Paranoid about having a rotary line, need advice

[Figwin]

Hi all,

We have just moved into our new house and are discussing washing line options. DH would really like a rotary line but I have this paranoia that a child, running around, may trip and fall and clonk themselves on the metal tube/spike when the rotary is not in said tube/spike (parties, showing off the garden etc).

I was an active child with our garden being a football pitch but DH was all Doctor Who and digging. I was the kind of child that would fall on something like that, thus the paranoia.

I'm currently PG with PFB so have a while until my horrors are even vaguely possible with our own child but would rather just have it set up now for the long run.

Do you have any safety tips, reassuring words, covering solutions or maybe similar concerns for a rotary line?

Cheers,

Over think x

Paving slab on top of the spike. It's not spiky btw, its a hollow pipe that the pole slides into and they dont tend to stick up more than maybe 4/5 inches. If that. When you have it installed have it installed flush with the ground then there is nothing to trip over.

Our rotary was never taken down - I just collapsed it (Like an umbrella) and had a cover for it. However, if we did take it down (really only for cutting the grass) the pole went into a hole in the ground - there was no spike.
BUT I really didn't like it - the clothes took ages to dry as they were all so close together. The wind couldn't really get at anything and the sun only reached the outside layer. I much prefer my line I've got now.

you can get a ground spike that screws into the ground and lies flush with the lawn, so no danger to kiddies - they cost under a tenner at B&Q.

That should have been 'spike' not spike

Mine goes in a hole in the ground and the whole lot lifts out when I want to move the whirlie out the way, all I'm left with a hole a few inches in diameter, the tube is plastic and that lifts out too, although mines is in decking not grass

For some reason it never occurred to me I could have it flush with the ground. My mum has one that comes out of the ground about a foot but she does live on a hill by the seaside so needs the stability.

Thank you for your reassurance, I shall mosey on over to B&Q site to investigate. Likely to get a retractable line too if we can decide on the shed situation next lol x

the rotary line i bought came with a socket thing to put in the ground, but it was plastic and crap - it just didn't support the washing line. so i bought a metal one like this, bashed in with a mallet until flush with the lawn. within a few months the grass has sort of grown back around it so anyone who fell on it would be completely protected from the metal. you can barely see it tbh

Not sure if it would suit your purpose OP but argos do a brilliant four sides line that has four legs and is pegged into the ground. It doesnt spin obviously but holds a full 8kg load for me with space for more and all the washing gets dried. Benefit being you can move it around the garden to make best use of the sun/breeze. It is very sturdy when pegged in the grass and of course nothing to trip over when you take it away. They did have it on half price for £14.99 but not sure if it still is. Check their website and see what you think.

Ours is flush with the grass too and I regularly lose it over the winter

I will look into that Argos one too STOP. Great to have other options

Do you have a wall you could fix one of these to? www.brabantia.com/uk/wallfix-with-cover-silver/

I have one and it is excellent - doesn't take up any floor space when not in use (folds back up very easily) and obviously nothing on the ground for children to trip over.

I have one of those too, it's excellent and surprisingly big, you can get a lot of washing on it.

Mine is flush with the lawn, so I can mow over it. I sometimes use it for a sun parasol instead of a washing line.

Our line stays up all year round. Winter, we close it up and put the sleeve over it.

We only take it out for parties in the garden a couple of times a year. The spike is sunk to slightly beliw the ground, and we have a bright red cap that goes in it to make it safe and flush with the ground. (You can even mow straight over it, according to the instructions.) I walk across it barefoot each time we do this, just to reassure myself. Ours is a Brabantia.

I'd just leave it up all year round. Having said that ours have always been flush to the ground too so no spike sticking up.

Just wanted to pass on a safety issue that I think I read on MN previously: don't forget that a collapsed rotary drier could be dangerous to young children because of risk of strangulation (like the cords of a blind). Best to store drier elsewhere when not in use/put a cover over it, if you can.

Absolutely! That's why we cover it whenever we collapse it. (Also because the ropes would otherwise get grubby over the winter, and then stain our nice clean laundry come spring.)

I have the brabanita that exexpat linked to and it's good but not much use for sheets.
I also have retractable lines and find them far better.

ours is always left in place and collapsed after use. Never had an issue with it