Heated airers…

[HotPotato787]

Shamelessly posting to AIBU for traffic (sorry!)…

Ok, I know I’m very late to the party… but are heated airers actually any good?

We have got a combined washer / dryer but the dryer function takes hours and hours, and even then things feel a bit damp afterwards. No space for separate machines unfortunately. During the warmer months I was managing to get everything dry outside, but that’s no longer possible (cool and damp even on the days that it doesn’t rain here). I can’t dry things on the radiators as they all fairly inaccessible (behind furniture etc).

At the moment I’m giving everything an extra spin cycle in the washing machine, then hanging on airers, which does work, but in a very small house they are always in the way, so I’d like something that speeds up the process so I can put them away sooner. But having read various product descriptions / reviews etc it still sounds like things will take 5 hours + on a heated airer.

So, if you’ve got one, are they actually much good compared to a normal (non-heated) airer? Do they really save much time?

For AIBU:

• YABU - heated airers are a rubbish waste of money, don’t bother getting one.
• YANBU - heated airers are great, they dry things really quickly.

---

If you’ve landed here looking for heated airer recommendations, we’ve recently updated our guide to the best heated airers with lots of options, as tried and tested by Mumsnet users and editors. We hope you find it useful.
MNHQ

We have a Lakeland one and find it brilliant for drying if you use a cover with it. Much quicker!

do they take up a lot of space? I’m in a tiny flat and the only place I could put it is in my smallish bedroom . Thanks for starting the thread OP. I’m seriously thinking of one but the reviews are so mixed I can’t decide.

Ours is good for heating the room, which helps dry things, but it feels incredibly flimsy (Lakeland one) and I'm always worried I'm going to break it.
I also dont think you fit much on.
But it is quicker than a standard airer (we dont have a tumble drier).

I was lucky enough to get mine in the Aldi aisle of shame, it's ok for the money.

I have an Aldi one that's about 7 years old. It won't dry a full load in a couple of hours, more like 24.
It does heat a room though, so in the winter I put it in the room I work from home in so I don't have to put the heating on all day.
I have a very well ventilated house, too dry rather than too damp.
I wouldn't have it on overnight in a bedroom as I think that would be bad for the lungs.

We have one, and don't have a lot of space. It's folds almost flat against the wall in the daytime, unfold it before we go to bed to hang the washing on, and 90% of it is dry enough to put away by morning. Exceptions are just heavy things like hoodies or if things have hung folded and need stretching out (eg under the arms on jumpers)

NB ours is an Aldi one with a cover. Without a cover it wouldn't be nearly as effective. It essentially creates a little warm tent. Also our house is old and draughty, I suspect they wouldn't be as good in a sealed/insulated modern house.

I bought the Lakeland one plus a cover in their last sale, and recently discovered on tik tok, that if you put the clothes on hangers, you can get more on and fewer creases. It's about 50% cheaper to run than a drier costs

They take up a similar amount of space to a normal folding airer, maybe a bit wider. You can find the measurements when you look for one to buy online. Folds flat when not in use. The lead is quite short on mine so needs to be fairly near the socket.

I find it works best with the proper cover as you can also drape a layer of washing over that. There are other threads on these so maybe have look at those for more details (things you haven't asked here but probably will wonder about eventually).

I e got a black and decker one and it's decent. Does the job

I have the Lakeland one with the proper cover. I’ve just unzipped it after it’s been in all night and it’s lovely and warm in there. Everything dries quickly. It takes up quite a bit if space but folds up flat when not in use. I have this as well as a dryer and use them both a lot.

Is there anyone with a heated airer and a non heated airer who could do an experiment by putting the same amount and type of clothes on both to see how long each takes?

You would be better with a dehumidifier. I have a heated surer and a dehumidifier but find the dehumidifier works better and as it’s taking the moisture out if the air it helps with damp.

I've heard they are good but good luck getting your hands on one, they're sold out everywhere as I found out.

@GardenNice as mentioned, our clothes dry overnight on the heated airer. We bought it when the temperature dropped in Sept/Oct as we were finding that on a regular airer, light clothing - t-shirts, underwear, polyester jumpers etc - were taking 2 full days to dry, and items such as jeans hoodies and towels still felt damp after 3 days and were smelling musty. This is in a house in a particularly cold and damp part of the UK, without the heating on (previous years we would have put the regular airer next to the radiator, but we can't afford to have the heating on every day)

It definitely isn't comparable to a tumble dryer but we don't have the space for one and it is much better for us than just hanging clothes in a cold room.

@PurpleBirch dehumidifiers are a better option for a modern insulated house. In an old house that is meant to 'breathe', dehumidifiers are an expensive way of removing moisture from the local climate!

I sent a lakeland heater airer to my DD's student house and they all love it .

@GardenNice I have both and do all the laundry, the heated airer is quicker especially for items like jeans, heavy wool.
I tend to use the heated airer for slower drying items, normal one for quick drying and doors and banisters for the likes of towels that will dry easily.
I can put everything away at the same time then.
Although if there is space in your hot press that is by far the quickest.

I bought one about a month ago, although it took bloody ages to find a large one that was in stock (family of 5)

my mindset was that it should be hidden in a room somewhere- but we don’t have the excess space or an empty room, then I just had a mind flip and decided to plonk it in the kitchen. We are open plan and so plenty of ventilation, yes it’s ugly to look at but it heats the room and on our current tariff costs 11p per hour.

Hi @HotPotato787 thanks for posting! Just wanted to point you in the direction of our best heated clothes airers page in case it's of any use. It's made up of recommendations from Mumsnetters, consumer reviews and expert opinion. Hope it's helpful, please feel free to let us know if you've any feedback!