how do u dry your clothes?

[wells]

in our house we have both a fireplace and a night-store heater in the lounge...i wash my clothes in the evenings and put them on the clothes horse in front of the heater and most of them are dry by the morning, or definately dry by the time i'm home from work. for thing like trousers, jeans, hoodies and shirts i hang these on hangers as they take up less room and dry faster this way, and i can hang them anywhere in the lounge at night. it's great -cheap and effective - we have one of those two in one washer-dryers which seem to take ages to dry anything and eat the electricity, i don't really use this much - just for sheets occasionally.

during the rainy summers i do the same except without the heater - i just put the clothes horse on either the kitchen table or on the spare bed (they're not in my way then) with the windows open, or hang the jeans on hangers on the curtain rail in the spare room.

very happy with this system!

[jenniferalan]

Originally Posted by kiara

Clothes horse by the fire works a treat, I have a drier but I think it shrinks/mishapes clothes when you dry them from wet, so I leave them on the clothes horse in front of the fire and air them in the drier in the morning (literally takes 5 minutes), Bedclothes and towels are the only things I put straight in the drier because they're bulky and would be in my way! Oh and all my clothes smell of Comfort! :)

hi Kiara, i think i will do this from now on,(leaving clothes to dry in sitting room) i love the smell of Comfort and wash all my clothes with it - just didnt know whether the smell of the fire would effect the clothes lol.

[jenniferalan]

Originally Posted by wells

in our house we have both a fireplace and a night-store heater in the lounge...i wash my clothes in the evenings and put them on the clothes horse in front of the heater and most of them are dry by the morning, or definately dry by the time i'm home from work. for thing like trousers, jeans, hoodies and shirts i hang these on hangers as they take up less room and dry faster this way, and i can hang them anywhere in the lounge at night. it's great -cheap and effective - we have one of those two in one washer-dryers which seem to take ages to dry anything and eat the electricity, i don't really use this much - just for sheets occasionally.

during the rainy summers i do the same except without the heater - i just put the clothes horse on either the kitchen table or on the spare bed (they're not in my way then) with the windows open, or hang the jeans on hangers on the curtain rail in the spare room.

very happy with this system!

Thanks Thelma, we have no dryer so was just looking for some alternatives from the hot press. Think i will be hanging clothes downstairs at night in the same room as the fire and hopefully they will be dry by the morning!

[elbo]

Originally Posted by ireneo

Hi
Wet clothes around the house and especially in or near bedrooms can cause chest infections and breathing problems especially in children. Clothes horses need to be kept away from everyday rooms.

I second that (and I know from experience). Airing clothes on radiators is very harmful to anyone and can cause serious chest infections to young people, older people, anyone with asthma or anyone who suffers from any respitary condition.
NEVER, NEVER put clothes on radiators in rooms you sleep in or sit in.
Always ensure that the tube outlet from your dryer is not loose and that the condensation goes straight outdoors and is not escaping into the room.

[Rosrach]

Am Mum of 3 so lots of washing - 1 load every day, plus 3 more during week for bedding etc. Do have a tumble drier but try to limit use to 1 load (half contents of washing machine) every 2nd day.Have developed serious routine as big part of day but try to limit environmental impact

If weather at all good - even if cold but windy - washing line. If have outside shed can put a line inside - things do get dry and smell great.

Big things go on hangers and airers in my hot press (with lagged tank) sometimes have to go on radiator next day to ensure really dry. Do put airers in front of fire but usually in day as worried about sparks/fire. Do sometimes do at night if a lot to dry and no, they smell fine.

socks/tights on kitchen radiator and most small things in tumble drier.

Other options - iron when clothes still a bit damp - add drop of lavender oil to water in iron if concerned abot a smokey smell.

On related issue, have stared using JML Pearls to replace washing detergent and can recommend - only €10 in Tescos and work - although need to add a bit of Vanish too for v. dirty clothes but I needed that with detergent as well.

Happy drying, Rosrach

[ireneo]

My brothers daughter was born nearly 12wks early weighing 2 1/2lb. When she was leaving to go home 3mths later, you would imagine they wouldve got a list of orders for her but the only thing the doctor warned about was clothes horses in the house. He said not as much as a damp sock on a radiator, anywhere in the house. He said they can bring on asthma and all sorts of breathing problems at any age. I havent used a clothes horse since, Id rather pay the price for the use of my dryer because my kids having chest infections or suffering with asthma later in life is a bigger price to pay.

[jeana]

That's true but sometimes people may not be able to afford a dryer or the electricity to run it and you can't get blood out of a stone- but I think that using the downstairs radiators when the kids are generally upstairs playing or watching TV is o.k- Also some kids arn't suseptable to ashma or chest infections and manage fine- I suppose like everything it's a case of finding the best solution and I'd say money is the main factor and I suppose the environment too as the old fashioned methods are usually the most ecological.

[Moeby]

I put up a line across my landing upstairs, it's not visible from downstairs and I hang clothes across the upstairs banister at night. This works a treat. I don't have radiators and do have to use dryer as well with volume of washing in my house. MandyD asked how the previous generations managed, I asked my mum (89 in June and raised 8 of us) she said we didn't change our clothes as often school clothes were worn to school, old clothes were put on us after school and Sunday clothes were worn on Sunday to mass and then hung up til next Sunday. Maybe the old ways were better.

[kiara]

Originally Posted by ireneo

Hi
Wet clothes around the house and especially in or near bedrooms can cause chest infections and breathing problems especially in children. Clothes horses need to be kept away from everyday rooms.

Not everyone has the space though

[magiceight]

Originally Posted by jeana

she said she slowed down as she wanted to let her friend win and she already had gold so she wanted a silver- she's a little pet...

That's put a big smile on my face jeana - I love it when kids do things like that... she's a little star :)

I use a clothes horse in my kitchen beside the radiator. If I'm stuck for space, I use the radiator too, and hang light stuff on hangers on the curtain pole across my bedroom window during the day with the window open.

Not a fan of dryers, both for power consumption reasons plus I don't like the way the clothes sometimes feel hard or rough when they come out.

[JulieSherris]

Well, in our house, I use my rotary washing line - either in the back garden, or up in the hayshed if it's raining.
When the washing comes in, it's popped over the airer & then left near to the nightstore heater or the radiator in the hallway.

Then it goes into my ironing basket... and waits... and waits.... I hate ironing!!

I did buy a Dri-Buddy for emergencies, but hardly ever use it, which is all the better for the environment ;)

[Bullbars]

how do you dry your clothes ?

simple, i got a dryer off a site you might of heard about, jumbletown, :)

but like most people commenting here, its a last resort, I usually give the clothes a extra spin in the washing machine and then hang them on the rads around the house, it can be time consuming in the winter, but come summer they will be out on the line.
I dont have the space for a inside line and as i'm in a bungalow , i dont have a rail or banisters to hang sheets etc on , but i might consider a "lean to" or some way of enclosing a line outside, one thing i'm not short of is space outside, but space and dry space aint quite the same. Roll on the summer

[Tootsie]

Following a high electricity bill, I decided to buy a clothes drier. I do one wash and one dry per day. I leave the clothes drier on the landing and clothes are dry by the morning. Unsightly, but I haven't used my tumble drier for almost a month!

[bustler99]

Originally Posted by jenniferalan

I have problems with drying clothes, we took the lagging jacket off the cylinder in the hot press so hot air would dry clothes but i think that it is prob just costing more because most of the heat is being lost through the air?

some people say that a good idea is to leave clothes on a clothes horse by the fire at night and they will be dry in the morning, does this work? is there a weird smell off the clothes from the fire?

how do u dry ur clothes?

TRY HANGING THEM OUT

[SLCB]

I've been drying clothes inside all winter (since the dog ate the outside line!). I use two clothes dryers, or clothes horse as they used to be known, we've an open fire in the sitting room and I put up the fire guard and then the dryer at night and the clothes are usually all dry in the morning. They don't smell from the fire, if anything I like the scent of the fabric sortener in the room. The electric dryer lies idle which is great cause I couldn't afford to run it,but as soon as the weather improves I'll be pestering my husband to put up a new line outside.