Clothes drying

[jollyhollyday]

Hi does anyone have any recommendations for drying clothes this winter, I don't have a tumble and don't intend to use radiators much.
Thanks

we use an airer and a dehumidifier. I’m not sure how much it costs to run though.

Heater airer, people say having a cover on boosts drying time, or using a duvet as a DIY cover.

I have a lakeland heated airer which works well.

From reading the threads, you have to work out the cheapest for you. So running a dehumidifier for a certain amount of time might end up being the same as a heated airer or 40 mins in a tumble dryer.

Clothes will dry eventually indoors on a drying rack but you need to avoid damp. Therefore a dehumidifier wins it for me.

I'm going to: use less clothes where I can, make use of dry days to wash more and use the washing line, even for a few hours.

Extra spin

Iron stubborn items as soon as they come out of the wash to get them drying quicker and les time ironing.

Put the drying rack in front of the fire overnight.

We have a Lakeland heated airer with a cover. It works brilliantly and also makes the room warmer!

We have two rails built high up in our bathroom which are directly over a radiator. We hang clothes on hangers overhead. This works really well and everything dries reasonably quickly. We also do an extra spin in the machine

My plan is to wash on dry days and get it out on the line for a few hours then bring it in and shove in the dryer for 20mins.

Not ideal but it will be cheaper to run the dryer for a short time than put the heating on. The dryer is in the cupboard under the stairs so if i leave the door open it will also heat the hallway and kitchen. We dont have room for an airer and DP and DS are asthmatic so having clothes on airers isnt possible as it triggers them both.

A good trick if you use an airer - get a big sheet over the top of it and tuck into a radiator. It keeps a lot of the heat in and dries your clothes much quicker so not needing the heating for so long!

We don't have a tumble drier and I find that most clothes are dry after 24 on the airer (just a normal airer, not a heated one). So the main thing is to make sure you only do one wash a day. I hang outside when the weather allows.

cleanhousefast.co.uk/minimum-temperature-for-drying-clothes-outside/

We’ve just invested in a dehumidifier and halogen heater so plan to use those. We do have a tumble dryer but I don’t like using it unless it’s absolutely necessary. I find drying outside very difficult in the winter with the endless damp - working full time and the weather forecast being as unreliable as it is means it’s hard to time drying days. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve hung out washing only to find it’s poured down while I’ve been at work when the forecast assured me it was going to be dry.

Washing line when it’s not raining. Dry inside and keep windows open, even in winter you need ventilation regardless.

Do you have a room that gets what sun there is for most of the day?
our dining room gets full sun for about 8 hours and even on chilly days it makes a big difference to drying time.

Airer indoors, in a room we don't use in the day (dining room or bedroom) with the window open a little for ventilation. Or line dry for a few hours then tumble or overnight on the airer. Wearing clothes an extra day will be our biggest saving though.

We have a long and narrow utility room, I’ve got two of the retractable double washing lines I put up to drive our clothes. There is a window in there, so I can open that without making the rest of the flat cold.

Ironing takes a lot of power. DONT DO IT unless absolutely necessary. Hang clothes on hangers straight out of washing machine. Most modern materials are fine without that expensive chore.

I didn’t have central heating for years and it was really difficult to dry things. We had a washer/ dryer but using the dryer without central heating (in a small, poorly ventilated apartment) caused the damp problem we had to get unbearable so we had to keep it to a minimum. I know it’s an obvious thing to say but the main thing I had to do was minimise the amount of laundry as much as possible. Only wash things if you absolutely have to. Wear an apron to cook, a housecoat to clean and do messy jobs. If clothes are still wearable, hang them and wear them again in a few days time.
Put off changing bedding a bit longer than you normally would if you can.
You can use Febreeze spray to freshen up clothes you want to re-wear.
You know the slogan If it’s not dirty, wash at 30? If it’s not really dirty, just don’t wash it.

I try to do my washing on days it's going to be dry, or when it's forecast to rain lunchtime onwards - that way it can have four hours outside and I'll get it in before going to work. There's usually a 10-14 days each winter though that it's so cold clothes freeze outside which is absolutely no benefit - during those times I limit washing to only essential things and catch up when the weather is better a few days later. We've never had a dryer and my parents didn't, so it's what I'm used to.

Thank you for your replies :-)
I'll definitely buy an airer. I already wash at 30, and rewear as much as possible. I think the worse items for drying will be jeans, bedding and towels, most other items will dry just hanging up after a few hours.

I'm a tumble dryer addict during the winter (use my line during the summer). I'm planning on buying a heated airer. I can't remember the maths but I worked out last night that once the new price cap comes in, I need to use it 66 times for it to pay for itself. That was based on putting it on for 10 hours versus 1 hour of tumbling (I think). I save about £1 to £1.50 per load of laundry. Say I wash 4 times a week, that's about 16 weeks use. Not much at all. I think I'll still use Tumble for bed linens. Plus I can use it again next year. I'm hoping it will help warm my conversation which is a heat drain.

I'm planning on using clothes more and limiting my amount I need to wash.

Check weather and set washer to finish on that morning. If it’s not raining and humidity is less than 100% washing will come in dryer than it went out. Better still if you have a covered outside area to pop it in. Maybe at weekends if you’re not around in the week to bring it in earlier. Finish it off inside but much less moisture will be released into the house if it’s had a good go outside 😉. I moved my clothes horse upstairs - sounds obvious but it really does dry quicker upstairs! If there’s room on the landing that can work. A bit more faff than putting in tumble drier but will pay dividends in months to come 😉 I’m 52 and I’ve never owned a tumble dryer. It is doable!

How can I find out how much my dryer takes to run?

I put mine outside still. It dries unless it is raining.

@pinkyponkyplink look at the manual (you can find it online) and work it out, or if you have a smart meter, take a note of the consumption before and after you switch it on (don't switch on anything else) and you'll get a rough idea.

I do always spin an extra time. That reduces the drying time. The. Outside to dry.

On weeks it's too wet or cold to out it out. We save all our washing up, wash it one loads after the other; clothes, bedding, towels. Then bag it up, take it to the laundrette and put it in one of their large drum tumble dryers all together. So 4-5 loads in a simple tumble

This for us was cheaper than buying andrunning a heated airer. Especially cos we have two children so get through a lot of clothes and bedding.