Drying laundry!

[mamaonion]

Currently I'm drying indoors owing to wet, damp weather. I keep having to put the heating on to get it dry because with 3 kids u can't dry it quick enough, Which seems wrong, as its do warm, and I heard draping laundry over radiators still uses lots of energy. I'm toying with the following ideas:

Tumble dryer
Heated dryer thing from Lakeland
Carrying on as I am with a dehumidifier- a friend once told me this works a treat!

Any thoughts?

We've just got a tiiiiny table top drier so we can do essentials in it if things haven't dried quick enough on the airers. Going to be very useful when baby arrives in December.
Be careful of constantly draping wet clothes over radiators it invites damp in to the walls and can ruin paint and wallpaper. Better to invest in some clothes horses and place them in one room, with just that radiator on (or an electric heater) and close the door. Then once dried leave the window open a crack to air the room out.

How good is the spin on your washing machine ?
Would you be better off getting a spinner rather than a dryer ?

Dehumidifyer is great. Sucks pints if water out if the atmosphere. I also have an airer/pulley which I couldn't do without. I have four kids and this year-as its still too mild for heating - drying is tough.

I've just bought one of those Lakeland dryers (after posting on here.) It's good. Much better than radiators.

Thanks for your thoughts. The spin is great 1400 Rpm or whatever the units are, on a new washer, bit I think this house is a bit colder and damper than our old house, and upstairs the radiators seem a bit small. I read a thread somewhere about those heated driers and can't see if the energy is a lot more efficient than a tumbledrier. Maybe a dehumidifier is the way forward as I did find a big patch of mould on an external wall the other day, and I think it triggered an allergic reaction in my LO when I was scrubbing it off- he has lots if allergies.

I have a Lakeland dryer it is much cheaper than a dryer and you can fit loads on it. If you had a damp problem maybe a de humidifier may be needed as well. Lakeland also do a really good mould spray.

Make sure you open the window after you have a shower or leave the fan on for a bit.

I always air the house plenty but it just feels a little damp upstairs. The mould was in the bay window which is a bit of a cold spot,and I wasn't sure if it was the mould spray or the mould that triggered the reaction but I'm usually avoiding chemicals where I can. Maybe a rail and a dehumidifier together would do the trick.

Have you an extractor fan in your bathroom? This will pull the damp air out if you leave it on with door closed apparently

think I read that you can get damp patches by simply not opening windows enough, think same article said try to open windows for half an hour a day at least, we have a couple of airers, they sit in spare room with window open lots, and heating on just a big early evening to warm up the house pre bathtime.

I have a small airing cupboard which I use in the colder months for drying pants socks etc quickly. I miss my old big one :-( also hang rest up on hangers in garage. Or on airer if it's too cold in garage.

Hanging high works quicker. Also I am tempted to only wear polyester in the winter as it dries a treat!!!!

we dry shirts in the window, the look is not a good one, but it works, and mostly saves ironing as well, on hangers

So no one has said 'buy a tumble dryer it'll change you life and they're not that bad for the world...'

They're expensive to run and hard on clothes though. I have one out in the garden cellar which I use only in emergencies. The amount of fabric which comes off with every cycle is extreme.

I have to admit though, they make the towels nice and soft.

Spidermama do your think the dehumidifier makes a real difference to drying time? Would solve the problem of all that moisture entering the air, I wonder if they cost a lot to run. Maybe I'm over thinking this. Need to go back to work if laundry is this interesting!!!

Laundry is a massive part of my life sadly. Things definitely dry more quickly with the dehumidifier.

If your house is damp go for a dehumidifier but keep your windows closed when its on!

Tumble dryers are ok but not everything can go in them and some clothes tend to shrink a little even on a low setting.

Lakeland dryer will need to be on every day for hours to get through the same amount of washing.

Double spin your washing, get a dehumidifier, don't put clothes over radiators if you have got damp already it makes it worse! Put your dryer next to a radiator and turn it periodically.

Turn the dryer not the radiator

Dehumidifier here too, I did two loads of washing last night and it's almost dry.

I'd didn't like the Lakeland airer at all. I have a great tumble dryer though, which dries a load in 45 mins - my last one took 2 hours.

I gave in and bought a tumble dryer last year in the awful wet weather and I have to say I so preferred having the clothes dry fairly quickly and the place not looking like a Chinese laundry. I did rig up outdoor drying under cover in our carport, but it was taking days rather the hours to get things dry.

I keep reading about dehumidifiers on threads like these. Does anyone have any recommendations? What do you look for in a dehumidifier? I live in a dampish largish Victorian, high ceilings etc... can someone point me in the right direction to choosing one please?

I have my parents very old (20years?) dehumidifier, it's fab, dries an airer full overnight. I have no idea about the cost to run it, though not having damp washing on rads is fab (asthma and dust mite allergys aggravated way less)