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Original poster

How are you drying washing?

108 replies

YouLookinSusBro · 04/12/2022 13:00

It's been really wet and rainy here over last few weeks so no chance of outdoor drying, but I've used over £50 in gas in the last week (prepayment meter) drying on radiators and small airers over the back of doors. I really cannot afford £50+ a week on gas 😔 especially as it's not even freezing here yet and could manage without much/any heating if it wasn't for the washing.

I've thought about heated airer but they are pricey and quite honestly there's nowhere to put it

OP posts:
Adultchildofelderlyparents · 04/12/2022 14:00

Do laundry later in the evening. Hang wet laundry on clothes horse/airers overnight with windows open. They cold dry overnight and there's no build up of moisture.
I don't understand how people dry clothes with heated airers and radiators without getting a build up of damp indoors?

TheLightSideOfTheMoon · 04/12/2022 14:00

Tumble dryer.

Washing hanging indoors would stress me out and I’d worry about damp and mould.

Spectre8 · 04/12/2022 14:05

Dehumidifier and heating, so I wash my clothes when I know I want to be hearing on

cptartapp · 04/12/2022 14:07

On the radiators. Turn once, dry in an hour.

Winemygoodenemy · 04/12/2022 14:08

Second laundrette. I wash at home and then take it to dry. I live alone so do my washing every 2/3 weeks. £3 and all is dry.

I see families do a weekly dry when in there. It’s getting more popular

ememem84 · 04/12/2022 14:11

Currently a mix of outside when it’s dry or airer and clothes line in the garage and then finished in the dryer.

I always tumble towels though. Always.

but do an extra spin on everything.

I’ve taken to washing all underwear (except my bras) and socks together then shoving in the dryer as they’re a faf to have hung up.

gianfrancogorgonzola · 04/12/2022 14:13

Dehumidifier and heated airer. We set it up in the kitchen with the doors closed so that room stays cosy while the rest of the house is Baltic! Means we don’t need heating anywhere else during the day

Jewel1968 · 04/12/2022 14:16

My approach:

  • wash less often (don't worry about dirty uniform)
  • time your wash to align with better weather
  • hang outside
  • swapped all towels for microfiber towels from Decathlon (they are excellent)
  • on airer indoors with dehumidifier
  • use drier when no alternative
  • partially dry in drier and then hang outside or inside
  • double spin
  • wear less cotton as really hard to dry
Muchtoomuchtodo · 04/12/2022 14:23

Double spin.

we have indoor lines in our utility room where things dry overnight.

we do have a tumble dryer in the garage which I only use for towels and bedding but I try to hang them outdoors for the day and only use the tumble dryer to finish drying them off. If I didn’t I would definitely use a local launderette to stay big things - I used to do that after camping holidays when the kids were younger to clear the backlog and it’s a game changer.

atsusnaiboyz · 04/12/2022 14:26

I have a Sheila maid

atsusnaiboyz · 04/12/2022 14:26

Posted too soon.

Too.

gogohmm · 04/12/2022 14:26

Air pump tumble dryer, bought 2 years ago when we moved because no space for a vent- best purchase in hindsight (was about £100 more than the condenser type).

£50 a week for gas seems reasonable though, ours is that without putting on extra

woodhill · 04/12/2022 14:28

I've got the dryer on today for towels but mostly on a clothes horse in a warm utility room

IAmTi · 04/12/2022 14:31

Adultchildofelderlyparents · 04/12/2022 14:00

Do laundry later in the evening. Hang wet laundry on clothes horse/airers overnight with windows open. They cold dry overnight and there's no build up of moisture.
I don't understand how people dry clothes with heated airers and radiators without getting a build up of damp indoors?

Dehumidifier

maddiemookins16mum · 04/12/2022 14:50

I’ll preface this with saying I shower daily and change underwear daily.
Wearing tops/socks twice.
Same bottoms Mon- Friday (I work from home so just comfy jogging bottoms).
This is hugely cutting down on washing.
But to answer the question, I do the patio check - if dry, it goes outside from 10am until 2 pm. Then finishes off on the Aldi heated clothes rack.
Anything that can go on a hanger goes on door rails upstairs.
Yesterday we got two loads 2/3 dry outside (including bedding).
Next possible outside day is Tuesday (Kent).

champagneplanet · 04/12/2022 14:53

I'm still using my dryer at the weekend, I can't not. DH works away and does a dirty job and i've got 2xDD school uniforms and PE kits to wash.

In the week i'm using my airier and trying to keep on top of the laundry basket so it's empty for the weekends onslaught of dirty clothes.

I'm also washing less, trying to show the DCs that one wear doesn't mean it needs washing.

Passthecake30 · 04/12/2022 14:55

An extra spin, then Clothes on airers in the kitchen at night, residual heat from underfloor heating dries it off, then onto hot water tank to finish off.

LittleRen · 04/12/2022 14:57

A heat pump dryer - best thing we bought, bought it four years ago. Very economical to run - the extra cost has been more than paid off now. We also have it plumbed in so don't have to think about emptying it!

Elieza · 04/12/2022 15:00

£50 in one week? Surely there’s something wrong with that?

Could it be broken or accidentally adjusted too high? Or were you paying back debt and that’s why?

Can you change it? It might be worth looking in the boards on here about that kind of thing to see if it’s cheaper to pay in another way.

PurBal · 04/12/2022 15:02

Dutch airer above bath and regular freestanding one in the bath. Airing cupboard. I used to tumble all the time until DH moved in and was vehemently against it. We’ve used our tumble dryer twice in the last 18 months.

Calmdown14 · 04/12/2022 15:12

In winter I ditch the normal towels for micro fibre ones (they were £4 from Aldi). Decent size and dry you well.
Pegged them out today and dry in minutes. Son wears a lot of fleeces and football type tops that dry fast.

By contrast the couple of ordinary towels I had out were still soaking.

I dry most of mine outside and have got a couple of the airers that can go over bannister just to finish things off

Original poster
YouLookinSusBro · 04/12/2022 15:14

Interesting to hear what others are doing, definitely going to be looking for a launderette this week. Should have said, I don't have drier and definitely no space for one. I'm out the house 7:15- 18:00 Monday - Friday so attempting outside drying isn't going to happen during the week at the moment.

Going to try and cut back further on washing but it really is quite low anyway.

And yes, it's actually more than £50 gone, topped up £100 last weekend when I got paid leaving a total of £103 on the meter, it's now £48 credit left. We have no debt but previous tenants left a debt which EON tried to say we needed to repay. We have an ongoing dispute with them about it, and they are refusing to change the meter. We have a standard meter for electric

OP posts:
SpinningFloppa · 04/12/2022 15:15

Just using the radiators I don’t have a tumble drier and washing wouldn’t dry outside here it’s too cold

user26189065 · 04/12/2022 15:18

20 mins tumble dryer, hang on airer in front of radiator

Winterpetal · 04/12/2022 15:18

Bought a heated airier ,bung a sheet over it to trap the heat in ,costs pennies to run ,and stuff drys over night