if things sit in the wash for more than a week.

I’ve been hanging big/heavy things on doors. I don’t know why, but they seem to dry a lot quicker against something solid, than on an airer (and no musty smell you sometimes get on an airer). I washed a kingsize mattress topper and it dried overnight with no heating on. Same with thick jeans. Maybe the doors are absorbing the moisture but thats a problem for another day.

I've been that skint before in an unheated flat/no outside access/was built at an angle where the only time there was any air circulation was when there was a Siberian blast howling across 45 miles from the Thames estuary making the windows rattle.

After getting pulled up at work because my clothes smelled damp, it was largely not washing things at home and instead bundling a bin bag into a shopping trolley and walking the 45 minutes to the nearest launderette where I could wash and dry my clothes for the week.

If there isn't a launderette within reach (the cost was worth it for me compared to having mouldering clothes and shitty meetings with my line manager), you need to

a) stop using fabric softener. That feeds the stink.

b) bollocks to cool washes. You need hotter ones so they at least come out smelling clean in the first place. It's cheaper than having to re-wash things.

c) Wear fewer things over the week so there is space to hang everything up separately on hangers.

d) whilst tops and underwear absolutely must be washed after every wear, bottoms aren't quite so demanding if they are aired for a day or two between wears - skirts are better for that during the week, jeans for the weekend.

e) don't pile things onto radiators. It's bad enough when they're on, but when they're not, it's guaranteed to make them smell fusty after three days waiting for them to dry.

f) ironing is cheaper than rewashing bedlinen if you haven't got enough washing to justify a launderette trip.

It's crap, but hopefully the weather will pick up soon so that there's less moisture in the air and you can at least have windows open.

If it helps, this anti perspirant is great. You apply it at night
I buy it from Amazon in bulk as it's about £5 in the shops and I watch it to buy at the cheapest price!

Sure Maximum Protection Sport Strength Anti-perspirant Deodorant Cream Stick for Women 45 ml (Pack of 6) amzn.eu/d/d8waFD2

I go to the launderette once a week to do drying too, it's much cheaper than having a tumble dryer and I don't have one anyway 😅

I bought M&S thermal vests (with long sleeves). They are a double bonus as I wear them under jumpers which means I don't wash the jumpers that often AND they keep me warmer so it's more palatable not to have the heating on as often. I got them on offer so they weren't that expensive.

When I wash them, they are quite thin so dry pretty quick.

I’m using the laundrette, its actually really good - you can fit tons in, and I just take it there wet and do the drier for 45 mins and it’s dry. Plus it’s warm in there!

I use a tumble dryer but it's a heat pump one which doesn't use much energy and seems gentle on the clothes. Also use a heated airer

I’m really surprised that so many people for whom money is tight are using a tumble drier. It’s such a very expensive way to dry clothes.

We’ve never had one, and instead use an old-fashioned drying rack in the laundry room that you raise and lower with a rope.

It’s next to the boiler, which means that even if you are just using hot water sometimes it’s warm enough that clothes dry.

Outside. Luckily it's been pretty dry in North East Scotland for January and there's always a breeze!

I have ditched proper towels for the microfibre ones we have for camping and husbands work t shirts are now all lightweight ones which makes a big difference.

They still need a bit of airing but I got a couple of little airers that hang over the bannister which have been really useful

My dryer broke about 2 months ago, and I bought a dehumidifier instead. I hang clothes over a clothes horse by the radiator, and then put a sheet over the clothes horse and tuck it behind the radiator. The heat it produces under there whilst the heating is on is great. I also put the dehumidifier on laundry setting.

I've had to become more regimented with washing though. I'd leave it to build up knowing I could wash and dry it all in 2 hours with a dryer, now, I'm washing more frequently, but drying each load over a 24 hour period.

some houses won't dry washing however long you leave it.

some things that help it get dry quicker:
one load at a time on an airer spread out. as much as possible, preferably over two rails each
turn over the washing so that the wetter interior comes to the outside. move stuff from the bottom to the top of the airer. turn hoodies/trousers inside out half way through drying

move stuff that is nearly dry to a different location to air: eg, near a radiator, or in a sunny window, or in a different room. solar power drys stuff really quickly.

put airer next to radiator and use a sheet tucked behind the radiator and over the airer to make a tent. (to air the last bit)

hang on coat hangers

dry outside if it is not foggy or rainy. bring in before nightfall when temperatures drop and the air gets damper (or less damp as cold air can hold less water vapour, and it settles on other stuff like your washing) . air inside.

Same problem here. We rarely have the heating on at all so clothes take 2-3 days to dry. I’m looking into Drysoon drying pod as I had a similar drying pod before and it took 2-3 hours to dry a washing load.

ha, cross post with the radiator tent!

I use both during the winter. In summer it was used for 2 hours a week only for uniform but only 2 loads, (shirts and then trousers) which would get shaken out and hung on hangers so I didn’t have to iron anything. Everything else went in the yard with a double washing line or on the airer in the yard. I simply don’t have the time as a single parent who works full time to be faffing with loads of laundry and then ironing everywhere.

@BlackeyedSusan at least you gave it a name. Love radiator tent 😁

I’ve got a condenser dryer and it’s a lifesaver really.
it’s barely used in the summer as I hang clothes outside to dry. The cost saving evens out over the year.

there are some clothes that can’t be tumble dried but they go on the airer in front of the tumble dryer/next to the radiator in my kitchen and they dry quicker.
I live in a small terrace, there is a laundrette nearby but it’s always busy.

we have indoor clothes and outdoor clothes. the indoor clothes get washed less often... wear each several times.

wear an apron to eat if anyone is a messy eater.

100% wool bfrom the charity shop (though everyone will be doing htis now)

making sure I wear deodorant properly.

My house is freezing in some rooms. Ive just bought a dehumidifier (£134) it has really helped drying clothes quickly and doesn't cost anywhere near as much as heating. Honestly don't know why i didnt get one years ago

I time hanging the washing out with the hour a day I allow the heating to go on for. Hang clothes on doorframes or over bannisters.

It's a pain though, I can't wait for warmer weather.