Best way to dry tons of washing in the Winter?

[peachcake]

I have stacks of washing with 2 adults and 4 children in a reasonably small house and have 2/3 loads of washing to do everyday, that's fine but drying it is a huge messy problem!!

I use all available rads and tumble all our smalls but the tumble shrinks stuff (gets too hot) and I still end up with piles of washing waiting for rads! i have airers/clothes dryers but the clothes don't dry thoroughly and sometimes get that damp smell which means I have to start again arghhh!

Anyone have any clever ideas, I don't have an airing cupboard & my drying outside is hit and miss at this time of year, help needed please!!

'that is too much washing'
and that shows no understanding that anyone else's circumstances could be different from yours.
Op was asking for hints and tips, not judgement.

yeah, I was going to say. Some weeks DH does a particular type of job then cycles home - I make him strip off as soon as he is in the back door. DD aged 4 goes through a full set of uniform everyday and I'm a messy git.... Some epople just have more washing!

I reckon the landery is a good idea - if they are bigger are ehtey more efficint at all? I use every surface in the house I can get away with and try to open windows when I can... but we do have a little bit of mould o, 2 walls upstairs.

Personally I prioritise. I have a seperate washing basket for 'urgent' stuff like DH's pants (god knows where they get to...) DD's uniform and my bras etc... They get done first so if I can;t get it all done the most important stuff does get done.

Then on good washing days I go mad!

Yes, good point about opening windows. I open all the bedroom windows just before we leave the house each morning summer or winter. I really think it helps.

We got fed up of a damp house last year so bought a delonghi dehumidifier and I'm very pleased with it. It's turned the
laundry spare room from a damp, cold and slightly musty room into a lovely warm room that smells of clean washing. We do have a tumble drier but these days it only really gets used for DH's work shirts (to avoid ironing) and when we do more than two loads in a day. Stuff dries a lot more quickly now so smells fresher.

You could also try those over radiator airers for a bit more drying space?

I got white plastic over door hangers from poundstretchers which I use with coathangers. I can put 2/3 items shirts/ dressess/t-shirts on each one and clothes dry overnight. They take up hardly any room.Although right no-w al-so got a large clothes horse up in the kitchen9and a toddler helping me typr

I can fit 2 loads in my ceiling aired and generally have an airer in the spare room for swim gear

Another one voting for a good dehumidifier. We get shot of a few litres of water a day from the house even without having washing stuck on the radiators, so when we hit the weekend we have the thing going all the time!

You can get them with 'drying' settings, ie they pump out hot dry air, but that will eat electricity. We just pop the laundry on the radiators which would be coming on anyway, and switch on...

You could only run the dryer for a part cycle, so stuff comes out before it's over-heated. Then it won't need so long to dry on airers.

Also iron stuff whilst it's damp to help finish it off (at uni I once dried a skirt from hand-wash to wearable with an iron as i was too skint to use the machines that week)

I am really strict about what gets washed, I know it's all too easy to wear something the once and auto pilot kicks in and into the basket it goes but I now live in a small flat with storage heaters, no tumble, no outdoor space so I wear things a lot more now, just hang it up after wearing a couple of times unless it's sweaty/soiled. Obv not grundies etc though. Am also more midful of how many towels I actually NEED to get dry rather than using one for bottom one for top one for shoulders, one for hair yes I was that bad!! now I stand in tub and dry with one towel which I then wrap up may hair in, and slip into a dressing gown.

I've recently borrowed a dehumidifier - thread here to save repeating :) www.mumsnet.com/Talk/good_housekeeping/1348942-Dehumidifiers-can-they-help-dry-your-washing-faster

really recommend getting one if you can, you'll be amazed.

I only put clothes on the line (or on an airier outside) in good weather - ie. sunny and warm. If its not warm its out all day and you still have to either put it on your rads (and as PG said, its not a good idea) or tumble anyway.

I use my TD loads but have those dryer balls that have decreased the drying time (I was pretty sceptical tbh) also, I dont overload it which also helps.

Also, a really efficient A (or A+) rated machine will help keep costs down.

Clothes horse in front of the fire - towels and heavier items go on this. Generally dries overnight.

Everything else is hung on a rail in the bedroom. We also have a loft bed with a curtain rail that dh has fitted underneath, so we hang stuff on hangers and hang on there too. If you hang stuff on hangers, then hang up to dry like that they take up less room than draping them everywhere.

I only tumble dry bedding and finish towels off the next day if they're still a bit damp. I hate the tumble dryer, it's so expensive to run.

Aha! Sounds like a dehumidifyer would suit me fine.

Off to oogle kelkoo.

I should also add we have an old-fashioned spin-dryer. That alone gets a good pint of extra water or more out of a load of laundry before it even hits the radiators or the washing line, depending on season. Only on hot summer days do we not bother with it, as no point in wasting power if the sun's going to dry the clothes in 10 minutes flat.

They cost about the same as a dehumidifier. A washing machine typically spins at 1200 rpm. A spin-dryer (if you can find one these days) goes at about 2700 rpm.

I got ours off a family friend when I was at uni, some 23 years ago and it was already about 10 years old. Still going, even if these days we have to sit on it as the lid catch is bust.

Wash less in winter! I do bath sheets/mats one week and bedding the next once I can't dry outside reliably. Or I might even leave it longer if I can get away with it!

AND dehumidifier. We just got an ebac one and it is seriously going to change my life. We no longer get condensation on walls or windows and used well (still working on this) dries your washing out so much faster.

We don't have a tumble drier, and have no space for one. I worked out that the dehumidifier running costs would be much lower than tumble drying and would have a much broader benefit.

And in emergencies there is always the launderette!

Also I have heard with dehumidifiers that for every 1kw they use in energy they put out an average of 1.4kw worth of heat. So heating costs can be lowered a little :)

"Also I have heard with dehumidifiers that for every 1kw they use in energy they put out an average of 1.4kw worth of heat."

h'mmmmmmm

this does not appear to be in accordance with the first law of thermodynamics

remembering that electricity is a form of energy, and heat is also a form of energy, you appear to be saying that an input of energy of 1000 gives an output of energy of 1400

oh you're being too technical for me now. I dunno I just read it. It's on the net it must be true

Avada, I am sure Brian Cox would agree with you there LOL

I think the equation does balance, as it happens. The extra 0.4 kw is the heat generated by the frustrated woman running around trying to get her flipping washing dry.

Or the heat generated by a frustrated women charging from room to room to hiok various cats off the airer cos they had decided the jumper/towel/trousers laid out flat right by the fireplave vent is a perfect bed.

Some Kjs also contributed by wielding of cat hair roller and lung heat by expelled air via much swearing.

feeling we have exactly the same situation. The windows are all open for a few hours in the mornings to try and so something about condensation, but it gets breezy.

Agree with needing to obey thermodynaics, but you don't have the "chill" feeling from a cold house, so it could feel (to human skin) as though an effective 1.4kW has been put out.