To think that heated airers are a swizz?

[Velvettoad]

We've got a new heated airer and it's rubbish! What am I missing, why do people rave about them?? It's red hot to the touch but doesn't radiate any heat so the only bits that dry are the bits touching the bars.

Also, we got a cover for it but it just seems to create hot moist air underneath so it seems to take longer to dry! I've done an extra spin cycle to dry out the clothes but it doesn't seem to help. Anyone got one of these and finds it useful? What's your secret?

I have the Lakeland 3 tier with cover. I find that I have to leave the bottom row of bars empty and I fill the top two racks completely, put the cover on and it dries overnight. I mostly use it for children's clothes though as 9 find adult sized clothes a bit awkward to hang. I read some recent reviews that Lakeland have changed the cover to make it safer and it now has air vents in the material which a lot of reviewers said made the clothes much harder to dry. Mine is the old cover and works great

Love ours

We just bung a super king sized sheet over the too.

Jumpers, jeans, thick stuff up top
Tshirts in the middle
Pants, socks, t-towels on bottom

Leave overnight

I'm sorry you're disappointed. I've stopped buying anything recommended on mn or sm generally since buying a steam mop and feeling very deceived because that too was shit. Air fryers are everywhere too right now but I'm not falling for it.

Oh no, now I'm all confused. I was all up for buying one but now I have read this thread. Maybe they are not as great as I thought.

A friend told me they got a lot of damp from it so it’s put me off. Make sure you open a window.

Obviously it’s going to only be hot in the bits touching, bit like putting clothes on a radiator. It will dry faster than a normal airer, that’s why people like them

Use my air fryer every day. If you use an oven, you’ll use an airfryer (and save money). Not to mention nice and crispy. No-one has to buy anything though

Laundry dehumidifier is much better.

We are a family of 5 and have one of the large lakeland heated airers and it has made drying our clothes so much easier and neater.

I have figured out the most efficient way to dry is: (sorry if I'm don't explain it so well)

-Bottom rack: will be coldest so lay not too thick garments flat. I usually put the children's sweatshirts and trousers (can fold the legs to take up less room), thin sweaters, sport pants etc

-Middle rack: hang thin garments such a t-shirts and camis etc over two rails to allow air to circulate. I also flick out the garments and hang them straight soo it dries with less wrinkles to save me from ironing. Underwear and socks slung next to spare space. Then laid flat on top are thicker items such as trousers and jeans folded at the legs so you can fit more.

-Top racks: repeat again with tops/jumpers/thin leggings/underwear slung over two rails each time. Then the thickest garments laid on top.

Shirts can also be hung on hangers on the side.

Then I cover the whole thing with a flat sheet. This way it is dry within 12hrs. Often if needed I will do one load in the morning and another at night. 7kg load.

HTH!

That really is helpful - never thought to multilayer each level. Useful to know it’s a 7kg load.

As mentioned before, I use the heater airer & dehumidifier.
I also use a standard airer and stick the dehumidifier near/under it so the vent blowing the air out is aimed at the clothes. These end up drying reasonably quickly, too due to the air blowing directly onto it and the warmth from the heated airer.

I dry my clothes on a pulley airer and they are dry within 24hrs with no need for an use of electricity at all! Don't see the point if they still take 24hrs to dry clothes

My sole reason for opening this thread was because I was so pleased to see the word swizz.

Me too 👏👏👏

You need a dehumidifier, as you’re still putting litres of moisture into the room. Air heavy with moisture is also more expensive to heat and feels cooler. Dehumidifier If you’re not dining a tumble dryer. Small room and byproduct is heat. Dries in a few hours.

This! We had mould from using one, and opening the window is often crap when it’s damp outside and lets out all the precious heat and you might as well stick them out on the line in the damp air

I've recently tried the dehumidifier method. A family member gave me their one they hadn't used in years. Use it in the smallest room in the house, hang clothes on airer near it and they dry so much quicker than they would otherwise (we haven't turned our heating on yet). It's not a miracle, but definitely cuts trying time by a good few hours. I've worked out the dehumidifier costs about 6p an hour to run. I nearly spent a small fortune on a heated airer and cover, but the mixed reviews stopped me. I'm glad!

I lay clothes flat over unheated racks in an unheated room and they dry in 24 hours. I'd say 24 hours is a long time. Did you mean 2-4 hours?

After staying at my mum's, I'm a convert to dehumidifiers making a room feel warmer but I don't know what the dehumidifier drying method is? Do you just put it next to a maiden and it sucks the water out of them or something? Or is it more complicated than that?

That's pretty much it!
I have a heated airer and a dehumidifier and much prefer the dehumidifier. Not allowed to dry clothes outside so needed something for all year round
Turn dehumidifier on, close door and leave it. If it's really cold I'll put the heated airer on too for maybe 1hr and the room gets really warm and the dehumidifier sucks the water out

Well I never, @PeloFondo, thank you. I'veturned the radiators on to dry things before now and all along I could have been doing things for pennies. I wonder if I can get mums dehumidifier in the car without her seeing? I'm very excited! (Such a sad life I lead! 😔)

Honestly it doesn't sound any different to a clothes maiden

I have one of those things with the cover that blows hot air. It's pretty good and stuff is dry in a couple of hours.

I didn't realise people were comparing them to tumble driers! Obviously they won't dry clothes as quickly. Those saying only the stuff touching the rails was dry - you just need to leave it longer. They are much, much cheaper than a tumble drier to run.

We used to hang clothes on normal airers in the warmest room (with the boiler next to it) and that was fine, but when that room became the nursery we had nowhere to hang clothes other than the chilly dining room with only one tiny radiator, or conservatory. Nothing ever dried and the thicker clothes would smell. Also we ended up putting the heating on more than we really needed it, in order to get the clothes dry. (I don't like a hot house so our heating is only really on when it's very cold - SE and haven't even considered it yet this year).

If you have a nice warm area to hang clothes on an airer that's probably fine, you won't see much benefit.

I hang like an airing cupboard, over two bars so there's lots of space between clothes. Usually 95% of stuff dries by the next morning without even turning it on (twist front dresses and jeans need an extra half day). We only turn on in winter when the air is particularly cold and wet, boost the heat for a couple of hours and then turn off, everything then is still dry by morning. A single item will dry in a few hours if you lie it flat, but we so rarely bother with that. We do air the rooms quite a bit and the house has fairly low humidity? Do you have quite high humidity in your house generally, as when I lived in a damp flat I struggled to ever get anything dry? A dehumidifier might be more what you need.

Don't have a heated airer, but this thread topic has really cheered me, as I didn't think anyone but my mum still called things "a swizz". Is that you, Ma?