Are retractable clotheslines any good?

[ShropshireLadInLondon]

My partner and I have just bought our first house and one of my first jobs will be purchasing and putting up a washing line.

We only have a small garden and so want to make best use of the space. As such we've been looking at a retractable clothesline but wanted to gauge opinion on how they perform. I have three main concerns:

1. That the line will sag with the weight of wet clothes on
2. The fittings will be too weak and snap within a short period of time
3. The recoil mechanism will stop working within a short period of time

Any advice, including products to avoid / recommend, would be great :-)

I had one from home base many years ago. The fixings broke at one end so tied it round a nearby hanging basket bracket. The recoil action was unaffected & I used it a good 12 years before replacing.

I have the Minky double retractable line.

1. The line will sag. You need a prop.
2. The fittings are perfectly strong, no snappage here.
3. The recoil works perfectly well after 5 years.

Its ok. Does the job perfectly well but I'd rather have a fixed line and pulley system.

thats a lot of perfectlys . Its not that perfect.

We've got one with 2 strings. Hooks are on the concreted-in fence posts. And as long as you really lean on it when you're putting it up it doesn't sag. It still retracts wildly well after 5 years of use although the fixings are starting to rust a bit, it's still solid.

Don't know what brand it is. The label wore off long ago! Bought from a local country/farm supplies shop.

We've got a small garden so we don't need a stick. I love it. and so do the spiders who live in it

Had a retractable in old house, it was brilliant. Currently have a rotary - it's def not as good at drying!

I have one from wilkos with 5 lines! you can pull them all out or just a few.
you pull it out and crank the handle round once to make it tight, then handle locks into place.
was about £35ish and its very sturdy and doesn't sag.

ps I had to purchase it online, was delivered in 2 days.

Just bought a retractable line from Homebase (£20) with two 15m lines on it, I zig-zag it around the garden fixing it at three different points and using one or both lines depending on how much washing I have. It's strong and doesn't sag (although still new as yet) but I use a prop on the longest stretch as the posts aren't that high. It's better than a rotary as you can put the lines away from each other letting lots of air in and around your washing. The look of my old line spoilt the view of the garden and I'm very pleased with this. What I love most is that I can retract it when not in use, it's brilliant!

If you need to put in posts be sure to concrete them in as wet washing is heavy and will pull over one that is just banged in.

Also look at the brabantia wall mounted rotary that folds away. We have one at work and it is fab, I will have one at my next house.

Coming back to this a few years late, but in the end we went for a heavy parasol base (25 kg or so) and a rotary dryer. It's been great and we've never regretted the decision.