Getting Clothes dry in Winter

Tae laidir

We still use our trusty Clothes Line in the back garden. And being the 'Weather Person', it falls upon me to schedule the household laundry. But alas, all too often, damp clothes flutter limply from our clothes line for days on end, or else almost dry clothes get soaked by sudden showers.
I know from experience that good drying weather depends on Temperature, Humidity, Wind & Precipitation.
But what is the correct mixture, and how can I forecast it?

dexter647

A tumble dryer is a must in this country...

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dexter647 wrote: »

A tumble dryer is a must in this country...

We bought the in-laws one a few years ago. They hang the clothes in the attic and with -20 or so outside they take an age to dry.

Do you think they use it ? No.... electricity is too expensive. They have the heat on in the house 24/7 for 6 months.

highdef

Have to say, just get a tumble dryer.....the savings in time for ironing and the transport of clothes to and from the washing line versus bunging everything into the tumble dryer is well worth it - most stuff can be tumble dried

Jellybaby1

I tried for decades to be eco-friendly. Have to admit the Irish weather won the battle, I caved and bought a dryer. Now with an empty nest I don't need to use it too often but it is definitely a godsend in the winter. Clothes lines are for summer.

Lyle Lanley

Tumble dryer is expensive, not just in electricity costs but in wear to clothes. My solution was to move to the Carribbean. My clothes dry fast but the sun and salt destroy them anyway. There's just no winning.

the_pen_turner

build a roof over the line.
we did and its great.

my poor tortured hands

Use a dessicant dehumidifier and a clothes horse.

The dessicant dehumidifers will take in damp air and blow out dry warm air. Very good for the clothes compared to using a tumble dryer. I have one which cost about 150 euro and it fans the warm air back and forth so clothes on a horse a few feet away dry nicely and reliably. Sheets from the bed can be washed and dryed in a single day. The water collects into a tank which holds 3 liters and it might fill in half a day.

Dessicant dehumidifiers are different to refridgerent dehumidifiers. The dessicant ones work much better at low temperatures, like <15 deg C.

K.Flyer

A few weeks after we bought our first tumble dryer the outside clothes line got taken down.
Clothes and sheets are now washed, dried, folded and put away all within in a few hours.
A full load in our condensing tumble dryer only costs a couple of euro, time saved, no spiders or bird sh!t, no damp or mould from giving up on them drying outdoors and then trying to dry them on radiators.

the_pen_turner

the_pen_turner wrote: »

build a roof over the line.
we did and its great.

Serious question does it work in very wet humid conditions or do you just leave the clothes out until they eventually dry.

LushiousLips

Do people put heavy clothes like jeans from machine straight to dryer? They must take an age to dry.
I use a clothes horse in the kitchen, near the rad. After 2 days on the horse finish them off in the dryer for 15ish mins.

Tazio

my poor tortured hands wrote: »

Use a dessicant dehumidifier and a clothes horse.

The dessicant dehumidifers will take in damp air and blow out dry warm air. Very good for the clothes compared to using a tumble dryer. I have one which cost about 150 euro and it fans the warm air back and forth so clothes on a horse a few feet away dry nicely and reliably. Sheets from the bed can be washed and dryed in a single day. The water collects into a tank which holds 3 liters and it might fill in half a day.

Dessicant dehumidifiers are different to refridgerent dehumidifiers. The dessicant ones work much better at low temperatures, like <15 deg C.

+1 for the dehumidifier. Can get 2 load done in a day.

K.Flyer

LushiousLips wrote: »

Do people put heavy clothes like jeans from machine straight to dryer? They must take an age to dry.
I use a clothes horse in the kitchen, near the rad. After 2 days on the horse finish them off in the dryer for 15ish mins.

With heavy wet items like jeans and bath towels the trick is to give them a second run through the spin cycle. Then straight into the dryer and all dry and folded within a couple of hours.
The days of waiting for a day or two for clothes to dry are long gone for us and there is no difference in wear and tear.

my poor tortured hands

Jeans don't really need to be washed. I am serious about that and some manufacturers would agree with me. Perhaps after about ten to fifteen wears. I'm talking about jeans worn by adults here.

Towels are used to dry yourself after you have cleaned yourself. So the towels only get damp, not dirty. They do need to be washed occassionally but not after every use, or even after every three uses. After a shower I put my towels on a clothes horse where they dry off and I re-use them. I use several big towels each time so none of them get very wet.


Tumble dryers are very heavy users of electricity. Dehumidifiers are better for the clothes, and for the environment and they warm and dry your house nicely when you use one. No more condensation problems either in unheated bedrooms.

highdef

You can't beat super soft towels out of the tumble drier (and everything else really), versus the hard rough towels when you hang the stuff outside.

When I wash the bedsheets, I take them off in the morning, bung them in the wash. When done, bung them in the tumble. They come out so soft and crease free so no ironing required (this goes for virtually everything that gets tumble dried so this means no need to use an iron except the odd time and we all know that irons are also very heavy on electricity consumption) and then fresh, clean, soft, crease free sheets can be back on the bed by lunchtime or thereabouts.

Amirani

People's attitude to the cost of running a tumble dryer is bizarre. It's not that expensive, and many of the same people would have no problem running heating 24/7 trying to get clothes dry.

K.Flyer

my poor tortured hands wrote: »

Jeans don't really need to be washed. I am serious about that and some manufacturers would agree with me. Perhaps after about ten to fifteen wears. I'm talking about jeans worn by adults here.

I would agree to a point on this, typical denim jeans should go several wears, at least a week or more, without the need to wash them unless they get covered in mud or food.

Towels are used to dry yourself after you have cleaned yourself. So the towels only get damp, not dirty. They do need to be washed occassionally but not after every use, or even after every three uses.

This again I agree to a point, a bath towel should last a week, showering each day. Hotels try to encourage people to not throw towels into laundry after one use, but to hang them up and get several uses from them.

Tumble dryers are very heavy users of electricity.

We differ here, we have one of those smart meters that show consumption etc, and indications show it only costs us a couple of euro to dry a full load.

Jellybaby1

Ditto for the soft towels in the dryer. Didn't think of a dehumidifier, will check it out. Not sure I'd go along with towels being clean after you dry after a shower, mainly because you are leaving particles of skin on the towels. Use a towel for several days and it will start to smell.

heldel00

my poor tortured hands wrote: »

Use a dessicant dehumidifier and a clothes horse.

The dessicant dehumidifers will take in damp air and blow out dry warm air. Very good for the clothes compared to using a tumble dryer. I have one which cost about 150 euro and it fans the warm air back and forth so clothes on a horse a few feet away dry nicely and reliably. Sheets from the bed can be washed and dryed in a single day. The water collects into a tank which holds 3 liters and it might fill in half a day.

Dessicant dehumidifiers are different to refridgerent dehumidifiers. The dessicant ones work much better at low temperatures, like <15 deg C.

What make of dehumidifier have you? There are so many to choose from and prices vary massively. I'd be very inyerested in getting one.

h3000

Another vote for a dehumidifier. We find it brilliant.

Dial Hard

I hate tumble dryers, always have. There was one in our house when we moved in and I think we used it once. The element went in it about two years ago and we haven't bothered to replace it. We dry on the line in the summer and on the clothes horse in a well-ventilated spare room in the winter. No issues with mould or damp and we most certainly do not have the heating on 24/7 to dry the clothes *rolly eyes*

I will allow that there are only two of us, though, so we're not trying to get through several loads a week.

Seriously, though, are there actually people out there who wash jeans and towels after every use???

the_pen_turner

Deleted User wrote: »

the_pen_turner wrote: »

build a roof over the line.
we did and its great.

Serious question does it work in very wet humid conditions or do you just leave the clothes out until they eventually dry.

. It does work. A lot slower when wet.
There is often drying between the showers

Mousewar

I don't have a dryer but I've started doing 3 loads of washing in the machine and then taking it all to the local garage with they have one of those industrial driers. It takes the whole lot and dries it in about 45 mins for 8 euro. My kid will also sit there happily watching it for the whole time so it doubles up as an outing for him

Floki

A small clear polytunnel for the clothesline and few flowers or whatever.
Problem solved.

axe2grind

House has mechanical heat recovery ventilation (MHRV). Clothes rack on pullies over washing machine takes a full load and most clothes dry overnight. Dry quicker in winter as humidity in house is lower.

ronnie3585

Invest in a heat pump tumble dryer. They take longer to dry than the older types of tumble dryer, however they're massively more energy efficient (especially on a night rate tariff) and they're much easier on your clothes.

We got one recently and it's made life so much easier. We stick a load on overnight and it's done in the morning, nice dry clothes. Was so glad to put away the clothes horse for good!

They are expensive but you will see a return on your investment if you use it regularly.

shaunr68

the_pen_turner wrote: »

build a roof over the line.
we did and its great.

Similar setup here, clothes lines hanging under a hay shed. Even in damp weather the clothes dry in a few days flapping in the wind. I don't want moisture in the house and am not going to run a tumble dryer when the breeze will do the job for free.

Been meaning to build a clothes pulley system so I can winch the washing up under the shed roof out of the way.

highdef

Oh, I should have added that I have cheap night rate electricity as I have an electric car so running costs for me are likely to be lower than a lot of people as the tumble drier is only used at night. It's quite a new machine too and it is A rated for effeciency

Cee-Jay-Cee

We have a large walk in hotpress and put the clothes on a clothes horse in it, we also have a back boiler and so the heat in the hotpress is usally intense. Everything is bone dry in less than a day.

We also have a condenser tumble drier (as I didn't want to have to put a large vent hole in the cavity wall which would be needed with a vented drier.

I seen a mobile clothes drying canopy type thing on the net recently, basically a moveable shed like structure with corrugated sides and openings which the wind can blow through but the rain cant get at the clothes.

Afollower

LushiousLips wrote: »

Do people put heavy clothes like jeans from machine straight to dryer? They must take an age to dry.
I use a clothes horse in the kitchen, near the rad. After 2 days on the horse finish them off in the dryer for 15ish mins.

I put a dry clean bath towel in with every load and it speeds up the drying time because the towel absorbs the moisture from the wet clothes quickly resulting in a faster drying time.

Sunny Dayz

We splashed out on a tumble drier last winter. IMO it was well worth the spend and electricity. Before then I was struggling to get clothes washed and dried in the winter, towels were taking an age to dry either inside or outside. I'm normally at home for my lunch hour and I just couldn't trust the weather - I could hang out a load in the morning and they could get soaked while I'm in work. Or I'd be looking out the window for some good drying weather. It always felt like trying to get the laundry done was hanging over me. I also was restricted in how many loads I could do as we only had room for one clothes horse and it felt like it was a permanent fixture in the house all winter.


Now I can have a load in the wash machine, another load in the drier and any delicates, quick drying materials and sports clothes go on the clothes horse. - and I get through the laundry far quicker! In the summer I made a point not to use the drier and stuck to it.

Rikand

Lyle Lanley wrote: »

My solution was to move to the Carribbean. .

Glad to see you got out of North Haverbrook relatively unscathed

lazeedaisy

We bought a condenser dryer over 4 years ago, really need to take it out of the box, it's still in the shed!

Nettle Soup

I always found Tumble dryers absolutely ruined clothes.

citytillidie

What about those heated clothes horse does anyone have one of those?

Dubh Geannain

From 2013 so needs adjustment for inflation

Almost everyone has appliance anxiety about using their tumble dryer. ''It costs a fortune" your dad would say when he caught you using it to dry your favourite jeans. This adage stays with you into your adult years and plays over and over in your head every time you dare to use it.

So was your dad right? How much does a tumble dryer actually cost to run?

Typically a Tumble dryer costs 50 cents to dry a 5kg average load of clothes. For the same 50 cent you can....

Cook your roast lamb in an electric oven for 3 hours
Boil two full kettles of water each day for 8 days
Watch TV for 4 hours per night for a week (modern large screen TV)
Use the hairdryer for 10 minutes a day for 2 months

Making a couple of assumptions, I guess our tumble dryer is costing us € 7 a week. So € 56 to our bi-montly phone bill probably at worst (14 loads per week).

Vodafone just today were looking for me to pay an extra € 60 every two months for their television package.


As a exercise you could measure the value of your spare time versus the cost of running the thing and perhaps include what you would expect to get paid for an hours work.
Its very subjective and depends on how efficient you are are at hanging out the clothes, taking them in and ironing them. But you'd do well to get all 14 loads done in an hour. If you did though and you're paid more than € 7 an hour then it comes down to a case of how much you value your spare time. I'd imagine 2 hours and therefore € 3.50 is more realistic.

I know the logic is a little simplistic because it doesn't account things like thinking green, clothes wear, enjoyment of ironing, cost of running the iron, extra calorie intake required due to more physical exertion, smell of clothes, religious beliefs etc.

Just food for thought and I certainly don't apply this logic all the time especially when it comes to the likes of DIY :rolleyes:


TL;DR
Been using a tumble dryer for over a decade in two different houses. Never lost a nights sleep over the electricity bills. I'm more paranoid about the central heating ironically.

SCOL

I was going to build a shed out the back something like a car port, just a roof no sides for drying.

gozunda

SCOL wrote: »

I was going to build a shed out the back something like a car port, just a roof no sides for drying.

^^^^ This. In Ireland it makes sense to have some form of covered washing line. Personally I wouldn't use a tumble dryer - largely based on energy consumption/ cost, fire risk and damage to clothes.

I may be showing my age - I remember these were in use when I was growing up. Basically an electrical heating unit housed in a metal cabinet which had wooden slats over which clothes were drapped

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/retro-flatley-clothes-dryer-1950s-542686686

Elmer Blooker

I'm old fashioned, I wait until theres "a good drying" day - in other words a good northwesterly or even better, a northerly. Even if there are showers they blow over very quickly. It won't get clothes completely dry as its winter and theres no strength in the sun but it will do most of the work. It makes the job of finishing them indoors a lot easier.
Warm sector Tm conditions .... don't even bother hanging out anything on the line! Tomorrow and Friday will be good drying days btw.

NicsM

citytillidie wrote: »

What about those heated clothes horse does anyone have one of those?

Yup, got one in Aldi a year or so ago as our place doesn't have a tumble dryer. It's decent for sheets and lighter clothes, while the bars do get really hot, it's not enough to thoroughly dry jeans and towels quickly.

Amazon have newer tall versions which come with covers and they're meant to be really good. We have night rate electricity so we tend to put ours on overnight and it does speed up drying so can't complain!

PixelTrawler

No tumble dryer here. Our wood burning stove in the living room has two fans. At night we just go to bed and leave the clothes on a clothes horse in front of it. Stuff is always bone dry in the morning.

We dont put any extra fuel in, you get warm air for a few hours as the steel box of the stove is hot plus the room temp easily reaches 27 to 30c with just a few logs. The air is super dry and warm. Even heavy jeans are dry.

Gonzo

just standard clothes horse in the living room and light the fire every evening, it get's the job done during autumn/winter and early spring.

Mr.Wemmick

citytillidie wrote: »

What about those heated clothes horse does anyone have one of those?

I have.. but the jury's still out, I'm afraid.

I have mine stationary in a corner of the conservatory which in Winter is a tad on the damp side so don't think the heated dryer works particularly well in a humid environment. I prefer the normal clothes dryer I have is better as I can move it about and put the clothes outside for a spell, if needs be.

A friend has her heated clothes dryer/horse in her laundry room, which has a dry and warm environment, so she swears by it and loves hers.

So, don't just take my word for it. My one is from Lakeland.

George Sunsnow

Fierce good drying out today!
Put clothes out 90 mins ago and they’re bone dry now!

waraf

Tazio wrote: »

+1 for the dehumidifier. Can get 2 load done in a day.

+2 for the dehumidifier. I find that tumble dryers tend to shrink my clothes over time.

Jellybaby1

This site also had a long list of posts on the same subject but the posters have photos of different systems available. Just thought I'd mention it.

http://www.jumbletown.ie/forums/showthread.php?t=72789

joujoujou

Despite having a tumble dryer I'm all against it. Destroying clothes when used regularly is the main factor.

I use clothes line outside in most cases (love the smell of clothes dried that way), in case of rain use clothes horse placed near radiator, no more than one night to dry.

Ms jou has similar opinion, and I must admit we actually used tumble dryer alright. Twice, in last 10 years.

Mountainsandh

I have an awning and hang clothes under it, but I find I'm using the dryer or a clothes horse inside most of the time at this time of year.
Even with an awning, there are days when drying simply doesn't happen, when humidity is such that your clothes still feel very damp 2 days later.

So most of the time, if I feel ambient humidity is bad, I won't bother hanging outside.
I need a fast turnover with uniforms, don't normally have the time to hang outside to partially dry then finish in dryer.

I'm definitely going to look at dehumidifiers in light of comments on this thread as I am conscious of humidity in the house (it's an oldish house).

Meteorite58

We use a drying shed that I made about 6 years ago. Needs to be strong as not far from the Kerry coast so heavy gauge metal poles set into concrete. Get a lot of wind and rain here but can leave out clothes in all weathers up to about 80 km/h winds . Great for leaving the clothes out all night or if heading off for the day. It has 4 lines using pulleys and cleats . Could add a couple of more lines if we needed. We use the dryer just to air the clothes quickly. Not keen on hanging clothes indoors to dry as conscious of raising the humidity in the house causing damp and mildew. I was looking at the costs others had posted and would think that the shed paid for itself maybe after a couple of years ( plus it is great for the kids to play in when it is wet and for me to use electric saws and the like doing a bit of woodwork )

flazio

No one use the radiators around their house? We have a heated towel rack in the main bathroom and it's great for the socks

joujoujou

flazio wrote: »

No one use the radiators around their house? [...]

I do, on a daily basis. But it's so obvious thing (for me) that I didn't even think to mention.