Gransnet forums

Ask a gran

Rotary drying

(58 Posts)
pen50 Mon 13-Mar-23 12:03:00

I'm trying to avoid using the tumble dryer. Does any have advice on how to manage outdoor clothes drying and a full time job?

I have a big four arm rotary and found myself in the garden, in the rain, at seven this morning hauling in yesterday's washing - which then had to go in the dryer anyway sad.

I lived abroad in the sun for many years and I seem to be lacking the skills to manage laundry in a damp climate.

Charleygirl5 Mon 13-Mar-23 12:13:17

I suppose it is marginally easier for me as I no longer work so I wash clothes as and when I please. I would not be without my rotary dryer for many months of the year but I rarely leave items outside overnight.

I have not yet started to hang clothes outdoors routinely. I do not possess a tumble dryer because of the cost but find with the central heating, my clothes dry overnight on the two plastic dryers I possess.

shysal Mon 13-Mar-23 12:21:26

Since I have had a bad shoulder which makes reaching up to a washing line difficult, I now use a clothes horse with wings, big enough to drape bedding without folding, which can be carried inside if it rains. I also use a mini hanger with many pegs dangling, for small items, also useful to hang from the shower rail indoors.
Clothes airer
Sock dryer

karmalady Mon 13-Mar-23 12:21:30

Read the expected humidy levels on the met forecast and plan ahead eg tomorrow will be down to 50s during the day and it will be breezy rather than stormy, a perfect drying day on my rotary.

I got the biggest one and concreted a tube into the ground so it is rock steady. I never dry indoors apart from perhaps a little bit of finishing off, such as duvet edges

I never leave washing out overnight, humidity increases overnight and washing can easily become wet again. I have a tumbler drier, don`t often need to use it. I do have a timer on my washing machine and can do a long cotton eco wash to start in the early hours, ready to hang out by 7.30 am. Then I do any short wash cycle. The eco wash is as full as possible

I do space out on the rotary ie every alternate line

Auntieflo Mon 13-Mar-23 12:22:31

It is beautifully windy today, so there is one lot out and another soon to go.
I don't leave washing out overnight, but when I was working, if the weather was fine, I would peg it out and leave it, with fingers crossed that it didn't rain.

Wheniwasyourage Mon 13-Mar-23 12:30:02

I don't leave washing out overnight because I would worry that it might rain and that would affect my sleep!

tanith Mon 13-Mar-23 12:47:29

I use a rotary dryer as much as possible and just watch the weather, I only do washing on days I can hang it out, this Winter has been pretty dry. I don’t leave it out overnight and have an airer in the spare to just h off damp washing. It’s only occasionally I’ve had to dry washing indoors and then I open the windows and shut the door of the room it’s in.

tanith Mon 13-Mar-23 12:48:33

That should say spare room to finish off damp washing.

Callistemon21 Mon 13-Mar-23 12:53:14

It's supposed to be bad luck to leave washing out overnight. It could be an old Chinese proverb but I do remember someone telling me that once.

In the winter I do use the tumble drier for certain items as they then don't need ironing (logic tells me it should be fairly cost-effective!) but laundry also dries well on a large rack on the landing.

silverlining48 Mon 13-Mar-23 13:22:26

I never leave washing out overnight unless it’s high summer and even then.
I look at the weather forecast and decide. I have already had 3 loads out on breezy days I’m the last few weeks but am home if it suddenly rains.

Otherwise in winter I do washing in the evening and use a hooked rail over the radiators, by morning its nearly dry,
and could then finish off on the drier but rarely use it. Much prefer the garden.

mamaa Mon 13-Mar-23 13:29:13

We use airers and a dehumidifier set on laundry mode -when I don’t peg the washing out to dry on the line/rotary -I’m always amazed at how much water is collected when I empty it after use.

fancythat Mon 13-Mar-23 13:37:02

I live in an area of the Uk that is too damp a lot of the time, to expect washing to dry outside.

One of my wash settings for most delicate, does leave things dripping wet. So they may get left outside for a while.

NotSpaghetti Mon 13-Mar-23 13:45:05

I check the weather on the Met Office app.
I often leave it out overnight.
I don't have a dryer.

My daughter has a car-port and hangs her laundry there.

M0nica Mon 13-Mar-23 14:57:24

I have a folding wall hung drying rack fixed to the wall above a radiator in a room with a small window or extractor fan. Hang the washing on the rack over the radiator and the heat helps dry the washing and the water vapour goes out of the window.

In our first house I used the baathroom. I now have utility room. Once the washing is dry I fold the rack away flat against the wall.

storynanny Mon 13-Mar-23 15:12:18

I hang out if it’s not forecast to rain
If it’s likely to rain during the day I peg it all on a plastic concertina airer and drag it back in through the patio doors

maytime2 Mon 13-Mar-23 15:16:38

I have never had a tumble dryer and for years in my previous house I used a traditional line with a pulley etc. When pulled up the clothes were about 10ft off the ground and dried in no time
In this new house the garden is quite small. I did not want a rotary line as it would take up too much room and would not dry the clothes very well in winter.
I got my son to screw coach hooks on the wooden fence panels. I bought bandolier clips to which I attached some washing line. I slip the clips on to the coach hooks and also use a prop to push the line as high as possible.
My clothes dry very well, even in winter, and I can take the washing line down in a couple of seconds when not in use.

NotSpaghetti Mon 13-Mar-23 15:16:39

I don't like rotary lines. I like my washing in a line, on the line. grin

Norah Mon 13-Mar-23 15:22:03

pen50 I have a big four arm rotary and found myself in the garden, in the rain, at seven this morning hauling in yesterday's washing - which then had to go in the dryer anyway.

You asked advice.

I hate to waste time, I use my dryer; never faff around hanging and bringing in wet. I think dryers are effective to keeping humidity lower in my home. Quickly dry laundry, fluffy, no ironing if folded instantly.

Mollygo Mon 13-Mar-23 15:32:52

I have a four arm rotary dryer which I use if the weather forecast is good whilst I’m at work. Otherwise I use a clothes airier with wings and also hang laundry on upstairs doorframes. DD recommends an heated airer. She says it’s cheap to run and, with a cover on doesn’t steam the room up.

Redhead56 Mon 13-Mar-23 16:54:50

My son fixed a dryer to the wall at the side of our house. I use it on dry days the only problem is it's a stretch up to peg the washing on. My son is 6ft 6 and overlooked his mum is over a foot shorter! We have a large landing so sheets etc go there. I have clothes airers in the conservatory and spare bedroom. I do have a tumble driver its not often in use but handy to have.

GagaJo Mon 13-Mar-23 20:11:28

I don't have a dryer. They eat energy. There are three of us living in my house, one a toddler who is constantly mucking up clothes needing a change.

Keep a gimlet eye on the weather forecast. Do as much as you can at the weekend when you can dash in and out if it rains.

During the week, wash the bigger things, so you don't have to work out where to hang hundreds of socks and knickers if it gets wet again outside.

Make the most of dry or windy patches to get all laundry done then if you do hit a rainy patch of weather, you can go a few days without doing laundry.

Take laundry in at night. Put it on a clothes horse indoors to finish off if it still feels a little damp.

It can be done but you have to be organised.

AreWeThereYet Mon 13-Mar-23 20:50:43

You can buy waterproof covers for rotary driers like this

www.chimneysheep.co.uk/product/laundry-mac-outdoor-laundry-protector/

Don't know how well they work, probably not well in a heavy downpoor but may be good enough for a brief unexpected shower.

pen50 Tue 14-Mar-23 06:21:04

AreWeThereYet

You can buy waterproof covers for rotary driers like this

www.chimneysheep.co.uk/product/laundry-mac-outdoor-laundry-protector/

Don't know how well they work, probably not well in a heavy downpoor but may be good enough for a brief unexpected shower.

I've got one. It works, sort of, but not when it's windy ☹️. And I live in the West Country.

Might have been better made of strong clear plastic.

Hetty58 Tue 14-Mar-23 06:35:06

I dry stuff on a large wheeled airer in the laundry room. A dehumidifier run on laundry mode gets it all dry in a couple of hours.

If the weather's breezy and dry I just leave the window open instead. In summer, the airer goes outside - where I can wheel it under the pergola if there's a chance of rain.

I never dry things in the house, though - as I've seen just how much water the dehumidifier collects.

JackyB Wed 15-Mar-23 12:45:49

For someone who is still working full time, I would recommend "little and often".

The advantages are:

* Washing is not all squashed together in the machine and will not be too creased

* Fewer items hanging on the dryer means that the air can circulate better between them and they dry quicker and stay fresher

* Doing a daily wash will help it to become a habit - part of your daily routine and not having to hang out so much on any given day will mean that you don't get overwhelmed by the thought of "all that washing to do"