Drying clothes can be a challenge at this time of year when the weather’s cold and wet, so I put this hack to the test to see if it would speed things up
Tumble dryers are expensive to run, but it can be tricky to dry clothes in the home in autumn and winter – which is why heated airers have become so popular in recent years.
I think I could really do with a heated airer at home, but I’ve been putting off buying one of a couple of reasons: they’re quite expensive (large ones with covers can be upwards of £150), and they can take up a lot of storage space when not in use, which I don’t have. So in an attempt to try other methods before splashing out, I took to the internet for advice – and found this trick that won’t cost you anything extra.
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Both friends of mine and various internet forums suggested created a sort of DIY heated airer by placing a regular clothes airer in front of a radiator when it’s on, and then hooking a fitted sheet down the back of the radiator and over the airer. This supposedly heats the air inside the ‘tent’ you’ve created and traps it, drying the clothes inside quicker.
Even better, it doesn’t cost you anything except for the cost of the central heating.
I gave it a go and, despite being initially dubious, I was surprised to find that, when I can back to it after about an hour, the air underneath the sheet was surprisingly warm – much warmer than if I hadn’t used the sheet. It’s definitely not a speedy process, but it does make a slight difference.
One extra piece of advice that came up a lot was to also use a dehumidifier nearby or under the sheet to draw out moisture from the clothes quicker and avoid damp in the home. I think that would definitely have made a big difference in my experiment – but again, it’s another upfront cost I was hoping to avoid.
If you do want to buy one, however, this is one deal that’s too good to ignore. The 20L/day Dehumidifier is currently reduced on Amazon down from £799.99 to just £89.99.
Meanwhile if you do want to treat yourself to a heated airer – and I think I might end up doing so at some point – the Lakeland Dry:Soon models continue to be amongst the most popular – and are currently on sale too. I was strongly advised to get the 3-Tier Heated Airer and Cover Bundle, now down from £244.98 to £204.98.