How do you get your washing dry in winter?

Just wondering what everyone does in the cooler months in regards to drying their washing?
The reason I ask is we have a long carport that runs the length of the house with a washing line that DH built for me, I also have one of those foldable things on wheels thats mainly used for cloth nappies. All this used to be sufficient pre DS but now I need washing to dry quicker - plus there is alot more of it these days! In winter the washing doesn't get rained on but it can take 2 days for it to dry if the air is damp with no wind, or the wind is driving rain under the carport roof.
Getting a dryer would be great but it isn't an option for us unfortunately. I'm worried about the power bill & DH is a sparky who thinks they're a fire hazard :redface:
What do you all do in winter?

We have a wood fire so I dry clothes on the hearth next to it, they dry overnight. I also use the drier.

A friend of mine with ducted heating puts their clothes horses over the vent in the bathroom and shuts the door to make it nice and warm. Her clothes dry really quickly.

i put the wet clothes on coat hangers and hang them up inside on a cothes rack.

They generally take about 1 day to dry inside.

If not the clothes line, I use the dryer.. I have for mmm EVER now used a dryer and never had a issue regarding fire etc. BUt i think you DH would know more about that being a sparky then me!

A clothes horse in front of the heater. We now have a reverse cycle air con that is our heater, and it works brilliantly to dry the clothes.

We have an undercover clothes line too, but in Winter the clothes still stay damp. Sometimes, i hang them there then bring them in at night for a burst under the heater to finish them off.

will see how we go with a bub this winter

We have a camping clothes line (looks lik a normal clothes line but smaller & folds up) I hang everything on that & put it in the spare room if we have the ducted heating on or the dining room if its not on. If we need something urgently I stick it in the dryer but I try not to use it if I dont have to

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A friend of mine with ducted heating puts their clothes horses over the vent in the bathroom and shuts the door to make it nice and warm. Her clothes dry really quickly.

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this is what we do, our second bathroon is quiet big, i can fit 3-4 clothes horses in it, and with the ducted heating on , stuff dries really quickly!
in our old house we only had one bathroom, we added a wardrobe clothes rail above the bath and hung everything that could go on hanger on that to dry then the rest on a clothes horse, worked a treat

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this is what we do, our second bathroon is quiet big, i can fit 3-4 clothes horses in it, and with the ducted heating on , stuff dries really quickly!
in our old house we only had one bathroom, we added a wardrobe clothes rail above the bath and hung everything that could go on hanger on that to dry then the rest on a clothes horse, worked a treat

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That's a good idea Olive!

A friend of mine had a 'drying cupboard' installed in the area of the wall behind/next to her heater flue. It is the best idea ever! Her clothes dry so quickly. I'd kill for a drying cupboard :lol: but we have an exposed flue.

i use a combo of the dryer and a clothes horse - depends on how quickly i need the clothes! - We have ducted heating so i usually put the clothes horse in our spare room and close the door and open the vent on the ducted heating :)

Snap Olive!

A clothes airer/clothes horse. And the 6' long baby gate. And the backs of chairs. Shirts and blouses are put on hangers and hung from the archway between the sitting room and the kitchen. When we were in a tiny studio flat, the airer and the bath were used.

I also put emergency clothes over radiators just so they get that little bit more heat. But if it's dry and windy, so long as it's above freezing the washing goes out. Gives it that little bit more help.

Worst case, there's always the dryer.

I have two clothes horses, it takes at least a day and a half (or it did in our old house) for things to dry on them. In our new place we have a wood fire so I'm hoping that will dry them faster as I average 2-3 loads every couple of days, that's nappies and clothes, so not including towels/sheets etc.

I'm thinking we might need a dryer this winter because of the sheer volume of washing I'm doing now, but will wait and see how things go before we purchase a money muncher like that!

I use a clothes airer to dry clothes. Sometimes I use the dryer to finish things off

Unless it is raining I hang out what I can so it can get mostly dry. If it is needed then it goes in the dryer on a low setting to finish off. Otherwise it goes on a clothes horse next to the heater. DH hates the clothes being inside, but he had realised that cost wise we can't throw it all through the dryer.

Clothes horses in bathroom or dryer.

We have an assortment of drying options:

Clothes horse in front of the heater is preferred among them.
We also have a line under the shed which does well except when it's really cold and damp.
I also have a movable clothes rack which shirts on coathangers tend to get hung on in the spare room. If I want them to dry faster the coathangers get hung on the end of the clothes horse in front of the heater.

But we also have a clothes dryer - we do use it from time to time when things are banking up or we just CBF.

For the last 10 years my clothesline was in the verandah & I just left stuff on there for a couple of days if necessary. We moved in November & I was so excited to have a clothesline out in the sun. Its rained almpst every day for the last month - I have 3 airers full of washing & shirts on coathangers hanging off the bookcase & I chuck things in the drier after a day or two to finish off when I have the next load ready to hang.

On a clothes airer in the lounge if we have the heater on. When we turn the heater off to go to bed, we move it into our computer room and turn the fan on. Uses less energy & dries just as well that way instead of using the heater!

I've got 2 big clotheshorses and I also use all of my chairs including bar stools. I use the chairs mostly overnight though and the warmth from the heater gives them a good helping hand to dry. My favourite trick is to have the clotheshorse in from of a sunny Nth facing window to use free solar energy so it ends up in the boys bedrooms often!

I hang it out on clothesline if it's not raining and it will sit there for a couple of days if not needed. Otherwise I bring it in semi dry and put on clothes horse in front of heater to finish off, get dampness out.

When it's raining and damp my lounge / dining are lost under clothes horses and hanging stuff :D and when desperate or lazy they go in dryer.

Towels generally go for a finish in dryer to get them nice and fluffy.

Dryer!!!! (or wet weather)

I loved reading everyones replies :lol: I wish we had ducted heating - sounds great for drying things!!
We have 9 foot ceilings, so I was thinking of putting something up in the laundry like a rail to hang coathangers on. May as well utilise the available space!! Or maybe even lash out & install one of those retractable lines in there.

clothes horse over ducted heating vent or the dryer...prefer not to use the dryer though....

Not really helpful if you dont have big ceilings, we have cathedral ceilings and we have a clothes line that sits close to the roof, we hoist it down to put the clothes on and hoist it back up, and in winter, all the clothes dry quite quickly as we have a wood heater in the room. But we still dont have a washing line outside and it works during summer too!

We have a coonara going night and day in winter so we hang clothes on a couple of clothes horses in the same room as the coonara. I usually do one cycle of the dryer just with the undies, bras and socks in it.

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Not really helpful if you dont have big ceilings, we have cathedral ceilings and we have a clothes line that sits close to the roof, we hoist it down to put the clothes on and hoist it back up, and in winter, all the clothes dry quite quickly as we have a wood heater in the room. But we still dont have a washing line outside and it works during summer too!

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:o that sounds so awesome!! Kind of what I'd like to do in my laundry but on a smaller scale.

A dryer!

A dryer is no more of a hazard than a washing machine - think about it...electricity and water together. If you were really that worried about it you could just make it a rule that you only run the dryer when you are at home.

Clothes horse too. We too have ducted heating.
I put socks and jocks only in the dryer in winter. Sometimes towels if I want them nice and fluffy :lol:
A GF has a Pergola and has put up a clothes line under that, seems to work too especially on the windy wet days.