As you know from my recent laundry hacks post, one of my worst chores ever is washing clothes. It’s not so much that it’s difficult or messy, it’s just that you never get a sense of satisfaction from it because it’s never truly done. Even if you’ve done all the washing, there’s still the clothes you’re wearing, and then you’re right back to square one the next day. I know that technically this is true with all chores, but there’s something about seeing that one pair of pants at the bottom of the laundry basket that just makes me want to sigh and give up.
Not only is it the clothes in the basket that annoy me, but the clothes scattered all over the house that are supposedly ‘drying’. It’s officially autumn now after all, and raining as I type. Unfortunately for me, I live in a small house with no room for a tumble dryer or dishwasher or anything fancy. I don’t even have a very good airer, so usually end up hastily clearing away towels from banisters and t-shirts from the top of doors when people come over.
My current airer is a standard massive plastic thing that takes up about half my lounge, in a very unsexy way. Lately I’ve been spending rather too much time looking at the range at Airers4you, imagining my dream drying scenarios. This is probably information I should keep to myself, but you know I’m not good at that.
Inspired by Airers4you, here are a few top drying tips for you:
Keep it fresh
I think it’s always best to put clothes outside to dry if possible – that way they get the most air to them, plus I don’t have to look at them. Also, the clothes don’t end up smelling a bit oniony after I’ve cooked a curry and forgotten to put the clothes away from around the house. Unfortunately, I can’t really do this too often as we have a shared garden and I don’t think the neighbours want to be sharing in the view of my old pants hung up on a line.
BUT… If I had a Ruckzuck, I could attach it to an outside wall, and tada! The Ruckzuck can be used indoors too, but is weatherproof, so a great solution for teeny gardens.
Hang it out properly, not like a goon
One of the most important things in making sure your laundry actually stands a chance of drying is to hang it out carefully, and not just chuck it at the airer, like everyone else in my family seems to do. One of my most used phrases as a parent must be ‘you need to spread the clothes OUT, how do you ever think something is going to dry bunched up like THAT?’
It’s true though, you have to give the clothes as much room to breathe as possible so that they can dry properly, even if this means washing less things at once to fit them all onto your airer/radiators/randomly flung over the back of an armchair.
Make good use of your space
Although it might not feel like it in our house, there are always odd bits of space going under-utilised. Like the bath. Quite often I’ll hang shirts on hangers from the shower curtain rails, but the Rolldry is a very nifty retractable washing line that would be perfect between the opposite walls over a bath. It provides up to 69 feet of drying space, and then fits neatly away when it’s not in use.
Ingenious!
Do you have any top drying tips?
Images – Airers4you and Stephen Clarke/shutterstock. Sponsored post.
I was moaning about trying to dry clothes today…. its’ raining here, so can’t hang them outside so currently have clothes drapped over anything i can around the house! I need one of those Rolldry’s i think!
An extra spin cycle on the washer tend to help clothes dry quicker. We have a tumble dryer but I’m like scrooge and only like to use it if I absolutely have to!
This is such a useful post as we head into winter and it gets harder to dry clothes outdoors. Thanks xx
It was my brother’s 40th recently and I was threatening to buy him one of those heated airing racks that I’ve seen (and yes, I admit it) lusted after in Lakeland. Living in what seems to be the damp capital of the west country I think it’s only a matter of time until we get one. Well – after we get a house big enough to house one, that is. And win the lottery to pay for the power. But I can dream, can’t I?
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When I wrote this I did wonder if I might be becoming a bit old and dull, but I see now that PEOPLE CARE about drying washing! Whereabouts are you living now Clare?
Ugh. Drying laundry used to really frustrate me when we lived in the flat, I never thought to hang anything over the bath! Genius idea x
Ah! I used cry while drying laundry because previously I lived in an area in which it was raining most of the time. I used to just spread all the clothes inside my home all over will I was out. Those were so messy days of my life.
Having washing drying in every spare bit of our house drives me crazy! Last year I bought one of the heated airers from Lakeland which has decreased my stress level by miles – it is brilliant!
As kid growing up we never had a dryer. My mom would make my 2 brothers and I go outside and hang our clothes all the time. It was also the time she would notice how many clothespins we busted up playing around and doing all of our shenanigans. She would get mad of course! This reminded me of my kid memories!