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We have had a "drop down airer" when we lived in a flat and it was really good...had very high ceilings so it was up and out of the way. In the barn we are about to put one near the woodburner this year. Last year we draped clothes overnight on the hand rail (mezannine level) and that dried well, but tended to drop down. Also have one of those multiarm/peg things for socks and small items. Found a "drop down airer in Ik** which was better than the lakeland one..that was bigger but the poles kept slipping out of the brackets so returned it.
Trinder..hope your back improves soon...very heroic of you to brave the winds to hang the washing out, especially with a bad back...your halo will light the night sky!

I used to have a 'dropdown airer' above the stairs, as there is plenty of headroom there. a bit embarrassing when visitors call, but the heat travelled up the stairs from the ground floor and dried everything promptly. I stood on the landing to load it.
Alas, I couldn't get it safely into the ceiling again after I took it down during decoration

We've not ever had a tumble dryer but we do move house every eighteen months so we've had to experiment. I have three clothes horses and generally I've found the following to help:

- clothes dry faster upstairs (probably becaue heat rises).
- clothes dry faster in the bed room (possibly because bodies heat the room)
- sometimes you do have to just have two pairs of the essentials, so while one's drying you're wearing the other
- putting the clothes horse next to the open door of the airing cupboard helps
- accepting that clothes are often crunchy when you first put them on helps (especially if you don't use fabric conditioner)

I don't think we'd ever have a tumble dryer now. Both sets of parents have them and they're just annoying: loud, smelly and take up too much room as you can't fold them up and put them away.

We have a tumble dryer in the garage, but hardly use it ( its days are numbered!) I use a laundry maid ( i think thats what its called) metal brackets with wooden slats and a pully system. we have had it hanging over our cooker for about 5 years. The only problem is that you have to remember to take the washing down before you cook anything potant, or the clothes smell of what you have been cooking. curry scented clothes isn't a great laundrey smell!!

Washing line and if it's raining use the radiators. Although drying indoors does release water vapour which has to go somewhere. We bought a second hand spin dryer a few years ago and it's proved to be a good investment. Much better at getting water out than the washing machine spincycle.

We just have a clothes horse in the spare room, next to the economy 7 heater in the winter, in the spare room. Only problem is it gets a little damp in there so I do have to scrub mould off the windows occasionally.

Although I still hang washing out in the winter - it doesn't have to be warm, so long as there is a brisk breeze.

I love hanging washing out and seeing it blowing in the breeze!

snapdragon wrote: Alternatively i did see a sort of tent with netting sides that goes over a rotary dryer so stuff can dry outside.

You could just get one of those cheap gazebos and put that over the rotary drier. It should be ok unless the rain's coming down sideways like it does in Scotland.

Thanks for the tips.

I am moving to a very old house in the next few weeks - no central heating and don't want a tumble dryer, so will use the tips listed

Keep windows open seems to be a top tip!

battybird wrote:We have had a "drop down airer" when we lived in a flat and it was really good...had very high ceilings so it was up and out of the way.

what is a drop down airer? and where can I get one?

I looove the look of the lakeland heated airer, but £80 seems a lot of money...

a few lines of polyprop over the woodburner have always worked for me in the winter . . . But then, i don't have kids, and i don't mind smelling like mr fawkes . . . Dries quite quick, tho.

that_sarah_girl wrote:what is a drop down airer? and where can I get one?

I bought mine from an old-fashioned hardware shop that's now disappeared - but you might still be lucky. Otherwise search online for Victorian airer as that's what they seem to be sold as.

Sheila maid is another name for them although I utterly confused the man in the hardware shop once asking for a party susan by mistake! (Party susan is a rotating serving dish all the rage in the 70s - mum had one from Tupperware I think )

Well 'Party Susan' is a nicer name than the one I know them by - Lazy Susan!

I often dry my washing inside and as we are in an old house with old windows we suffer with condensation which is unsightly and causes mould. I also don't think that much water vapour inside is healthy for my young family. Opening windows can help but through the winter not only does that mean we get cold but I'm wasting energy and money heating my house to them let all the heat escape into the world! Is a dehumidifier worth getting? And are they expensive to run?

P&P
I use a dehumidifier and I do find it really good. They do help to keep the house warm so I imagine that the cost of running them will be partially offset by a reduction in your heating costs. I'm sure I read somewhere that they are cheaper to run than an extractor fan as they don't chuck all your warm air outside.

I use the water to water my indoor plants so that's not wasted either.

For drying clothes, I find that the dehumidifier will dry a load in 24 hours.

Zoe