AIBU to ask you about drying clothes :)

[smoldragon]

Hi! Sorry this is a bit of a stretch posting on AIBU but I've been struggling with a design course identifying different problems, different people might have and possible solutions (existing or ideas).

My current pet peeve is drying clothes indoors. being a student, I live in a small pad. It's not ideal with space, condensation, etc. Transport to a launderette is troublesome and I have no outdoor space for a rotary or indoor space for a tumble.

I'd love to know if you guys have similar issues or maybe different ones but to do with drying laundry. Maybe its the ease of setting one up, or you find them really ugly? (Please tell me all the things that irritate you about drying clothes!) (Or maybe some things that you enjoy?)

Maybe you have managed to circumvent these issues or have found some awesome new product that has made it so much easier for you!

I are looking at clothes horses/drying racks particularly at the moment.

Any feedback is welcome. Thank you!

Great idea. Please can you find a new solution to:

Get the direct sunlight indoors via a mirror, lens or better solution

A quicker way to hang up small items

A way to avoid folding thick items over a bar for drying - so the fabric is doubled up slowing drying time

Avoiding peg marks

Capturing the water which exits clothes to negate using a dehumidifier

Minimising space the rack takes up

Getting all washing out of machine and onto rack then into drawer without human intervention

I'm another one who isn't allowed to hang washing out (and it's my own private garden!)
I use a dehumidifier which works really well

😄

I hate having washing on show, and we don’t have space in bedrooms to hide an airer.

In the winter (or whenever we can’t use the rotary), I tumble dry most things. Anything that can’t be tumbled, I have an airer fixed to the back of the utility room door, which folds down and holds quite a bit. That way it’s all hidden (although sometimes a pain to get through the door if you’re carrying something bulky!)

Thank you for starting this thread. This has been on my mind for a while trying to find a solution. I'm from a country where we have good, sunny weather about 80% of the time so clothes were always dried outside, hung in the morning and dried by early afternoon. Having a tumble dryer is rare. I'm struggling with this whole thing of drying inside. It's so untidy, clothes are taking 2 days to dry and the amount of dust that the clothes accumulates. 😣 I will try some of the suggestions made above.

I hate having washing draped all over the place inside.i try to hang the washing out on the line for as many months as I can.
But needs must and there are times when I have to dry indoors . I use gate type airers so that they can be placed along the length of a radiator and only take up a relatively small amount of space.
I have considered buying a small spin dryer now though as there are likely going to be times when the heating is on less in future.

Drying clothes is an issue! I’ve used a heated Lakeland rack and open the windows a crack when it’s not raining.

i tried hanging clothes outside in London but it’s honestly too filthy. Black dust settles on them.

Heated airer with a cover and a dehumidifier 👍👍👍

We are also short on space but got a stacking kit so we can stack our dryer on top of the washing machine. Both live inside a cupboard in the hall with a door that folds over them. It does mean we had to get a condenser or heat pump dryer as there is nowhere inside the cupboard for it to vent to, but it saves a lot of space.

Just to say, do look into the running costs before you decide on your personal solution. Some dehumidifiers are very expensive to run.

For nearly 20 years I have lived in a small one bedroom flat. Drying during the cold months was a nightmare of clothes horses for clothes and bedding draped over doors. Luckily it's a ground floor flat and I have a French window so it all goes outside in the summer. Last year I invested in a washer dryer. I use it as little as possible because of cost, but it was transformational.

I have a pulley maid too but I don't have high ceilings just standard ones!

It's above a radiator so dries even quicker in winter when the heatings on.

The only clothes that hang down far enough to get in the way are trousers - tops tend to be ok (for 5'6" me anyway!). But the layout of my kitchen means it's up against a wall and not in a place you would naturally walk so not really in the way.

Does the heated airer not dry just the portion of it sitting on the heated part? So a line on the clothes? Can anyone recommend a good dehumidifier that's good for small spaces?

I have shaker pegs in a bedroom and its the perfect width to hang up sheets in one layer (each corner has it's own peg). For the fitted sheet, I tied string to the pegs for extra length. In the winter, this means that sheets can be washed, dried and back on the bed the same day.

I’ve also had a Dry Buddi for 8 years and no tumble dryer.
It’s small space friendly and is also very cost effective to run in comparison to a tumble dryer. I can’t remember the exact figures but a quick search on the internet will tell you 😊

I'm not in the UK and dry most of my washing outside on the clothes line, but there are times in winter when I use a clothes horse inside. I keep reading about the condensation issue, but I've never noticed it from drying clothes inside (and there are occasions when I dry them from straight out of the washing machine). Looking at a clothes horse has never bothered me either. A heated clothes airer does sound good though, but I've not seen any here.

You've hit the nail on the head for me. Recently moved from two bedroom flat to one and one of the worst things is having nowhere to dry our laundry now. Clothes horses dominate the living room, whereas we used to use spare room for drying.

We have a baby so more laundry and when she starts crawling, will be worried about her pulling them over.
I never use the drying function on washer/dryer as it never seems to work well, things still wet after hours, and worried about the cost of energy and environmental impact.
When it's sunny we put laundry on balcony but this was banned in a previous building.

We were looking at a hanging clothes rack you attach to wall with a pulley so it goes up to the ceiling, out of way

Put one over the stairs. Mine isn’t, but it IS much more out of the way than a floor standing airer. I’ve had it over my bed before, and while it’s not ideal, it’s been an ok solution when I’ve had no other space.

How do you find the JML dry buddy? We are a family of 2 adults and 2dc. What would be the drying time? I had a look at the heated airers now and it doesn't seem to have good reviews.

We have a pulley maid over the stairs and it’s brilliant, I love it! Also use a normal
clothes horse occasionally. Not a damp house as we are fresh air fiends and always have a window cracked.

In past damper homes, a dehumidifier was a game changer.

If I had a laundry room, I would def also get one of these laundry ladder things! www.juluhome.co.uk

Check out juluhome. That's what I would use

@Handyweatherstation - Pulley Maids are good if you have the space for them but they don't necessarily dry clothes within 24 hours (if there's sun and heat then more chance of this happening).

I've got one and so has DM and we both use radiators etc afterwards especially in winter.

Looking to suggest the JML drier to my DB as he's in a small flat with DW and their son.

I have various solutions but none of them seems quite right so if you can come up with a better idea I’d be all ears!

We have a combo washer/drier but I don’t like using the drier because 1) it’s expensive and 2) it sometimes shrinks my clothes.

I bought a brilliant drying rack that goes over the bath which is amazing for saving space, but our bathroom doesn’t have windows so I worry about the damp sometimes.

I have a clothes horse that I put up in the spare room (I know we are lucky to have the space) with the windows open and that seems to dry things pretty quickly. That seems to be the best solution but it does look pretty untidy. And again, I worry about drying stuff indoors because of the damp.

I think I’m going to treat myself to one of those heated airers when I can afford it as they seem to be the best option all round!

Really interested you're identifying this OP. in my opinion massively overlooked in house design generally.

Eco implications of tumble driers
Humidity issues of drying clothes
Energy crisis and turning radiators down generally

Personally I use

a rail in my utility that anything that can go on a hanger goes on

An airier in my shower room

Washing line in dry weather ( actually quite like his )

radiators

Well done for doing real life research.

*So, you're a design student asking Mumsnet AIBU for help with your project?

Yabu.*

@A580Hojas
Some people are born miseries