How do you dry your washing?

[littlebearsmummy]

Exactly that really. At the moment our washing is dried on drying racks dotted around any spare space in the house, with a tumble drier for emergencies and the odd bits (used a couple of times a week, but not daily). Obviously on a dry day it all goes outside, but at the moment the house seems littered with socks, the kids sports kits etc drying on every available radiator etc.

We are redoing our kitchen and adding a utility room so I have the chance to improve our current drying arrangements! Any suggestions?

I use a heated clothes airer, which I got after reading about it on MN. I find it dries clothes much quicker than normal airers. If I've done loads of washing then I use a normal airer next to it. Use tumble drier for sheets, towels, DH's pants/socks and DS's sleep suits. If it's dry outside I use the clothes line in the garden.

Always tumble dry unless it's a nice day. Things that can't be tumbled go on the radiator.

I have a friend who dries ALL their clothes inside the house. I've been around there and there are clothes hanging around all the picture rails in the house. The trouble is, their clothes ALWAYS smell (you know that horrible damp smell a bit like urine).

I don't want to tell her though, I think it would really hurt her feelings .

I know lots of people use the Lakeland heated airer thing, but doesn't it make your house damp to dry laundry indoors? All years round, I put an airier outside with a load on and at the end of the day it's touch dry and then I bring arier back in next to back door when it beginning to get dark to 'air' it further and it will be dry by morning. We have a woodburner in room next to kitchen so that helps overnight. The main thing I hate about laundry is hanging socks and small bits of underwear!

It's not really a problem - previous house had boiler in corner of studio/conservatory, so we had doors fitted to make room like airing cupboard. This little bungalow has similar, smaller cubby-hole in hall, and both dry clothes overnight straight from washer, if weather's not good enough for outdoor drying.
Considering British weather, it's surprising more properties don't have these spaces built-in. (First home had boiler in garage, so we arranged lines/clothes-horse for washing). Without these spaces, or a utility room, I'd have had a pulley-dryer like Sheila-Maid installed, but can definitely recommend boxed-in space near heat-source if possible.

Im moving to a new house this week and one of the reasons we bought this one was the prospect of turning the old kitchen into a laundry room.

I am going to have a clothes rail installed near the ceiling for hanging stuff straight up to dry, some pull down drying racks installed on the walls and have an extractor, dehumidifier and a small radiator in there too.

I cannot wait! I hate having clothes hanging around the house all the time and find using a tumble dryer for clothes (I use it for bedding and towels) more labour intensive than just hanging it up to dry.

We use a DriBuddi and it's great. I would love a dryer but have no space for one.
I put the DriBuddi in whatever room isn't being used that day with the window open just a crack to stop the moisture.
If I had a utility room though I would have a tumble dryer and one of those driers that hang from the celing.

On the hills hoist in the backyard

On the hills hoist in the backyard

We have a covered rotaire thing for outside, use the octopus thingies for underwear, use a pulley thing in the garage for towels and then use the tumble drier as a last resort.

Spin dryer then on the racks/ out on the line.

Outside. Or in the study on a clothes horse with the door shut as the dry overnight there. Or if I have a fire going I can fit 2 clothes horses in there its so big and they dry in hours.

I mean I can fit 2 clotheshorses in the inglenook!

We tumble dry everything all year round.

I might hang the odd thing up in the utility room, usually something diaphanous from Mint Velvet.

When it's warm enough, on the line. The rest of the time, two collapsible airers in the utility room, also a round sock airer thing. I have a tumble drier, which I use for bedding, towels, shirts, school uniform when they can't go on the line.

Clothes airers and draped over radiators, otherwise on the clothesline outdoors. I would love to tumble dry more often, but it seems to shrink all of our clothes. I don't know how other people do it. Do they buy things a size too big to allow for shrinkage?

Outside as much as possilble, other wise a collapsable airer & tumble dryer but i have a washer/dryer due too space limitations and try too avoid using it if I can, as it takes so long too dry a load, & comes out really creased, loathe the bloody thing, the only thing I miss in our old house is the ulility room, I covert a utility room, those pulley dryer thingys, are called Sheila maids I believe.

Tumble dryers wear your clothes out quicker! Your stuff will last longer, and be nicer, the less you tumble-dry.

Cotton and cotton-mix are especially prone to wear in the tumble-dryer. This isn't just to abrasion (the fabric repeatedly bashing against the drum), but also to the effects of heat on the fabric fibers, which weakens and/or damages them - cotton and cotton-mix fabric that's been repeatedly tumble-dried is more likely to tear.

Apparently, the most of this damage occurs when the fabric is wettest, at the start of the tumble-cycle. Partially-dried fabric resists the cracking much better. So - if you must tumble-dry, but want to limit the damage to your clothes, then hang them out for the first half of the drying, then finish them off in the tumble-dryer.

Lakeland heated airer here. I've used it every day over winter and wouldn't be without it! It does everything except towels and jeans.