Drying clothes in winter

[Primarkcouture]

I have the heated airer, the dehumidifier and no less than 3 socktopuses. But no tumble dryer and no space for one. Spring, summer and into Autumn I'm line drying then finishing off in the heated airer and dehumidifier. Both taking up space in the living room.

AIBU for not knowing where to begin drying clothes in the flipping British winter?

Tempted to build an outbuilding for drying purposes or failing that moving to a hot country where I can dry my clothes outside all year round.

Even a Miele washer dryer is rubbish, my advice youel be to find a spot for a condenser drier. When we lived in a flat and space was really tight we had one in the corner of a bedroom with a cover over it when not in use.

It's not good for house to dry inside and new tumble driers aren't very expensive to run these days ,I use ours all winter and it's £20 a month which is well worth it. I peg out in the spring/ summer.

I didn’t have a tumble dryer for years, and I would religiously check the BBC weather app for good drying days, even in the depths of winter you still get a couple of sunny, breezy days per month. Sometimes I would peg out the heavier items for 2-3 days in a row. That helps to get it 80% dry and then let it warm indoors. I do understand the stress though, it’s quite a faff. Hug.

What temperature is your house? Cold air doesn't hold much moisture so its harder to get things dry.

You need the radiators on, dehumidifier running. Or dry things on radiators in evenings but get windows open to air the house & let moisture out every morning without fail.

Drying on radiators around the house with sopping wet clothes leads to damp and mould for sure.

Your clothes shouldn't come out of the machine sopping wet after a spin cycle. Check your machine is draining properly. Trying adding an extra spin.

Ah that will be it. It was dry and cold but still so everything came back in damp.

Even with no wind clothes will dry outdoors eventually, even in the cold, as long as its not rainy or very humid

I've seen people saying that they've got an air fryer and hot plate and replaced the space that their oven occupied with a tumble dryer OP 😊

Wash at home
Drive to launderette
Shove in massive dryer and sit and wait for 20 mins

We have only just some near us, I don't use dryers, but I was going to suggest them to a friend with a washing mountain! Why do you say not to use them??

Oh is that all?

you take that risk anywhere.

our local laundrette though has an animal pair (W& D) a motor set (anything grungy!) & a 'misc' gardening/decorating/etc

all in one corner- brilliant. Got a whole load of dust cloths done.

Too right, I used one for a duvet once as it was much bigger than mine and it was alright as it had just been put in brand new but when I went back a while later I couldn't use it as it was full of pet hair

What's a socktopus? I've googled it but nothing coming up resembling anything that dries clothes.
I've got a clothes rail that I put all hanging things on plus a couple of airers so can space things out a bit in the hallway, close all doors and put the dehumidifier on. It's all usually dry within 4-6 hours.

I second this. When it's sopping you've either overfilled, and/or didn't spin enough. Take out a couple of towels and do a 10 min spin on the rest. Or take out about half and spin the two separately. Centrifugal force needs space to move - there's a reason you can put very little in those little swimsuit spinners at the swimming pool!

I have a 3 year old washer dryer from Hoover and it's working just fine.

Buy a spin dryer - takes up no more space than a kitchen waste bin, if you fold stuff before you spin it, it comes out super uncreased so no ironing.
Typically, I find spinning removes almost a litre of water from a washload, so still needs drying on an airer, but dries tons faster.
3kg Gravity Spin Dryer In White 2800rpm, 350W - SIA SD3WH : Amazon.co.uk: Large Appliances

I’ve done 3 washes today. The first was light sportswear & stupid Uniqlo stuff so once shut in a room with the dehumidifier on laundry mode it was dry in 3 hours. Second wash was mixed, just everything in a normal wash & max spin. Shut in the room with the dehumidifier at 13.00 & dry by 19:00. Last mixed wash went in the room with the dehumidifier at 20:00 & will be dry by 2:00 tho none of us will be up at that time. Does your dehumidifier have a laundry setting & are you closing the windows in the room that it’s in? I had a washer/dryer & struggled when it packed up, but I’m way happier with a washing machine & dehumidifier.

Definitely need to sort out your spin issue.

Put clothes on plastic hangers and put them on door ledges spaced out.

I dry outside in airer

then bring into house in evening and place by kitchen door at night

usually dry by morning

if not then put on radiators to finish off, so not wet clothes but nearly dry clothing

what spin is your washing machine? 1400 or 1600? It helps if you use extra spin at end of cycle to take every last drop out of laundry

I can understand this

I'm originally from Lancashire and every time I go back (live abroad) I cannot get over how ardous it is getting stuff dry

The tumble dryer is the size of a microwave, and it is always damp. Always always

Mine always worked but things dried better and faster if the dryer wasn’t too full

We have a Hoover washer/dryer - cost less than £500 and works perfectly. I can get a small load washed and dried in 90 minutes and larger loads (bedding, towels) in three hours.

It's fantastic and barely costs us anything.

I'm going to agree with the suggestion to get a condenser tumble dryer. Just find space - pull out a cupboard, if necessary, anything. They're a game changer and save hours of drying time.

I dry on airer overnight then fold and put in small piles in the airing cupboard. Thinking about it I guess it takes two nights to dry them, but I have a nice little production line going. I consciously didn't get a tumble dryer due to energy usage and cost.

Washer dryers work perfectly well to dry things, you just might have to change your expectations slightly or the way you work with it, just a touch.

But even if they don't dry things to completely dry (which both of mine did/do) it's still way more efficient to be able to dry clothing partway and then hang.

I don't use mine unless I have to (finally got one again after 4 years of making do without and it's wonderful) but it's so much better having the option if I need it. And we can have beautifully soft and fluffy towels again! ❤️

We went to Thailand once for 3 weeks, was unlucky with the weather as very rainy and humid, staying quite remotely and our clothes did not dry, well they did but had the horrible damp musty smell. So hot countries can have clothes drying issues too!

I have done this when without a tumbledryer for whatever reason. I don’t go home; take a book and a drink and have a little time out. You need to be there to check dryer(s) and remove anything dry or ready to iron and to reload coins, etc. otherwise you risk crispy overheated clothes.