Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Drying Laundry Indoors

I like hanging my laundry to dry, but not outside during the three seasons it rains and is cold all the time. So I've purchased these drying racks and have mounted them on the wall. They lay flat when not in use.
But pop out when it's time to hang the laundry.
A full rack will stick out fairly far, but I can still get by.
I've also got an Octopus dryer in the closet for my underwear and socks.

It's handy because the clips are built in. I also think that things will dry more quickly in there because of the heat from the hot water heater. The pipes are insulated, but I can feel a temperature difference.
My goal is to use the dryer to dry my sheets (during the winter only) and let the air air-dry the rest. The dryer is typically the second biggest energy hog after the refrigerator, according to some quick googling. Our washer leaves a fair amount of water in our clothing, despite a second time through the spin cycle, and the dryer is becoming less efficient, even though we keep it clean of excess lint. So air drying is my attempt to save us some energy. I'll report back how the experiment works.

3 comments:

Sara K. said...

I also like to air dry most of my clothes. Without a yard or a balcony, that can be very interesting. I use a tension bar in the door way of the 1/2 bath and put everything on hangers. I only do this with clothing. Both of the new places we are looking at (townhomes/condos) have outdoor space - so I will see if I can rig up something to do some drying outside.

Anonymous said...

They look a little short. That could be dangerous if someone taller hits their head.

Patricia said...

While they are short, the main occupant of the room can walk under them with ease. Anyone taller will eventually get the hang of it.