Please talk to me about airing cupboards...

[TheRedRabbit]

We have just bought a house with an airing cupboard in it. Also has the hot water tank in it. Other than storing sheets/towels in it, what can I use it for?

Can I put clothes in that are still slightly damp and will they dry? I thought if you put folded clothes in then they wouldn't be able to dry, but have heard someone mention this.

Any other uses?

I have a large airing cupboard with shelving which I hang damp clothes to dry in the winter, personally wouldn't fold bulky items to dry as they smell a bit fusty. I also put my hoover, bulk loo rolls, sleeping bags and towels and bedding in there.

I love our airing cupboard. I had a rail put in it so I can hang ironed, but still slightly damp clothes in it. I leave the door slightly ajar when I do that. I also keep bedding and towels in it.

Get a socktopus and use it for drying socks and pants?
Is it big enough to store things like coats or duvets?

anything thick and damp might go mouldy before it is dry if folded. If you have room to hang things so the warm air can circulate, it will dry quicker. If you have room, you can leave your clean towels and sheets in their ready for use.

Wire baskets are useful for socks and small item. Some will clip underneath shelves or can be fixed to the wall or door.

Before smoking was outlawed, I used to put my suits in the airing cupboard overnight, and the smell had gone after a day or so. creases also fall out.

What colour is your cylinder? (this is not a joke)

I was told by the lovely fire risk fireman that visited us to do a risk assessment that damp/wet clothes in the airing cupboard were a big for risk. Only dry ones should be stored there.

did he say why?

was he perhaps thinking of water dripping onto live electrical connections?

I 'finish' all my washing in the airing cupboard - wash, dry, fold and air. Put it away the next day. Thought that's what everyone did? Am I odd?

quite normal (as far as airing is concerned, at least)

No iirc it wasn't anything to do with drips ,I think it was to do with changing the ambient temp on an enclosed space...or something.... I was too busy swooning

I have all my teaching resources in it on the top shelf
Next two crates with linen in one towels in the other
Two wire baskets under that .. For dh sports gear
Also keep the airer on the bottom and have my scarf hanger on back on door

Pigletjohn it is a green hot water tank, about 10 years old I think.

I hadn't though about putting a rail in, that's a good idea.

So what does "airing" actually mean then? If you have washed, dried and folded clothes, what benefit does putting them in the airing cupboard give?

OK, green is fairly well insulated. You can improve the insulaton and cut summer gas usage slightly (it will not matter in winter when you have the heating on) by putting foam lagging such as Climaflex on the hot pipes, especially those between the boiler and the cylinder, and those coming out of the top of the cylinder.

After clothes have dried or been steam-ironed, they will still have a water content, and putting them in the airing cupboard will dry them even more thoroughly. You will not notice the slight dampness unless you feel them when they are cold. Before people had CH, an airing cupboard was the warmest and driest part of a house, so ideal for putting clean washing in. Sadly, some people still have damp houses with condensation and mildew, though very often this is from draping wet washing over radiators and keeping the windows shut.

Used ours when I was a kid to raise dough when baking bread, also to dry flowers and herbs.
Lovely on cold mornings to get underwear from airing cupboard, was always slightly warm. Kept towels and sheets stored in it too.

Very envious, I miss ours along with the larder.

"Used ours when I was a kid to raise dough when baking bread"

I still do

I put towels in there for storage and put clean dry clothing in there that is waiting to be ironed.

I also raise my roll dough in there once a week...

PigletJohn - I have a condensation-filled, mouldy-walled house. Do you have any suggestions? In colder weather we sleep with the windows open a crack, then wipe them down in the morning and leave them wide open for an hour or so. Laundry is dried outside, in the airing cupboard or the tumble dryer. I keep the lids on pans unless evaporation (or list of stirring) is actually needed. What else can I do?

I loves our airing cupboard.
Don't put anything too wet in there, will rot before it dries!
In winter I put my own clothes in so they'll be warm when I put them on (don't usually like radiator on in my bedroom).

Very important, btw, do not cover up any of the electric bits, including on the tank itself. These can overhear if covered. Putting items to dry on the pipes is safe, just not on any other gizmos.

I've used ours for dough and yoghurt

TheYamiOfYawn

The usual causes of condensation are excess amounts of water being released into the house, and inadequate ventilation taking it away.

If the source is not one of the usual ones - wet washing, steamy pans, steamy showers, then perhaps the water is coming from a leak, whether roof, pipes, gutters, drains, radiators or baths. More rarely it can be earth or paths against the walls of the house above DPC level. Do you have a visible DPC; do you have cavity walls; are you subject to frequent or driving rain; how old is your house; is it made of brick; is it on a hill; is it detached/terraced/semi?

The water can be in or under the floor, where you would not see it.

Do you have a water meter, and does the bubble ever stop?

BTW as your Q is not about airing cupboards, I think you had better start a new thread on the Property and DIY forum

I have a huge airing cupboard. I have an airer in there and dry clothes in it. I never fold wet clothes though, they would take forever to dry. I hang things over the airer, currently have a sleeping bag drying in there! I would never hang things on the pipes or the tank though.

If I handwash a bra, I wring all the water out by squeezing it in a towel, then hang it on a hanger in the hotpress, as they call them round my way airing cupboard and its dry in the morning. Very useful.

it is quite usual to have open shelving, made of wooden slats with equal gaps, over the cylinder, so nothing can (easily) fall onto it, or down the back, so protecting the top of the immersion heater (if any) from being covered.

The gaps in the slatted shelves allow good air circulation which aids drying.

"and put clean dry clothing in there that is waiting to be ironed."

I don't find that a good idea. Slightly damp clothing is easier to iron than very dry clothes.

bun I don't care about that, I just want it out of sight and out of mind