To be able to cope without heating on except for the laundry issue?

[A580Hojas]

Nothing gets dry! We have a dehumidifier, we have a tumble dryer (which I will only use as a last resort) and already the laundry is piling up everywhere. We don't overdo it with laundry either - bedding every 2 weeks, bath towels once a week, tops usually do two wears, jeans and trousers probably 6 or 7 wears. There's 3 of us living here atm.

It's horrible when your bath towel isn't properly dry from yesterday when you get out of the shower. The hand towel in the kitchen doesn't get dry.

Aarrggh!

I do work full time, but from home as my company closed its offices after covid. Hate working from home and would rather be in the office but at least I can bring my washing in when it rains I guess.

Either dry things outside or use a tumble dryer. Wet laundry inside is gonna cause all kinds of troubles. First of all, moisture will make it feel colder and more expensive to heat your home. Secondly, you can end up with mould, rot and woodboring insects, in the worst case causing 100ks of damage to your building. If you can't afford a tumble dryer and it's raining outside, don't do laundry. Better wear dry dirty clothes and buckets of deodorant than ruin your health and home with damp laundry everywhere.

I did the whole faff thing for years! Years! This winter I'm utterly sick of it.

This issue's really been getting me down, too. I need clean, dry clothes even if I'm freezing. Things just aren't drying for me (my washing machine's spin is only 1200), and even with a dehumidifier it seems to take 2 overnights to dry things, longer for heavy towels and jumpers etc.

@luxxlisbon no that's true too. I don't WFH all the time, but enough to be able to bring it in before the evening air makes it very wet again! Sometimes this means bringing it in hours before I would if I was going to be home all afternoon or back earlier. The other day I hung a huge old thick ikea towel out on the line, it was damp/wet and I thought it would dry better flapping around on the line, except I got held up and it was about 8 when I got home & it was literally sopping wet! I left it out and it took all the next day (both sunny & windy!!) to dry.

so yeah if you're out all day from early until evening dew has hit, it IS much more difficult.

A conservatory would be great in this situation, wouldn't it? Anyone got one? Do you fill it with laundry? 🤔

@Worthyornot if you did it for years, why are you getting at people doing it now?

youre fed up of 'faffing' & can obviously afford to use a dryer, great! That doesn't mean others can afford it.

or people like me who like hanging their washing outside & don't mind timing it around best drying days & don't mind it finishing off on airers...

no need to imply we don't have lives...

I have same issue for last few years, the best solution for me is to check weather, when its sunny I wash closthes that day early in the morning and put to dry on 60° then around 11-12 o clock I put on balcony so sun and air can dry it completly. Towels and trousers I put on hangers- that deffinately helps as well. As well I try to wash only 2-3 times a week.

Nothing useful to add other than I have the same gripe!

Nothing drying, or taking days and days to dry. I have two rads on in cold hall ways for 1 hour a day at the moment and it's like a race against time everyday to maximise their warmth

Spin twice, then put it on an airer. Next day, finish it with a quick tumble.

How much does a spin cycle on the washing machine cost?

@JS87 it depends on your machine. It should tell you in your manual. If you don't know where that is, you can look it up online. Just be careful reading the information as their written differently. Some by the load & some by the time. & remember watts & kilo watts are very different 🤣🤣

I don’t think many people faffing with drying outside/on airers etc are doing it by choice. They’re doing it because they can’t afford to do it any other way.

Heated airer

I tried to dry stuff on the line on Sunday. Brought it in at 6.still damp. Put on the airer and it's still damp days later. My house is cold. N Wales.

This makes such a difference! I use my en-suite bathroom (never really gets used otherwise), doors shut with the dehumidifer on - works a treat. I used to have it in a much bigger room and the laundry took days to dry.

I know nobody in RL who is in the 'not putting the heating on' brigade. It's ridiculous. Get a grip and put your heating on for an hour.

It's so annoying!

We've had a few sunny days about 17 degrees so I'm doing a few loads then hanging it out and it takes most of the wet out then finish in doors.

Even with that though it's piling up and now the rain is here 😭

This!

You prefer wet clothing? And a damp house? Up to you, I guess.

Do you mean soft? I love it.
A warm fluffy bath towel, straight out of the tumble dryer....bliss.

I can fully recommend getting yourself an electricity monitor like the one pictured (cost me about £12 off ebay). Knowing exactly how much electricity an appliance actually uses, as opposed to fearing how much it uses, has been very reassuring. I'd always thought my tumble dryer chewed through electricity - turns out it doesn't. (Also turns out the dehumidifier does chew though it, but that's another story ...)

I did a full load of towels yesterday. 1.425 kWh @33.02p/kWh = 47p. That's the maximum, for a load of clothing it's around 0.6kWh (20p).

Using your tumble dryer may be your "last resort" - but maybe, if the laundry is piling up, and it's raining like it is here - that is where you are?

Strange laundry martyrdom.
Why put up with damp washing and a damp house?

^

Exactly!

Why? it's not cold here!

I'm in a T-shirt & feel warm,

that aside, many people can't afford to put their heating on.

it's so rude to tell people they're being ridiculous & to get a grip. Unless you're offering to pay the bills of course...

no, didn't think so.

the least you can do is stay off threads that bring out this rudeness in you.