Tumble Dryers

I run my towels for about 30 minutes in our combo unit (condenser dryer) and then I hang my towels over the bar that suspends the shower curtain in the bathroom and they're dry in about 2 hours. I also have a dehumidifier and with that my clothes are dry within 24 hours (as long as I pre dry them in the dryer for 30 minutes).

I run my towels for about 30 minutes in our combo unit (condenser dryer) and then I hang my towels over the bar that suspends the shower curtain in the bathroom and they're dry in about 2 hours. I also have a dehumidifier and with that my clothes are dry within 24 hours (as long as I pre dry them in the dryer for 30 minutes).

I want a dehumidifier so bad!! I keep telling my husband.  That is next on the list, after Christmas is over and we have more money.   We don't have a shower rail as we don't have a shower and if we did we would have to get one of those thingys that are like a circle (there's no opposing wall to attach a rail to).  The shower is also on the list.  It's actually a long list.  Sometimes I feel like we've gone back in time 100 years or so moving up here, and it isn't always in a good way.

Not every place here is compatible with a tumble dryer, as you need to put the vent somewhere. You can hang it out a window... but.... not always what you want to do. Our house is over a hundred years old, so there isn't anywhere to put a vent for a tumble dryer. But, I couldn't live without one, either, and hanging clothes all over the radiators during winter because of the rain and then having to iron all of them because they were crunchy was not part of my ideal lifestyle. I absolutely HATED it.

But, now we have a condenser dryer, which is just fine. I had never used one before, but it works great. It takes about an hour to dry a load of laundry, and the water from the laundry is pulled into a big plastic tub, which you have to empty when it fills. Other than that, it works like a normal dryer. It can make things a bit humid in the kitchen, though, so we usually crack a window if it isn't too cold, especially if we are drying more than one load of laundry. Our house came with integrated appliances, and the washing machine was built into the kitchen cabinets, but we had to buy our own dryer. I think we are the only people we know who have a dryer. 

Our radiators get really hot so stuff dries pretty quickly.  I'm constantly fussing, putting the heavier things on the hottest radiator, then rotating when they get dry--taking them off and moving other things over. 

One of the most annoying aspects of UK life is hanging out your washing on a sunny morning and going off to work, only for it to rain late in the afternoon (most likely all the clothes would have been just about dry at that point) while both you and hubby are at work. 

We have this electric dryer thing that looks like a tall umbrella with a plastic tent thing over it.  You hang stuff up inside off of the "umbrella ribs" and zip it up.  It takes hours to dry anything and the more stuff you put in there, the longer it takes.  I used to use it on rainy days when it was too warm for the radiators, but now I can't use it anymore--hubby had a look at our electric bill and it was just using up way too much energy and costing us far too much. 

Our radiators get really hot so stuff dries pretty quickly.  I'm constantly fussing, putting the heavier things on the hottest radiator, then rotating when they get dry--taking them off and moving other things over. 

This is me!
In summer when the heatings not on, stuff takes a couple of days to dry, but in winter with the fire on, it dries in a few hours... if i stay on top of it and do what you do, moving stuff around, flipping it over, etc.   

This is me!
In summer when the heatings not on, stuff takes a couple of days to dry, but in winter with the fire on, it dries in a few hours... if i stay on top of it and do what you do, moving stuff around, flipping it over, etc.   

Yeah, there's definitely an art to it--what a faff!

We must have good radiators because our laundry dries very quickly on them in the winter. We also have a dehumidifier.  It's so windy here that my laundry generally dries outside on the line within a couple hours too.  I'm often at home on/of during the day so I can bring clothes in if it starts to rain, but when I get a job I won't be doing line drying so much.  When I get a job we're moving to a bigger house and I'm going to have a tumble dryer even if I have to vent it out a window. 

Just as another contribution...Lakeland sell a heated clothes dryer (so like a normal airer that plugs in and heats up like a radiator) that is collapsable.  I'm VERY tempted to get one, as we plan on using cloth nappies and have no tumble dryer!