How do I get all my laundry dry in this weather?!

[RandomCatGenerator]

Such a boring subject, sorry.

I simply cannot get my laundry dry, especially towels, in this cold weather. Unless I put the heating on full, which I’m loathe to do, I’m at a loss.

I have a one year old who gets through a lot of laundry including reusable nappies. My husband also does a lot of sport which also generates lots of washing.

help?

Dehumidifier helps a lot

It really isn’t cutting it! Had it on all evening and doesn’t seem to have made much difference at all.

Depends on how much you can spend on equipment and space
Heat pump tumble dryer - very efficient, but big and high initial cost

Dehumidifier and/or heated airer

I save my washing up all week, wash it at home and then take it down to the laundrette to dry. Its only a couple of pounds.

Tumble drier?

*dryer

Tumble dryer way too expensive to run I’m afraid. Baby means a lot of washing…

laundrette and intriguing idea…

Do you mean you've got a tumble dryer but dont want to run it or that it costs too much to buy one?
There's another thread somewhere, the OP checked how much it cost to do a load and it wasn't as bad as she thought. It might well be less than the launderette (especially if you have to use a car or other transport to get to it), or less than to heat the whole house.

It wouldn't dry quickly but I saw a 'hack' (hate that term!) on FB the other day, basically airers inside a small plastic greenhouse (assuming you have outside space) with one end open for airflow. No idea how long stuff would take to dry but it's a fairly inexpensive option at least.

This and spring are worst times of year for drying. Too much rain and damp to rely on leaving them outside. Takes days to dry things. You could treat yourself to the occasional outing to a laundrette. I use a cheap fan heater and airer. Bonus of heating a room . Point heater at the base of the airer. Put duvet cover over top of the airer. It's still expensive. I use microfibre towels that dry quickly. Met Office online gives forecasts showing chance of rain,wind speed,humidity etc for each hour of the day. Reasonably accurate and helpful. I'd be looking at Lidl disposable nappies. I think they might work out cheaper when you take drying costs into account.

If it's dry and windy you can hang it out. It will dry even if it's not warm weather. May need a quick spin in the tumble dryer just to finish it off. Doing an extra spin in the washer helps too.

Realistically the only quick and effective options are a tumble dryer or some kind of heated airer though!

I have two clothes horses and hang the clothes over them in the kitchen. The heat dries them within 24hrs and if I am really stuck I finish them off for 10 mins in the dryer. You could try that?

I recently worked out that using a baby (800w) electric oil filled radiator cost me on my tarrif less than £1 to heat a room for about 6 or 7 hours. . it was very effective too. I suspect that would be cheaper than a dryer and has added benefit of heating a room? But as someone says check cost of dryer usage.

Other than that double spin in washing machine before hanging up. Hang outside if you have space. Only wash what you really really need to. Partially dry on airer and use tumble dryer to finish off.

When the washing machine has finished put it on again for another spin at the highest spin it’s does mine does at 1600. You will be amazed how much more water comes out. Also use your bbc weather app and only wash towels bedding and things like jeans when you know it’s going to be dry. Does not need to be warm to dry cloth on washing line as long as it’s windy and dry even on the coldest of days.
got three loads of washing dry today in the north east of Scotland.

Some really really helpful tips on here - thank you very much indeed. Very kind. I’ll definitely be trying some of these and sending to my husband to take note too!

thank you again for taking the time.

Perfect line drying weather at this time of year. Finished off in the tumble dryer for ten minutes if necessary

That's an amazing idea... I'm going to try it. Need to get a sturdy airer that won't fall over so all my clothes end up in the mud... or perhaps cover the soil with weed membrane. Project ahoy!

At the moment I'm still getting washing dried outside, however I have to watch the weather. The minute a black cloud appears it's in!
At night I use a maiden and keep it in the living room if we have had the log burner on. Things dry very quickly.

Fan blowing on it full blast. I have a big floor fan

Do you have a garden? I weather watch constantly and use my washing line 12 months a year.

Good thread OP I have been stuck with the same issue

You need a maiden. One of those pulley things.
Warm air rises.
My sil has one and uses it regularly.

We dry inside on an airer. On a dry day it starts outside for as long as possible and then gets brought in to finish. Underwear often then gets put in the airing cupboard to properly finish off.

If something is especially heavy/wet then we also...
a) send it for an extra spin cycle after washing (it really helps)
b) point a fan at the airer to ensure air movement while it dries

This is a pita time of year for drying, though.

I have an airer on the landing, and blast a small dehumidifier on it. Big things like sheets and towels get draped over the bannister. Things dry overnight.

I always wonder this too. I'd love to have a covered outside space but open at the sides for drying, but it's not going to happen where I live. I live on a hill, too, which rules out plastic greenhouses as they would be blown away.

Ideally I would have double the amount of clothes that I own now so I wouldn't keep running out and to give them longer to dry. Also not going to happen.

If you have a bathroom with enough space and a good seal to the door you can set up an airer in there and keep the window open, but only when it's safe to do so, obviously (I mean if it wouldn't give access to burglars).

I've also bought some cheaper towels, thinner, smaller and less fluffy. I simply can't dry massive thick towels any more.