Heated clothes driers.

My MIL had a ‘Flatley’ back in the day, she just hung the clothes inside it and they dried, a bit stiffly though from hanging over the wooden slats. I think she used to leave it on overnight and she couldn’t have managed without it with 4 children, football kits etc.
I’m sure the modern ones are far more efficient. But I think one tumble dried load costs about 50 p, I only dry 2 loads a week, so with the cost of the airer I don’t think I would recoup the cost very quickly. Plus I don’t have the space for one and it would depend on how quickly the clothes would dry in an airer.
It would be interesting to hear how you get on though.

Oopsadaisy, I used to have one of those when the family were young. It did cost a lot to run, but was very good.
Apparently, to tumble dry a load costs 35p an hour. Also, having the hose stuck out of the kitchen window, letting more freezing cold air in (especially with the high winds we've been having) is making the house colder than need be!
I don't have much room either, though.

Too dry to iron.

I bought one for my daughter she didn’t want to offend me but said it wasn’t useful and she showed me why it literally warmed the bits of the clothes that touched the rails the rest stayed as damp as when you put them on I sent it back and got my money returned It took me ages to get my money back too
We had a Flatly many many years back and they were much better as with a lid the enclosed heat swirled around all of the clothes but these ones only warm the bits on the actual rails

Did the one your daughter have come with a cover, BlueBelle?

Marelli my daughter has her Tumble drier in the corner of her bedroom, hose goes out of the small window and she covers it with a colourful throw when she isn’t using it, it’s very light so getting it upstairs was no problem.
Are you sure you can’t find a space somewhere?

I have a tumble dryer, but I don't like to dry certain items in it, T shirts etc, as I find it can shrink things
So I have the Lakeland heated dryer in a spare bedroom
I find it really handy and just open the window slightly, to combat condensation
I would recommend

I miss mine.

My daughter has one and as BlueBelle says it just dries the parts of the clothes that are touching it so she has to move/turn the clothes several times.Its not too bad for DGS’s little clothes but not great for theirs.It doesn’t have a cover.

Oopsadaisy, we have a small tumble drier in the corner of our tiny kitchen on a worktop and we stick the hose out of the window. I put it on this morning about 6am with all doors closed before heating came on. To dry a couple of loads has taken an hour and a half. Unsure whether to invest in one of these Lakeland ones as I'd worry about condensation.

The last thing you need is condensation, can’t you move the tumble drier into another room? It can be disguised. It does take a while to dry clothes though so unless it is ‘plumbed in ‘ the cold days will be a problem with an open window.
Won’t the airer make the clothes smell musty by the time they are dry?

Marelli, if you are considering buying something, I have heard that a dehumidifier is good at drying clothes on an airer?

I have no knowledge of said dehumidifier, just hearsay, or it may have been on here.

Perhaps someone will come and enlighten us. ?

We have the large size Lakeland heated airer and we use it for all the clothes that can’t be tumbled - some shirts, some leisure wear, many of my clothes - trousers, jackets, linen, silk, wool etc.

We use it with the cover and it doesn’t generate noticeable condensation, though we put our extractor fan on, too. If we put a load of washing on it on a Sunday afternoon, it’s dry by Monday night/Tuesday morning. We certainly haven’t noticed any significant increases in our electricity costs.

The downside is that it’s quite large and our utility room is quite small, so it takes up a significant amount of the space, when it’s erected. When it’s not in use, it folds flat and the cover zips down to a smaller size to cover it.

It’s a million times better than having a clothes horse full of damp clothes, for days and days, in the cold/wet weather. We also don’t have clothes draped over the radiators!
Our cats love to sleep under it, when it’s on, as if it’s some sort of 5* cat sauna. ?

We (and the cats) recommend it. ?

There are no musty smells ?

As I ;live in a flat and am not permitted to hang washing on the balcony, I spent sometime and a lot of research as to what I would do with my washing. I purchased one of the 'heat pump condensor' tumble dryers, which is kept in my spare bedroom, with an embroudered (by hand many years ago) cloth on it and a vase of silk flowers. No need to open any windows, all condensation takes place inside the machine, cheap to run (much cheaper than the older type dryers), It does the job brilliantly and stops itself when the clothes are dry.
A did try one of those warm air dryers with a cover a few years back, when I was first thinking of moving to a flat. Tried one for about six week, then sold it on. Took up more room than a tumble dryer, did not do the job of drying very successfully and needed a long time on.

Marelli, I have a Lakeland one, which I got as a TSV on QVC many years ago and I do like it. It is cheap to run and it does the job.
As others have said, you do have to move things about. I find it is good for things which I don't want to put in the tumble drier, or need to be dried flat.
However, I think that I went wrong, by not buying a cover for it, which speeds up the process. I have had no problems with condensation, I just leave a window open slightly or I could put on the extracter, but that would cost money! .

Sorry to go off the point slightly but a good condensing tumble dry is worth considering. It switches off when clothes reach the dryness level selected so doesn’t waste electricity by overdrying. Water is collected in a reservoir, no venting hose required.
Not all brands of condenser dryers are great so it’s worth studying reviews before purchasing.
One thing I miss is the drying rack on a pulley that we used to have on the ceiling of our utility room. That was brilliant

I bought the bigger Lakeland one for dds and a future son in law when they were living in a house with no means of drying anything in winter/on wet days.

That must be over 8 years ago now, and dd1, who recently had baby no.3, still uses it every day. There has never been any obvious condensation at all, but it’s a house where windows are regularly opened - dd is a fresh air fiend.

I used to have one and never ironed the shirts dried therein

I ditched my tumble drier when we downsized, for a variety of reasons, although we do have the space.
The house is well insulated so putting washing on an airer in the spare bedroom, dries it overnight. Door open to avoid condensation.
We did invest in a fast spinning washing machine, so most of it comes out almost dry.
I love the smell of fresh line dry washing.

I had a Flatley years ago which was used regularly but since then have used garden line or radiator. Have recently bought a small tumble dryer which I will use occasionally.
I think the new dryers need a cover to keep the heat in.

I think I'll just be sticking with my wee tumble drier. I dry the washing outside whenever possible and just finish it off in the drier if it's still a bit damp. I was thinking it would be much cheaper to run, but don't want to run the risk of condensation and my spare room might be too small. Quite fancied it though!

My daughter loves her large Lakeland drier. She didnt buy a cover but got told to throw a sheet over the top to keep the heat in. She puts it on overnight and it's on all day while she's working, everything is dry by the time she gets home. She hasn't noticed any increase in energy bill.

You re right Marelli it didn’t come with a cover I can see it might work for baby things or undies but big teens stuff and bedding etc it really wasn’t worth having it only dried the little bit on the rods