Garden sail for drying washing outside in winter

[OhHeySis]

Like everyone else I’m trying to work out how to cut the electricity bill without hanging damp washing all over the inside of the house. I’d like to keep hanging the washing outside but obviously it’s the UK and, well, weather.

Has anyone tried those garden sails to keep the rain off their washing? We’ve got a sheltered corner of the garden and I’m thinking one of the sails at an angle to allow water runoff and a tall airer underneath, weighted to prevent it blowing over.

Madness? Worth a go? I’d like to know if other people do this before I make the investment in buying a £50 sail!

breeze what that makes the difference

I'm not really a Cockney.

The ceiling pulley which someone called a creel is also sold as a sheila maid.

See my DP IS an East London escapee, and I now don’t even spot these things 😂

@OhHeySis ·I find the Met Offices rain prediction pretty accurate, if you search your location and "Met Office", it's under "chance of precipitation".

@tulips27 useful to know thank you, I use the BBC weather app and while it’s pretty good, I can occasionally be standing in a rain shower while it says something along the lines of “overcast, sunny spells, 0 chance of rain”……

We don't have tumble dryer and use a dehumidifer in winter - we fill up one room with washing hung on clothes horses, shut the door and run it overnight.

OP you could consider this as a backup option for if the washing outside hasn't got completely dry - bring it in and use a dehumidifier to dry it the last bit. It's much cheaper than a tumble dryer and if you get enough clothes horses you can dry several loads in one go. Also good at preventing damp in your home.

Im sure those pictures are of Scotland in June 😂

@OhHeySis Look up ChimneySweep Laundry Mac - a raincover for rotary lines £50 Amazon. We had one and it was brilliant. You didn't need to worry about rain showers or light winds. I am sure there's going to be run on these with fuel costs going up and people not wanting to use the money pit that is a tumble drier.

@PerkingFaintly Thanks Perking. That was probably me cos I'll tell anyone who's listening about this marvellous development.

Sails need to be taken down in wind or storms as can rip the anchors out the ground - think of trampolines in windy weather. If it’s an alley a corrugated plastic roof / car port or permanent awning may work but a narrow gap often creates a wind tunnel so a sail will be hopeless and possibly damage the house / ground where it’s secured

And a very good thing they look, too!

I'm so envious of my in laws at this time of year - they have a wooden frame like someone linked above attached to the house, with a plastic roof. Dry washing year around and it looks quite nice too. As someone else pointed out you need tot be very careful with a sail in windy weather.

I just don't think it would ever be warm and without too much moisture in the air to be effective and be worth the cost?

Well our lean to has been up 32 years to date. We've put new doors on the front cedar which is now silver it's been absolutely fine but the sides are slatted against the hedge we've had a tornado that carried the conservatory 20 feet down the garden though 😂😂

It doesn't need to be warm just good air circulation

The sails aren't actually waterproof. Back during Covid when you were allowed to have people in the garden but not the house, we had an outdoor kids birthday party and inevitably it pissed it down.

Emergency trips to Asda and B&Q got us a couple of the sails and a gazebo, they were great for the first hour but then the water started dripping through. As soon as the sail is fully wet it starts to leak.

I haven't had a dryer for almost 20 years and never really missed it. I have 2 tall airers that fit in my bathroom & during the winter they fit probably 3 full loads. My house is very warm so they dry quick enough.
But, I had a great idea recently that I'll be using this winter.
I have a conservatory off my kitchen that is used as a playroom during the week as I'm a childminder. It's a lovely warm room in summer & has an electric radiator in winter which costs pennies to run & means we can use the room year round. Years ago I put a washing line rope along one wall for drying the children's paintings on & when the babies are not here at weekends I use it to dry small items (tea towels, cloths etc). I suddenly thought, why don't I put another line in for all the clothes! The room is not used at the weekend at all as my children are in their 20's and it's a lovely warm room even in winter sun. So I bought a double retractable line & put it up on one wall & 2 hooks over the other side. It's not out during the week when I'm working but at weekends I now have 3 lines (including the original one) for lots of clothes. If I want to give them a bit of a blow I can even turn on the ceiling fan .

We have an old carport that we use to dry washing all year. Socks etc on IKEA octopus hangers, t shirts on hangers, trousers on clip hangers and sheets and towels on clip hangers. I dry little things (like baby clothes) either on the IKEA octopuses or indoors on airers because the wind blows them on the ground in winter (don’t use pegs). It all dries - take the washing in before it gets dark or wait till mid morning if left overnight as they get slightly wetter when the sun goes down.

Our carport is what @Castaspell described. A wooden frame with plastic roof. Open on three sides. It’s big though so rain doesn’t generally reach the washing.

A sail is going to prevent what little sunshine we get getting to the clothes to dry them. As long as the paths outside your house are dry your clothes should dry.

If it's dry but freezing temperatures you can hang outside overnight and smack the ice off, which is largely the water from the clothes and then warm, finish drying inside.

Principal of freeze drying!

Won't it be too cold/damp in the air in winter even if there isn't rain falling on the clothes? And even on a bright winter day if you put them under the sail then the sun wont get to them. I think for £50 you might be better investing in a heated airer (i know you have to pay the electricity to run it but i dont think they are that much and it will get your clothes dry faster so they won't be cluttering your house for so long).

Heated surer is cheaper than stumble drier. Can you stretch to that.

Airer!!! Stupid phone

I always keep an eye on the weather and do washing even when is gloomy outside.My washing gets dry quickly even in windy conditions.Secondly you can spin your washing again to speed up the drying process.