Are Sheila maids all the same

[FGSdontblameme]

Further to all the utility room threads I've decided I need one.
There are so many variations on a theme, is there anything I should look out for?

I'm not sure, we've only ever had one. But hang it so that the fittings are closer rather than far apart, because the poles on ours used to fall out quite often and I got whacked around the head with it a couple of times. Which made me because I'm not overly keen on laundry as it is, without being attacked by inanimate objects!
The people who owned the house before us installed it.

do you mean they weren't tight in the holes, or that the space between was too big? I've never seen one in RL.

I had one in a previous house, it was really useful as it was in the same room as the boiler which heated the room (horribly inefficient).

That one's poles fell out too, really annoying - so its ie 4ft long poles are held at the ends by metal brackets, well these brackets were only say 3" from end of the poles (pic 1) - they should have been further towards the middle (pic 2)

I got a cheap one online, can't remember where from. But the poles aren't smooth, need sanding, snag things like tights. Also the cord frays and sheds fibres, so be sure to get proper sash cord.
So no, they are not all the same...
I still love it! Got a 6 bar really long one

We moved and the Sheila maid had the brackets too far apart as well. I twisted one of those elastic bands the postman kindly brings around each of the poles outside the brackets, and the poles don't come out any more.

Thanks so much. I might go and try and see one in RL than order online.

The cord should be waxed. You can buy it from hardware shops quite cheaply.

The poles in mine never come out. There is a good 20/30 cm beyond the metal bit at each end.

Agree re:waxed cord, and longer than you think you'll need with several knots in it at different intervals. They hang very differently according to the weight of the clothes on them.