Hankering after a laundry pulley

[Daisybell1]

We're planning a load of house renovations and are installing a log burner. I'm lusting after a laundry pulley to be set up near by but is thereby fatal flaw in my plan?

Can it go above the log burner?
Should I buy various racks/hangers to use or should I just put items on the slats themselves?
Where do I buy one?

I should explain that we are farmers in the coldest, wettest part of the country. OH can block up the washing machine for days by tumble-drying an entire load of work clothes until they're crispy.... So getting through the laundry is difficult!

I love our pulley, its fantastic. You can get the sets ready made from local hardware stores, or ebay I am pretty sure. Ours was hung off to the side in the kitchen, above the radiator but away from the cooker.

The only issue we had with it, is that clothes can smell a bit like your dinner, so maybe more so with log burner?

Gets clothes dry surprisingly quickly, much quicker than hi-dry

I put stuff on the slats, but this can limit how much you get on, ours had hanger areas on the end and we could get the pulley full with 8 man shirts hanging total

Pulley

We have one in our utility room which, although there is only a tiny radiator in there, gets the clothes dry really quickly.

We bought ours on ebay and have been really pleased with it - the seller was called countryironworks (I'd definitely recommend them, they were really helpful and even sent us another fixing kit free of charge when we relocated the airer).

Hmm, smells could be an interesting one - I could cope with certain things smelling sooty but maybe not my work clothes.

I have a dream of loading it up before bed when I've dampened down the log burner and everything being dry in the morning.

the only note of caution I would add is to check you have enough height to the ceiling.

bought a dryer to put above our stove then realised that I, never mind dh would smack our heads on it even when it was empty.

old farmhouse with low ceilings syndrome

Ah, good point. I'm hoping we have an old farm house with high draughty ceilings syndrome!

How far down from the ceiling do they hang?

We have a wood stove and a ceiling attached pulley clothes airer a few feet in front of it and it works very well. We got it from cast in style it comes with a 5 year guarantee and I love it. Since my 3 month old was born I can honestly say its the best thing other than a washing machine I've ever bought. I had a washer/drier with my first son, but this is much better and cheaper to run!

Some stuff such as cotton sheets after a fast spin cycle will dry overnight, but thicker items such as jeans might need a little longer at times, although will be up to my wearable standards overnight. It depends how you've hung them up (items on hangers dry quickly), how much is on the airer (takes longer when loaded to the max), what the ventilation is like in the room, humidity levels, how long and hot the wood stove is etc.

We put most clothes directly on the wooden laths, but also hang some item such as shirts on hangers to maximise capacity. We have a socks hanger my brother made from two metal clothes hangers, wooden pegs and wire which dries things very quickly.

My clothes don't smell of smoke and shouldn't do if you're sweeping the chimney regularly.

As mentioned above you need to have enough ceiling height and put it a few feet in front of the fire so you don't burn your clothes if you lower it when the fire's lit!

Mine hangs a foot or so from the ceiling, but the washing then hangs down below it a few feet.

I would make sure it's near not above. We had one above our aga and one of my tops fell down and it was ruined

I love ours. We got it from here: airers The useful thing was that you could choose the length you wanted.

Our laundry dryer is brilliant. We have it in the utility room though; that room has a vent in the ceiling and it's the room where the radiator is nearly always on in the winter. I planned there to be room for it over the worktop. Most loads of washing are dry by the next day. I think if you can find an out of the way, moderately heated and well ventilated place for it, it might be better than over the log burner unless you have lots of ceiling height.

Previously it was above the kitchen table which was a bit weird with smalls dangling over your head whilst eating tea .

We just use a peg-hanger on one end to save space on socks.

The only thing is the slats have got a bit damp-spotty over the years, if I bought a new one now I'd oil or varnish them.

Never directly over the wood burner. We came home one evening to a house full of smoke after a synthetic jumper fell off the drier onto the stove. Had to throw away sofa and curtains despite pro cleaning. House stank for 6 months.

Eek! Right, well away from the burner then! Its going to be an open plan kitchen/family room so it should be possible to put it somewhere. Thanks for all your help

this is also my plan before this winter as I got a log burner fitted in the spring. we have very high vitorian ceilings so am hoping it will fit well. Glad to see others rave about them.

honestly if your log burner is any good your whole house will be toasty,you will be leaving doors open!

I would love it if the burner heated the whole house but it's a cold rambling place . It's a good point though - I could wait until all the heating and insulation are in and can then see where I could put it.

My friends have theirs over the stairwell, it works really well as there is good air circulation with the air rising up the stairs and it's totally out of the way. The only downside is you have to be on the stairs to hang the washing but it's hardly a problem.

Yes, the stairwell is a great place to put it. You can pull the laundrymaid up high, so you won't be brushing your head on most laundry as you come up the stairs (except possibly when sheets and other big things have been hung on it).

It is possible to make your own from scratch. Our handyman friend bought the components from a good ironmongers (broom handles, brackets, pulley wheels, thick cord, hooks etc) separately and fitted them all together to fit the space we had, so we have the maximum amount of hanging space (eight racks on two pulleys). He was careful to screw the laundrymaids into a ceiling rafter rather than just into the ceiling plaster, so we can put heavy stuff on it and it won't all come tumbling down.

For two people, they are quite adequate without needing a tumble dryer at all. If you have a family, the tumble dryer will probably still be needed, but you won't need to use it nearly as much.

It the stuff does tent to dry faster in the winter when the central heating is on.