Keeping on top of the laundry

[Lavender14]

Feel like I'm constantly fighting a losing battle with this as soon as the summer months are over! We have a reasonably small house, no room for a tumble dryer so rely on clothes horses to dry clothes. I've been running a dehumidifier in the same room and have had the heating on trying to speed up the drying process but I still can't seem to get them dried fast enough to be able to keep on top of it. We tried using the machines at our local garage but they're expensive, take ages and they weren't drying properly. At the moment it's taking 3 days for stuff to dry through and with a small baby in the house there's an endless amount needing done.

Does anyone have this cracked or have any tips and tricks to offer??

We have a heated airer. It is great.

Small stuff like socks & pants on radiators. Hang clothes on hangers and hang up on door frames, not overlapping. They should dry in 2 days so each day, put away 2 day old washing and make space for the next load. I do one load a day, alternating dark & light. It's boring and incessant but keeps me on top of it! When I didn't have a tumble dryer, I'd take my towels and sheets to a launderette to dry

It sounds like you're doing everything right if you have a dehumidifier and airers and heating on sometimes ...

We do have a tumble drier and we try not to use it, but we sometimes finish drying bedding in it for 5-10 minutes. But if you can't fit one in, then you can't.

Make sure everything on the airers is spread out and not clumped up, with tee-shirts, shirts and jumpers on hangers. Use the highest spin cycle. Check the humidity setting on your dehumidifer, and shut the door to the room. Use those small airers that hand over radiators. Have lots of back-of-the-door coat hooks to hang towels on after use. Be very regimented about hanging things up to dry.

Sorry you probably know all this anyway ^^

I spin the clothes twice, then hang outside if it's nice out and ground is dry. If not I put on airers, drape over 2bars and put the dehumidifier on.. try the dry the light things such as t-shirts first near the dehumidifier. Mine dry within a day, jeans stay on overnight but are dry by morning. I only do one load at a time and wear clothing more than once

Hanging clothes on actual hangers is a lifesaver in speeding it up. Leaves more room for things like baby clothes to dry on racks (things that won’t work on hangers), and I find that even a folded-over towel dries faster hanging on a hanger. We put our hangers on the shower curtain rod (it’s screwed in to wood!) or doorknobs. A fan helps too. I’ve even hung hangers on the backs of dining room chairs. It sort of feels like it’s everywhere but it does speed things up vs racks where everything is clustered together.

Could you get a washer dryer? We never really used to use our tumble drier very often but since having kids it does get used more in winter because there's just so much washing and our house feels like it has clothes horses up everywhere otherwise. We have a washer dryer and it's fine for drying small kids stuff and towels.

Spinning again after your wash has finished makes a big difference to the drying time!

Also suggest swapping to washer dryer. We only use our dryer for bedding and towels but it makes a massive difference as they are the largest bulky items

Getting a fourth drying rack was a big help, but then we have a fairly large house (and even then it feels full of laundry!) Smalls hangers with little clips are also a godsend. This Lakeland one is small but carries quite a lot if you're short on space https://www.lakeland.co.uk/24582/16-soft-grip-pegs-smalls-dryer?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=CjwKCAjw7oeqBhBwEiwALyHLMzAE7svxIIbEOatRs8UaHgS8siS6y9wZ_hbIBXbrYb-RhqYzOjHTfBoCArwQAvD_BwE

@Turquoisa80 - had never thought of running extra spins, maybe I should try that.