Are heated airers crap or am I doing something wrong?

[Littletreefrog]

Bought a heated airer in Lidl, the type with wings. Also bought a cover for it. The only bits of the clothes that dry are the bits actually touching the bars so I can maybe dry 4 t shirts laid flat in it at a time. Hoodies and anything thick are an absolute disaster. I had high hopes, am I doing something wrong?

I also have a Lakeland one with a cover and it's been going strong for ten years now. It's a life saver in the winter when I can't dry outside. It means I only use the dryer for bedding and pants and socks.

I have never used a winged shape, heat rises so the shape doesn't make sense to dry clothes.

I have the big Lakeland one with cover. It's brilliant, not sure why others aren't getting good results. I can wash superking bedding in the morning, dry on the airer and have it back on the bed by early evening. For clothes drying I use every bar except the bottom layer which I use to dry socks flat, pop the cover on. Everything is almost dry within about 6 hours.
I also have a meaco dehumidifier which I sometimes use next to a standard airer if I run out of space on the heated airer. The drying time is about the same as the heated airer.

This. We have the same one. Clothes easily dry overnight. We never use the cover but this will speed it up. Sometimes we put a sheet over the top if that has been in the wash as well. I wouldn't be without mine, one of the best things we've bought and hardly use the tumble dryer. Thicker stuff I put over a few more bars and they do take longer.

ours is 12 years old ( not from aldi ) and dries a load overnight we don’t have a cover
best house gadget

clearly don’t buy the aldi one !

It's slower than a tumble drier and faster than having stuff on an unheated airer

We put it on for 1 or 2 hrs ( towels and jeans ) and then leave it - would expect 24 hrs to dry a load - moving things around once or twice as you might with an airer

It's in a small room that has an extractor fan running but would still take 2 to 4 days to dry things without out the heated airer

So that works for us

My mother hates hers as she is used to getting things dry in 2 hrs of tumble drier whereas we didn't have that experience

I only ever shuffle clothes around once during a drying cycle.
I do laundry overight, put stuff on it first thing, move things around a bit at lunch and then dry by 3-4 pm.

And this! We put ours in the room we use as an office when I'm working from home. The room is toasty warm so I don't need the heating on and it smells lovely!

I've never tried one but my Meaco dehumidifier dries clothes overnight if that's any help to you

I recently bought a heat pump dryer because I got fed up of drying clothes and bedding all over the house. I don't know why on earth I didn't buy one sooner

I love my Lakeland one! I use a fitted sheet over the top to keep the heat in which makes a big difference though.

I have the big expensive Lakeland one with the cover. The whole thing cost a fortune. It’s shit.

I could have bought a new tumble dryer practically with how much it cost. If anyone wants one nearly new second hand - buy mine!

If you bought it from Lakeland, you might be able to return in for a refund. They used to have a 2 year guarantee and their customer service is really good.

I've a Lakeland one and I love it. I rarely need to use the tumble dryer (I only really dry duvets and pillows in the tumble).

You absolutely can dry a full load on the Lakeland heated airer (and I don't tend to move things around on it halfway through), but you do need to think about positioning. So:

• put thicker/heavier items like jeans, towels and hoodies on the top tier to benefit from the heat rising, and allow two or more bars for each of these sorts of things so the air can circulate and moisture can evaporate
• long things like leggings should also go on the top or middle tier so they aren't hanging into the cold zone below the botton tier, but as the fabric is thin, they only need one bar each
• shirts and dresses can be put on hangers and hung on the sides of the airer
• use the bottom tier for small, thin items that dry quickly, such as underwear
• I don't have a cover, but sometimes drape a bedsheet over the top - this traps the heat inside and speeds up drying time
• don't forget to open the window for a bit if the room is feeling humid!

12 hours heated airer Vs 45 mins tumble dryer = same price.

I have two of the Lakeland wall mounted ones and they’re pretty good. It’s definitely a buy cheap buy twice purchase though

I'd read similar comments from people about heated airers so went down the Meaco dehumidifer route instead. It's great! I definitely recommend a dehumidifer in a separate room to dry clothes.

I'm not that poster but I have the same style rather than the ones you fold clothes on. This is the one I've got - www.argos.co.uk/product/8849232 - but I got it second hand on facebook marketplace

I suspect it depends more on the user's house and washing machine and the racks are a bit pointless. I can dry two full loads on a normal rack without a dehumidifier in the middle of winter because we have a warm, modern, well ventilated house. With the dehumidifier running underneath, it takes about an hour. Jeans overnight.

My normal airier and a dehumidifier dries clothes overnight so I have never bothered with one

Mines crap too. I bought a cheap tumble dryer and just use the heated airer now for things that can’t go in the dryer.

you need to think of them of an airer rather than a dryer.

the heat will make clothes dry faster than without heat but will take longer than a tumble dryer.
andbof course where the garment touches the bars they will dry first, but the rest will also dry after a while.