Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

To wonder where you're supposed to dry clothes in winter?

60 replies

HannaPintura · 05/04/2018 11:56

Most landlords I have had have specified that clothes shouldn't be dried indoors (on a clothes horse). Where are they supposed to be dried then in the British wet winter months?

OP posts:

KirstenRaymonde · 05/04/2018 12:24

@HannaPintura I have a washer/dryer combo for this reason. I’ve never lived in a house that had space for a seperate dryer so it’s a life saver. Could this be an option for you?

DarkRoomDarren · 05/04/2018 12:26

Gosh get some compassion

she was a bit miffed they dried their clothes indoors and moulded up her property... she didn’t turn them out in the street. Let’s not get too dramatic!

supersop60 · 05/04/2018 12:30

A heated clothes airer? Lakeland do small ones. And crack open a window for ventilation.

SpringNowPlease2018 · 05/04/2018 12:40

I haven't rented for ages but I've never rented anywhere that has a garden or a tumble drier....I think that's a seriously unreasonable point. Freaking landlords. Should be legally obliged to provide a dehumidifier if they feel like that. Then again....the bills...!

FluffyHippo · 05/04/2018 12:42

There's a real bunch of patronising fuckers on this thread - obviously the OP would use a tumble dryer if she had one. But guess what? She probably doesn't, hence the conundrum...

There's been no tumble dryer in the last two flats we've rented and we've had the same restrictions on drying indoors. We asked the landlords the same question that's being asked here and they refused to supply one because, y'know, they cost money and most landlords, in my experience, don't like spending money on their tenants.

The tumble dryer in this flat is broken and has been for a year, despite our repeated requests for it to be repaired.

So, telling the OP to tumble dry her stuff just makes you look rather glib and pretty smug.

And breathe...

Redpony1 · 05/04/2018 12:45

or at the laundrette.

Who has time for that?!

I've rented all my life, mostly flats that have never been supplied with a tumble dryer. I've never had mould in my places, except one old flat that had single pane windows.

Absolutely nothing wrong with clothes horses, as long as you keep the air moving.

Judydreamsofhorses · 05/04/2018 12:47

I am so happy just to have pegged out washing for the first time this year! Other than that, we have a washer/dryer, and things that can’t go in it go on a clothes horse, or on radiator rack things. PP’s suggestion of planning washing round dry days is a good one, but not practical here in that there’s usually no-one in during the day to rescue it, and we’re in NE Scotland where it is hardly even light in the winter.

Slightlyperturbedowlagain · 05/04/2018 12:50

We use a heated clothes rail and a dehumidifier. It has also helped prevent the bathroom mound issues from steamy showers and an incompetent extraction fan.

YourWanMajella · 05/04/2018 12:52

or at the laundrette

What laundrette? I just googled and my nearest one is 6o miles away!

landlords, if your houses can't cope with clothes drying, your property is shit.

Yukbuck · 05/04/2018 12:59

I rent. No garden, certainly no tumble drier. I'm renting in the short term. Why should I buy a tumble drier?
Drying clothes on an airer is completely fine if you do It correctly. We have the heating on once a day for a small amount of time. We also vent the flat by opening the windows occasionally. No damp problems. There was a bit of damp when we moved in and we actually dealt with it.
I think people are unreasonable here. Renting is expensive (at least in my area it is) I couldn't afford to buy a tumble drier and probably couldn't afford to run it either.

keepingbees · 05/04/2018 13:06

I used to rent and never had a tumble dryer (small house, 3 kids and lots of washing!) all my landlord asked was that we did keep the house ventilated, I would ask your landlord what they want you to actually do!
I used to put it outside to dry whenever possible but through winter or in bad weather it had to be inside. I hung small items on a clothes airer and anything else on coat hangers on the curtain poles. Sometimes big items like bedding had to be hung over doors or chairs. We never had any damp of mould. Condensation would start on the windows if they weren't opened but soon cleared once opened. If you keep the place well heated and ventilated you should be ok, we always had windows open, even just slightly. I sometimes bought those small cheap disposable dehumidifiers too and they seemed to work.

RulaLenskasHair · 05/04/2018 13:15

In 90% of cases of any mould, or issues drying stuff inside, the solution is - OPEN WINDOWS REGULARLY.

It's free, easy, you don't have to leave them all open, all day, just keep air moving. I'm always baffled by how many people don't know this.

MrsS - blocking up air bricks and chimney is a nightmare. Understand they may have been on low income and cold, but mould is not better for anyone!

MissEliza · 05/04/2018 13:15

I'm a landlord and I don't have a problem with my tenants drying their clothes indoors. All we ask is that we keep the property ventilated and have suggested using a dehumidifier. When we bought the property, there was mould and we went to a lot of effort to get rid of it. We've had two lots of tenants and neither seem to have heeded my advice. Tenants do have responsibility for maintaining the property as well. Prevention is better than cure.

Frazzled2207 · 05/04/2018 13:22

I would also ask the landlord how he expects you to dry clothes. If he's providing a dryer then fair enough, if not he is being U.

BMW6 · 05/04/2018 13:23

I only recently got a tumble drier. For 30 years I have managed to get laundry dry by putting on clothes horse or on hangers from doorframes overnight with ventilation.
I didn't even have a washing machine till 10 years ago. Washed by hand and thoroughly spun in cheap spin dryer.

I have never had a mould problem. Ventilation is totally crucial.

Mumofkids · 05/04/2018 13:28

I have a tumble dryer but only rarely use it. It's so expensive and shrinks everything, they are also not environmentally friendly. I use it as a last resort. I do 3-4 large loads a day. I have windows open and sirens. Heated sirens are very good.
Never had a problem with damp if property is properly aired. Of course as soon as I can hang outdoors I do, but lucky to have a washing line.

Mumofkids · 05/04/2018 13:29

🤣sirens? Silly phone. Airers....

YourWanMajella · 05/04/2018 13:34

ll we ask is that we keep the property ventilated and have suggested using a dehumidifier

If your property needs a dehumidifier to stop it going mouldy, you need to provide one.

noeffingidea · 05/04/2018 13:34

If you're going to specify no hanging clothes up indoors to dry then you need to provide a washer dryer or suitable vented or condenser dryer. A lot of flats either don't have outdoor space or drying clothes is sometimes banned.
I'm a fiend for line drying washing right through the winter, but it hasn't been possible over the last few weeks due to the continual rain. I dry mine on a clothes horse in front of a small fan heater, with the window open for ventilation.

MrsSchadenfreude · 05/04/2018 13:36

@KirstenRaymonde - if they were that short of cash they shouldn't have been spending so much money on renting a large flat in zone 1, with a spare room. Cutting your cloth accordingly?

It probably would have been fine in the bathroom on an airer with the windows open, but they didn't open the windows at all. The key is ventilation.

Zaphodsotherhead · 05/04/2018 13:38

I find winter isn't so much of a problem, because you can put clothes on an airer and they will dry when the heating is on. It's wet days in summer that are the problem (no heating on and the stuff can jus hang for days and days until it starts to smell if we get a run of cool, damp weather).

MrsSchadenfreude · 05/04/2018 13:38

And why should I have compassion? I was renting a flat, not running a charity. I think they were a bit "fur coat and no knickers".

ZibbidooZibbidooZibbidoo · 05/04/2018 13:39

they'll still dry in a couple of hours if there's some wind.

Nope. My north facing garden is completely in the shade and even on sunny days my laundry is still damp in the evening. It cracks me up when my mum goes on about sticking it out on the line. It’s just extra work for me because I have to hang If in the hot press anyway to dry it with the dehumidifier.

NameChanger22 · 05/04/2018 13:40

I dry mine on the washing line. Even this winter I've done it. Sometimes I have to wait two weeks for a dry day or two, I just wait, I have a big laundry basket. Today I have 2 big loads of washing on the line, I put them out this morning and it's pretty much dry now. My washing machine spins very well, so most things are half dry after a wash.

Coffeeandcrochet · 05/04/2018 13:41

In 11 years of renting (2 houses, 3 flats) I have never been provided with a tumble dryer, nor had the space to buy and install my own. The only time I had mould was the winter the heating broke for 3 months and the landlady failed to fix it ime as long as you are sensible with heating and ventilation it’s fine!

Flip

1 2 3