Student drying washing in rented house

[Rasputin123]

Tall student clothes fit where they touch. They are staying in the same cheap grim rented house again this year. Last year they refused to put the heating on (to save money) until term 2 and his clothes either shrunk as a smaller flat mate put his good hoodies and t-shirts in the tumbler or his best hoodies and t shirts were left drying in a cold dark bedroom on a unheated clothes airer for days and days on end. Suspect the very small house radiator in his room wasn’t working properly. He was face-timing in his coat often with a hat on.

He now has a small portable electric radiator for his room. Would he be better using a heated clothes airer (his clothes are big and long) or using a dehumidifier or humidifier or whatever and the unheated clothes rack. His course is high intensity, quite a distance from his house and he plays a lot of sports so isn’t in to leave something on for ages (due to fire risk and cost).

I would say both heated airer and dehumidifier, if that's feasible.

I live in a very damp, rainy country and so always have washing on an airer and the dehumidifier is nearly always on, so yes, he could do with a dehumidifier!

If it's a choice between the two I'd say definitely get the dehumidifier. It will make a huge difference and his clothes won't get that musty smell from taking too long to dry.

If he gets a dehumidifier he needs to invest in a good one specifically with a clothes drying mode. I have the Lakeland heated airers but since buying my dehumidifier they are sitting idle.

Can the parents get together and take over the heating bill? The house needs to be heated for their health and for the sake of the property.

Thanks what size and brand dehumidifier would you suggest. His bedroom is a small double which was originally the living room of a small terrace house in the north of England.

A dehumidifier , an efficient one costs pennies to run ,and damp cold air isn't good for his chest or the house .

10 or 12 litre should be enough , look at the energy efficiency it should tell you the cost per hour . I have a meaco but there are cheaper ones , he will have to leave it on though most of the time and remember to empty it .

I had this and it was excellent

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pro-Breeze-Dehumidifier-Humidity-Continuous/dp/B073XNK45P/ref=sxin_21_pa_sp_phone_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.3ddb32d6-8718-4696-8016-54da7c0215da%3Aamzn1.sym.3ddb32d6-8718-4696-8016-54da7c0215da&crid=3JK401J4AV4W&cv_ct_cx=dehumidifiers+for+home&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Leg91Dda3esVrrhXRiXEej-gKku9DucNuRZWB4ovihxN7617-rVsAyd29VbbxpgmZv6k60g0Fcpax2lA8y3Kgw.QTJ0Q6NCGcSsCtiNMAGzD-yjTclPTxE0xWHsBmTXO2M&dib_tag=se&keywords=dehumidifiers+for+home&pd_rd_i=B073XNK45P&pd_rd_r=06471c11-cedc-4bd9-a955-a0bc892f2da8&pd_rd_w=CyW00&pd_rd_wg=zlOnV&pf_rd_p=3ddb32d6-8718-4696-8016-54da7c0215da&pf_rd_r=CV9CTDGY00TTR2G12T5Q&qid=1726910166&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sprefix=dehu%2Caps%2C126&sr=1-1-ad3222ed-9545-4dc8-8dd8-6b2cb5278509-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&psc=1

I would say he would be better going to the launderette couple of quid and you're done

Exactly what I was about to say. Find a launderette. Less hassle all round.

I would prioritise heating the house over using the tumbler.

Dehumidifiers are great but don’t work as well in cold temperatures. So will probably need a small radiator as well.

Much more expensive and if he's on an intensive course and busy outside of it with sports then it'll be much more convenient for him to do his washing at home.

@Rasputin123 Might be worth suggesting to him/them that having the heating on low for longer is better in the kind of humidity you get up north and it's worth the money as old houses really do need some heat in order to be comfortable. It's also important for their health.

Pp is correct that a dehumidifier won't work its best without heat so if he can have the heated airer as well that would be ideal.

This is exactly what l wanted to say. Even with all the others gadgets his clothes will always be crumpled. Sounds like he is working hard at college. A laundrette visit every Saturday morning would improve his life no end.

His clothes won't be crumpled if he hangs then properly.

I use a heated airer with a cover and dehumidifier together (in rainy Scotland)
Works very well!

DD had a Comepluss dehumidifier and a heated airer.

Launderette.

Heated airer all the way.

We don’t really do heating or have a tumble dryer so we use our heated airer and it’s fine. Got our from Lakeland.

Having central heating on is way more cost efficient than running electric plug in heaters and dehumidifiers in bedrooms.

The launderette I use is really cheap and they can take over a whole week’s load, they’re also a lot quicker than doing it at home as their machines are far more efficient. But he could also get a service wash where he could pick up at a more convenient time, a bit more pricy but no more expensive than the gadgets as it’s not like he’ll be living there permanently.

Him and his housemates think they know everything and one in particular is quite tight so they didn’t put the heating on at all until January last year.

I suspect the small dirty radiator in DS’s bedroom doesn’t work at all or barely works. They (my son and his housemates) tumble most things but excuse my ignorance as never used one before but how would a launderette help with getting thick fairly hoodies, sweatshirts, t shirts and sports kits dry without shrinkage?

Launderette. The machines are huge, everything is washed and dried once a week. It costs money but probably about the same as buying then running a heated airer and a dehumidifier all week.

The washers spin at at faster rate than home washers so clothes are dryer when they come out anyway. The tumble dryers there are industrial size so are better than home ones, also they wouldn’t need to be bone dry just dry enough to finish off at home. Let your son know his housemates logic is off, much cheaper to put the heating on for an hour to dry clothes (preferably with the windows open a bit) than use the tumble dryer on.