Drying clothes without using the dryer

[RedRobyn2021]

Are you still going to use your dryer?

We live in quite an old property and I worry about causing damp/mould

Anyone on here with young children who don't use a dryer? How have you found it?

Before our daughter I never had a dryer, I just opened the windows every day and I was out five days a week at work.

Now between me and my partner we are home 5 days a week and will need to heat the property and I feel like it would be unfair to my daughter letting it get as cold as it did before we had her.

Really worrying, hoping for ideas, solutions and to hear what others are doing?

I use a tumble dryer. Quick, convenient, no fuss. No damp clothes hanging about the house, towels lovely and soft. All dealt with.

Agree.
I only wash stuff when either stinky or properly dirty.
except for underwear, almost everything gets worn at least once

i hear stories of people on here washing towels and pyjamas after literally one use
bonkers

Not concerned about the cost of energy then? You do know they use a collosal
amount of energy?

if there are energy supply issues this winter, they ought to Be banned

Some of us need to wash nightwear after one use, it's not bonkers, it's great you don't have to.

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor
fair point some people will need to
but lots do, unnecessarily, just because of habit or they feel they should

Don't tumble dryers shrink lots of things? I only use mine for towels and bedding.

That said nothing ever seems to get dry inside or out in my house.

We don’t have a dryer and I can’t believe that you are even asking this question like it’s such not done thing . I have 2x afters in a bathroom which is rarely used with a window permanently open.

If the path is dry I will be pegging the washing on the line. If the weather is bad I put the washing machine on in the evening. Tops and trousers get hung on hangers and put on the curtain rail in the living room overnight and are dry by the morning. Everything else goes on a clothes airer and will be dry by the morning. We don't really use the living room past 9pm anyway.

No, just have it on a cooler setting, or take the items out before they're bone dry.
Actually I often just give clothes a short tumble, then shake them and hang them up and they dry with little creasing.

I got rid of our (inherited, so v. old) tumbler about 4y ago. I got a handyman to fit a pulley airer over the stairs, and invested in a dessicant dehumidifier. Bedroom windows opened for about 20 mins at least almost every day, and run the dehumidifier for a couple of hours once a week. No damp issues.

I’m lucky enough to wfh so can schedule my washing around dry days to maximise line drying time. Will only use the tumble to finish off certain things like sheets and towels. As it is, I don’t tumble many of my clothes so they stay in good condition. Also lucky I only do 2-3 loads a week so not loads of washing.

the only stuff i keep on an airer indoors is underwear etc

Dehumidifier - dries washing overnight get a low energy one, I’ve got a Meaco it’s really good

I can't change temperature on mine, just length of time.

My friend has a box under her
Childrens beds where she puts used but not dirty clothes that can be work again, I think I can save a few washes a week doing this!
Other than that we've bought a line and will use whenever we can, otherwise it's the tumbly

Our dryer bit the dust a couple of years ago and I didn't replace it. Our electricity consumption went down 5% which can't have all been the dryer but it helped.

I hang out when possible, but the north east facing back garden gets no direct sunlight between mid October and April so I also do a lot of hanging on airers. It's the ONLY good thing about our storage heaters that an airer put in front of one overnight dries a load of washing. It's harder on wet days after the heating goes off in April.

I've never had a problem with damp or mould from drying in doors but I always thoroughly air out the flat and wipe condensation off the windows in the mornings in winter.

If you have high enough ceilings for a molly maid or similar then they are brilliant.

I have always used a tumble dryer in the winter apart from times when money has been really tight. So, I do have an airer which has been stashed away, and I have a dehumidifier that we run in the winter in the evenings. Now we have an extractor fan in the bathroom, I was thinking of selling the dehumidifier, but it's going to be needed now. I WFH, so I have moved my desk to make room for the airer. Plan is to run dehumidifier while washing is drying, and I'll be able to move stuff around in my breaks. I will try to limit us of CH, but I will have it on less often rather than not at all, so hoping the airer will keep up with demand.

We didn't buy a dryer until the children were 8+ish. When we bought on, I couldn't believe I'd managed without! But that's what I'll be doing again, as there's no way I can afford to run it now. I don't have a spare room, either, so I suppose I'll be draping it. On the bright side, I don't feel the cold, so will have a window open (and don't have young children to think of ).

In Autumn and winter I hang mine on the clothes horse and put on the patio and then bring in overnight to finish off. That works for me as I wfh in the kitchen so can nip it in if it starts to rain. It’s also less work than hanging on the clothes line, then putting on the airer. If things are almost dry, I make a pile of them and put on top of the hot water tank.

I’ve put my fold out airer in the unheated greenhouse for the bad weather…leave it a day or two and it’s fine to go straight into drawers/wardrobes. The cost of running a heated airer/tumble dryer/dehumidifier just isn’t an option. I feel badly for folk without any outdoor space.

I hang ours in the windows from the curtain pole and on the radiators if they are on, this tear I will use the clothes horses more and leave in the front room with the residual fire heat overnight as radiators wont be on as much, Im going to need to be organised!

We recently moved from a flat- with no dryer or outdoor space to dry clothes. Over the years, I would hang wet clothes over the doors and on hangers all around the flat. Its only since re-decorating that I realised that the moisture had caused some of the doors to warp and not close properly! Just a warning NOT to dry things in that manner.

I've been drying my washing in my current property like this for 12 years and no issues with my doors 🤷‍♀️

In Norway, almost all homes have a space outside with a cover overhead, specifically for drying clothes year round. If you can arrange somewhere like that it will save a lot of money.

Right, I got a good one, uses far less energy and has different settings.

We have a Meaco 12l. Low energy dehumifider. Compared it to new tumble dryer and uses less electricity. We use it over night as well to prevent condensation. Also dry outside as.much as possible because our garden is a sun trap and we can.dry towels, bedding and the like outside if it's sunny and dry. Or near the multi fuel.stove if we're in but not in the lounge

no space for.a.dryer

@Maireas I think you’re missing the point of trying NOT to use a tumbledrier.

I’ve never used one. Recommend Lakeland heated drying horse, but you all need a room where you can leave a window open as I had some mould issues last year.

if you have a log burner, stick a clothehorse in front of it before you go to bed.

I won’t be able to afford to put my heating on this winter so trying to find lots of other ways to cut down energy use. Slow cooker instead of microwave etc.