How do you actually handle the washing and drying?!

[oflancs]

How do you handle the washing and drying? I have so much with young children and beds / towels etc. I hate having washing hanging everywhere! No space for a tumble dryer and obviously clothes generally get ruined / shrunk by the tumble drier anyway. Obviously if sunny can hang outside. But then some f**ker decides to burn stuff and it all has to come in again! Any tips?!

We've got one of those heated clothes dryers and a dehumidifier... the combination seems to dry things pretty quickly

We used standing airers for years. When we had the second kid we caved and bought a condenser dryer, but moved in September into a house with a ceiling mounted airer and now we barely ever use the dryer. When we hang things on the pulley maid it dries in an hour, even jeans, amazes me as when I used standing airers they took days sometimes to dry.

Tl;dr install a pulley maid!

I haven't had a tumble dryer or washer dryer for over ten years, I made a conscious decision to get rid of it. I put the first load of laundry on when I get up at the weekend, starting with the shortest wash (15 minutes on fast) and then get it hung out - that fills the longest washing line. Then the load that takes 3 hours goes on (towels, sheets etc) and they go out next. If I need to I have a portable airer on wheels which I put on the patio to add extra laundry to but I can't remember the last time I used it.

Work clothes are washed as soon as I get home from work and line dried. Nothing gets hung up in the house unless absolutely essential. We have an awning on the back of the house (thank you previous owners!) which is useful as I can put laundry on the airer under it when it's raining and it doesn't get wet.

I tend to try bedding in a tumble dryer which is in the garage as there's no space in the kitchen and then use a standing airer, I can't dry clothes outside because I have bad hay fever and all the pollen attaches itself to the clothes

I wash everyday so there is less volume. I have a aluminium garment rack on wheels . I put wet clothes on plastic hangers and peg the smalls on it with big pegs. If it gets dusty or rains I can wheel the whole thing inside. I have a normal tack for bedding and towels.
Sometimes I wash at night and put stuff on hangers and hang on shower rails I have put up in my utility room and before I did that I hung them in the bathroom. I have a seperate dryer but very very rarely use it.

Tumble dryer. No garden so no washing line. Airers takes days to dry stuff in this house. (The type to be roasting in the summer and freezing in the winter).

Yeah co-sign the laundry schedule. I wash towels once a week, bedding once a week - so that's 2 loads. For clothes we seem to produce a load every other day, so effectively, it's 5-6 loads a week including the towels and bedding so I really need always to make sure I'm putting on one load a day or it backs up. I don't separate anything except all-white stuff which goes in with the bedding (which is all white as well).

@Xiaoxiong

We used standing airers for years. When we had the second kid we caved and bought a condenser dryer, but moved in September into a house with a ceiling mounted airer and now we barely ever use the dryer. When we hang things on the pulley maid it dries in an hour, even jeans, amazes me as when I used standing airers they took days sometimes to dry.

Tl;dr install a pulley maid!

Do you not get damp, drying inside?

You don’t get damp drying inside in a well-ventilated space, in my experience. We usually dry clothes inside in winter, with a window on the latch in the room concerned and have never had a problem. But ours is the kind of house that “breathes” - I could imagine it might be an issue in a more modern property.

@TwoKidsStillStanding

You don’t get damp drying inside in a well-ventilated space, in my experience. We usually dry clothes inside in winter, with a window on the latch in the room concerned and have never had a problem. But ours is the kind of house that “breathes” - I could imagine it might be an issue in a more modern property.

Might try it, so.

I take bedding and towels to the launderette for a service wash, I'd never get them dry otherwise.

If you've got anywhere in your house for a ceiling rack (the old fashioned thing that you lower down on a pulley - I think it's called a Sheila Maid) they are brilliant because hot air rises. I had a small one in my old house in my tiny utility area which was also where the boiler lived.

I've seen people in standard Victorian terraces put them on the top landing. I wouldn't have one in the kitchen though - clothes will end up smelling of bacon/curry/roast dinner, whatever!

Thisis I find we don't have any damp when it's up on the ceiling compared to when we had the standing airers. I don't know why - maybe more air circulation up there? Warm air rising? It's near (but not in) a bathroom with an extractor fan which is also mounted high up but I don't know if that makes a difference.

We do open the windows every morning to try and ensure cross-ventilation most of the year as well, at the expense of needing to wear jumpers indoors most of the year, after a bad experience with damp and black mould in a previous house. But the standing airers were damp no matter what we did.

I had a couple of airers that perch on top of the bath. My lot usually have showers so it was a bit of a wasted space. Sheets etc would hang over the bannisters or doors. (Probably don’t wash bedding as often as some, so it wasn’t a permanent feature )

But when I got my tumble drier it was a revelation! Obvs there are still things like t shirts that don’t get tumbled, but for towels, bedding and socks/pants etc it’s a God send. Is there no way you could squeeze one in somewhere? You can get condensing ones that don’t need to be vented to outside.

Chi yes that's what we have - a 4 bar pulley maid. Ours is in our utility room, but I have seen them in kitchens, over bathtubs and top landings.

Now I want a pulley maid!

We have a washer dryer but rarely user the dryer this time of the year, instead putting clothing/sheets out on the line and underwear on a little airer in the spare room. I'm frustrated at the moment as my hay fever is so bad I can't tolerate anything I use being out on the line - esp bedding - so back to using the dryer for that

In summer wait for a nice day and everything through on a quick wash then on the line. In winter if its dry in the middle of the day its out on the line. Otherwise bedding, towels and anything that can go in the tumble drier does. Everything else on the aga or heated towel rail in bathroom. I try to keep clothes drying inside to a minimum.

Tumble dryer in the garage. Very small kitchen and no utility room. Washer and tumble dryer are going constantly

My washing goes out year round - even in December. If the pavements are drying, so will the washing. If you’ve no room for a tumble dryer then a dehumidifier is better for your home than a heated airer. Although heat pump tumble dryers don’t get really hot and shrink clothes, so if you can squeeze one in they’re great and faster than waiting for things to dry.

We dry indoors. In winter, Central heating usually makes the air inside out house very dry so there is plenty of scope for drying indoors. In summer, with all the fly-screened windows open, it's fine too

We have lots of open tack hanging space so that the washing isn't in anyone's way. Savings putting things 'away' too.

You can put a condenser dryer anywhere in the house. I don’t like the cost anymore than the next person but it’s so much simpler.

I have 3 kids, no garden so no washing line. I used to manage with a heated airer but now the kids are getting bigger (and their clothes getting bigger) I cant fit everything on it anymore. I caved and bought a condenser dryer, which sits on top of a counter.

Bed sheets all get washed on a monday when I change the sheets. Towels all get washed on a Wednesday when I clean the bathrooms. Clothes wash usually happens twice a week, whenever the laundry basket is full.

I seperate into whites, colours and dark. Once all 3 loads are finished they go in the dryer together on a synthetics setting. Folded and put away once finished, no ironing.

@oflancs I have the same problem having downsized. The laundry made me cry last week.

A heated airer does help! And it’s good because you can either have the whole thing up for a big wash or just have half of the airer up for a little wash. We bung it in the downstairs toilet.

Big things go over the stairs banister overnight.

I also bought a bath airer but it’s a bit shite.

I really hate it. Especially all the socks! Socks everywhere. It’s raining socks. And they’re never fully dry! Then there’s pairing the fuckers.....😂

We have a heated airer, dehumidifier and a pull out pole that I use clothes hangers for tops and stuff I don't want to iron and hangers with pegs for underwear and socks. I don't always use the heated airer only in winter.

I also wash bedding every two weeks and alternate so one week our bedding the other week my daughters. Towels are washed weekly but they are hung over the hallway bannister to dry after we use them.

Minimising the amount of clothes we have has made a huge difference in the amount I need to wash.