Recommendations for ceiling clothes airer

[Tmrgl]

I've had enough of the clothes airing in the middle of the kitchen.

We've room for one of the ceiling mounted pulley ones over the bath.

What should I look out for?

Any recommendations?

If you're near Edinburgh I've an unused cast iron and wood Sheila Maid I've been meaning to Gumtree... Looks great but small flat and not the high tenement ceilings means DH was over ambitious in thinking we had space!

Sheila Maid!

Make sure you get waxed cotton rope and not jute.

Yes, I made the mistake of refurbing an old iron one with Polypropylene rope, which is much too stiff, and also looked wrong. You need a soft, flexible rope.

I think a white nylon rope would have been OK, but you need quite a large diameter to fit the pulleys and run smoothly.

Remember to run the extractor fan while the washing is hanging, with the door and window shut, to suck out the water vapour.

Will things really dry in the bathroom?

It's the wettest room in the house, so unless you have it quite warm and with permanent good ventilation, things may stay soggy.

Ventilation is much more important than warmth.

If the extractor is noisy or ineffective, replace it with a better one.

A modern extractor runs for 50, or even 100 hours, on 14p worth of electricity, and can be quiet.

From grim experience, I can tell you that pushing cold, damp air from outside through a cold, damp bathroom doesn't even dry the droplets on the side of the bath, never mind anything hanging in there.

Drying in a bathroom will only be better than actually hanging outside if the bathroom is warmer than outside.

Mosling thanks for the offer but I'm a good bit further south.

Good points about ventilation and warmth - we have those covered.

Sheila Maid it is then - thanks all.

I have nothing to add - can't remember where I got mine - but they are brilliant. Things dry on mine much quicker than on floor-standing agrees and it's out if the way. I have the window open to aid drying and t shirts, babygros often dry overnight when heating off compared to maybe 24 hours or more on floor-standing ones.

when a bathroom fan is running with the door and window shut, the water vapour (lighter than air, hence clouds) rises up in the room, where the fan (high on the wall, or in the ceiling) sucks it out.

Dry warm air from the house comes in through the gap under the door, and stratifies so that the fan is not sucking out the dry air.

If you open the door and windows, this efficient method stops working.

We have formed a utility room in our new house and one of my greatest excitements at the moment is that we are going to get a Sheila Maid. I have wanted one for years, they are brilliant.

You can get them on eBay and Amazon.