Clothes never dry properly on a clothes horse

[dogmum00]

I've tried using clothes horses in the past including this week and the clothes just never dry! I will put them on in the morning and the next evening they're still not dry, especially jeans and jumpers. We don't have a tumble dryer so I always have to resort to heating. Anyone else find this?

Do you not air your home? We use an indoor washing line, we leave the window open and the door shut, most things are dry by bedtime after being hung up that morning.

we have two humidifiers but no laundry setting - they are 350w.
Realistically - how long would it take to dry washing on an clothes horse with one of them on?

I’ve never had this problem, even in an unheated kitchen in the depths of winter. What I do is turn heavy things over after a bit (like jeans and duvet covers which are already folded, so 4 thicknesses) and I ensure heavy things are never hanging over light things. I have to do this as I have no outside space.

Mine dry, I don’t have a dryer. Don’t double load them or over load them. At this time of year you can put it outside or use the line still

I use a clothes horse in front of open windows but the clothes never smell very nice even though I use various washing products they always smell sour even if they are left drying overnight ?

By "the next evening" do you mean 12 hours later, or 36 hours later? I wouldn't expect things to be dry in 12 hours, but I find that most things are dry in 24 hours (with a few exceptions) without a heated airer or dehumidifier.

So the key thing is to cut down on the number of washes and only wash one load a day or less, unless it's a nice day and they can hang outside.

I dry stuff like jumpers on hangers next to an open window - hang the hanger over the curtain pole.

What cheaper to run-a dehumidifier or a heated airer?!

I don't have any issues, in the summer I put the rack in the conservatory and in the winter it goes in the kitchen by the radiator. The trick is to not overload it and make sure nothing is bunched up. Jumpers I dry on a hanger hooked over a curtain rail in the bedroom, jeans I put over the door/banister as they seem to dry faster like this.

Use a desk fan pointed at washing on a gentle breeze, simples 😉

No? My airer is inside, not a heated one and clothes take about a day to dry fully.

I've never owned a tumble drier and never had a problem drying clothes.

I agree with the tips so far:
Spread clothes out
Put airer in a sunny window
Put heavy tops on hangers on the curtain rail (easier to iron too as the creases drop out)
Use a dehumidifier (we live in a poorly insulated terrace, it's great for controlling condensation and mold)
Do smaller loads frequently rather than try to get tons dry at once

You have to keep rotating the stuff around a bit. I finish of think things like jeans by hanging over a door or on a hanger over night.

Put them in hangers on the clothes horse or on the door frames upstairs (if applicable). The trick is to allow as much air to get to the surface area of each item.

If it's heavy items give them an extra spin. Are they coming out of the machine overly wet?

I live in a flat and don’t have a dryer so we use a clothes horse. I put everything on a spin and drain cycle at the end of my wash cycle and hang it on my clothes horse in front of an open window and jeans and jumpers are usually dried by the end of the day x

I bought a heated airer recently because I often have to put the heating on when it's not cold

No. Even washable nappies hung on rack in the morning are either dry by evening or 99% and they finish overnight and bone dry by morning. Always open window if possible and outside on any day it’s not raining

Don’t know about dehumidifier, but according to this thread a heated aired is about £1.50 for 10 hours based on the October price cap figures.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/cost_of_living/4618028-the-how-much-does-this-cost-to-run-thread?

1. Give extra spin in machine
2. Spread out washing even if need 2 airers to do this. They can be quite cheap in Wilko
3. Put by open window/door if possible

Turn t shirts over after a few hours so the sides facing in then get the air when they’re on the outside. Turn jeans etc inside out either at the start or part way through. Once lighter things have dried remove them and spread the others out - if possible hanging over two bars rather than one to get the air to them better. That should speed it up.

When doing bedding I put pillow cases on the inner bars lower down, the sheet over the next to outside bars and the duvet cover over the whole lot. Mine dries over might like that.

I always put mine on a extra spin cycle on the fastest setting.

Spread them out on the clothes horse, no bunching, not to tightly hung together to allow air flow to them all.

They dry fine then.

You need to run a dehumidifier - they actually get ‘crispy’

That's not actually much cheaper than my tumble dryer TBH.

I’ve got a Meaco Low Energy dehumidifier it does a great job of drying washing but that’s a distant memory after the summer we have had….(when towels dried inn3o minutes) I’ve just done a load of washing I may have to run it tonight quite cool and damp here tonight in Dorset 🥲