How do you dry washing in winter?

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How do you all dry washing at this time of year?

We generate a lot of laundry. We are a family of 5, including three kids aged 5 and under - they go through at least one full outfit a day, often more for the toddler (wee accidents) and baby (food mess/sick). And that’s before all the extra bits - waterproofs from forests school, PE kit, swimming things, etc. Plus household laundry - towels, bedding x4 beds, tea towels, cloths and ad hoc things that are subject to messes of one kind or another - playmat, toddler’s duvet....

Long story short, I do about two loads of laundry per day. Sometimes more. In the summer it’s fine because I can line dry everything, but this time of year I’m really struggling. I tumble dry what I can, but we have quite a lot of stuff that can’t be tumble dried. I’ve tried line drying and it spent a day in the sun just to be cold and wet still at the end of the day! I’ve got a clothes airer indoors, but things aren’t drying quickly enough on it and getting that musty/mouldy smell, which just increases the laundry pile as they need to be washed again!

Is the only solution to have the heating on high so they dry quicker? Or do I have to buy one of those heated airer things MN loves?

Agree extra spin. Tumble dry anything I can on low. Hang towels over the banister or corner of a door after use. Use airing cupboard for any residual cold/damp feeling, put the surer next to the airing cupboard with the door open.
Ventilate house for short periods frequently to get rid of humidity (patio/window downstairs plus one upstairs)
It's a bore

We have a spare clothes rail, so put things on coathangers and put the rail next to a radiator in a warm room. Bonus is that things are already on coathangers when dry so straight into wardrobes. Bedding and towels are tumbledried though.

Try to wash less- bedding in particular is one of those things that often gets done more than you need just out of tradition. Kids don’t sweat much at night.

Spin again in the washing machine makes a massive difference.

Big things get hung outside if it’s windy, gets about half dry.

A pulley drier makes a massive difference compared to a low one.

Tumble drier to finish off only. It costs about 3x as much as a wash to do a full dry so it really adds up otherwise.

We don't have a tumble drier. So everything goes on radiator airers, or a normal airer in front of the radiator. I hang everything out if it's dry and breezy though. Even if it comes back in wet it smells better.

Queen of clean on this morning who did heated airer bit, suggested doing an extra spin on every load which I shall probably start doing.

I put up a long clothes rail (like in a wardrobe) above the counter in the utility room. Anything that can't be tumble dried goes on hangers up there.
Appreciate that not everyone has a utility room, but we converted the downstairs bathroom!

"I’ve got a clothes airer indoors, but things aren’t drying quickly enough on it and getting that musty/mouldy smell, which just increases the laundry pile as they need to be washed again! "

Eh? That shouldn't be happening.
I've got the Lakeland heated airer. It's fab. I've had it for 20 years! 😳

Sheets get hung over the bannisters, and some stuff on radiators too.

No drier. In previous flats etc airer in bathroom if not dry outside , in current house we use a drier in front of the AGA. I plan washing and drying so eg don't wash bedding weekly if it is wet, sponge marks off DC's clothes so they didn't have to have clean uniforms for daily etc.

Extra spin to the washing to drain it. Also a dehumidifier in the utility with a cheaply clothes rail (like the ones at boot fairs).

Clothes go on hangers and then can be chucked straight in the wardrobes when dry.

2 airers for towels, pj's underwear etc. We are a family of 5, all adults or teenagers except the 9 year old. Manage to get everything washed a dried. Usually 2 washes a day.

Heated airer upstairs, if you add a dehumidifier it won't take much longer than a tumble dryer tbh. Anything that can go on a hanger does so and I hang it up on doorframes which drives DH mad because he's constantly ducking.

Almost everything can be tumbled, even if it says it can't. Unless it's expensive or previous, stick it in. Plus all towels and bedding can?

I find if it's dry and I hang it outside for a few hours it dries much quicker hung up indoors afterwards to finish it off. It smells lovely too. I have a Sheila Maid in my dining room and if the washing has been outside it will dry overnight on there.

I do an extra spin to get more water out.
Tumble dryer in utility room with non tumble items hung above it on a hanger.
I don't like wet washing around my home because it can lead to damp

I mostly buy stuff that can be tumble dried. We have a huge damp/mould/condensation problem every winter as it is, so there's no way I'm adding to it .

Only a few items skip the tumble drier at the moment, like DD's cardigans or OH's thermals because they shrink.

I use a combination of traditional airers and tumble drier, the only tip I can add is I do towels in the evening and drape over dining chairs or airers overnight, then tumble dry in morning when there part dry so I can put them away, to be fair I did this this morning before coming to work with some jeans, they are draped over edge of kitchen table, looks awful, but as soon as I go home I'll pop then in the dryer to finish off.

There's just me and my partner so nothing like your amount of washing. I bought a de humidifier last year and it's great. Washing definitely dries much quicker. It needs to be in a closed room for maximum effect. So a utility or in or case a spare room.

If its dry and even slightly breezy I'll throw it all out on the washing line for a few hours and then finish off in the dryer. We used to have a huge fireguard in front of the stove and it was amazing for drying clothes but we have much smaller one this year so it won't be as good. I lived in a flat years ago with no outside space and storage heaters and it was almost impossible to dry clothes

I tried to dry outside this week: v breezy day, sunny. Several hours later it was still damp and clearly not going to dry.

I use a heated drying rack from Lakeland, can dry a whole load on it (hanging an old sheet over it helps it to dry quicker) and in winter I will reluctantly use the tumble drier for bedding and towels

Also first winter in our house we had issues with condensation. The dehumidifier has sorted this so would recommend for this issue too. We live in quite a damp country here in the UK!

I’ll clarify a bit:

• we don’t have a utility room, or the space to create one. We have a utility area by the back door, but it’s a tiny passageway that’s in almost constant use (we enter and exit the house via the back door) so can’t have anything standing there.
• no Aga either. I wish!
• can’t put up a Sheila made - the ceilings and walls in this house seem to be made of paper and anything with any real weight to it falls out, bringing part of the wall with it!
• I tumble bedding, towels, and quite a lot of clothing but have found that some things shrink in the dryer so I don’t tumble some things. I could probably review this and tumble a bit more!

Thanks for all your advice - I’m going to add an extra spin cycle to washes, tumble more things and see if I can convince DH to invest in a heated airer and dehumidifier combo!

I live in a flat with no garden and storage heaters that don’t work! (I’ve got oil filled radiators that are amazing)
In summer I use maidens in front of open window. In the winter I put the maidens in the hallway and run the dehumidifier overnight,(cheaper rate) my dehumidifier has a laundry drying option on it.

We do a load a day and don’t have a tumble drier. We’ve got a Lakeland extendable airer pulley thing which hangs from the ceiling above a radiator, it works well with or without the heating on. I hang all the big stuff on that and then underwear, toddler clothes etc on a concertina-style airer.

Heated airer from Lakeland it’s great and dries really quickly

https://www.lakeland.co.uk/21736/Dry%3ASoon-3-Tier-Heated-Airer

It's permanently on.

I got my airer in Aldi. It’s held together with duct tape in places now but it’s seen hard use for a good five years and it’s still going strong - it’s on right now, in fact. Worth keeping an eye out in case they get them back again.