Thursday, January 6, 2011

Drying the Laundry Inside - Without a Dryer

retractable clothesline for shower

Many years ago, on a business trip to London, I stayed at the Heathrow Hotel (before it was a Marriott property) - and it had a clothesline like this one in the shower. I was amazed. As someone used to toting her own clothes-drying supplies with her on vacation to handle hand-washed items, this seemed like the height of luxury. I'd never seen anything like it. (I didn't stay at such fancy hotels on my vacations!) Update on Jan. 7, 2011: Australian readers can find the product here - and probably a number of other places, too.

drying rack for bathtub

Fast forward to now - and many more neat drying options for towels, clothes or whatever. Staying in the shower - or actually, the tub - we've got the Pegasus V Laundry Drying Racks from Leifheit.


Shaker drying rack

Of course, floor racks have been around a long time - but few are as lovely as this Shaker drying rack, sold by Kiosk. A similar (or maybe the same) reproduction Shaker drying rack is sold by Hancock Shaker Village. [via Apartment Therapy]


drying rack, wood

Robbins Homegoods also makes some nice-looking drying racks which can be found many places, including Bona Fide Green Goods and Gaiam. These are made in New England from "SFI Certified (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) eastern lumber."


portable clothesline - drying rack

For a totally different look, there are the portable clothes lines from Hills of Australia - which are indeed available in the U.S., too. This is the smaller of the two sizes.


wall-mounted drying rack

And then we have the wall-mounted racks. Ballard Designs has a number of drying racks, including this accordion-style rack. Ballard Designs also has some that aren't accordion-style. [via Apartment Therapy]


wall-mounted drying rack

Robbins Homegoods, mentioned earlier, also has an accordion-style drying rack, available through a number of sites including Gaiam.


accordion-style wall-mounted drying rack

Another wall-mounted option is the Ruck Zuck from Artweger, based in Austria. Apparently the Artzeger products are available many places in Europe, and I'm also finding them in New Zealand, Australia and Singapore. Update on Jan. 10, 2011: See the comments for contact information if you live in the U.S.


clothes airer, ceiling mounted

Then there are the ceiling-mounted clothes airers. As the Laundry Maid web site says, "Traditional clothes airers have been part of British life for generations." This one comes from Cast In Style. Update on January 7, 2011: You can also find this type of airer in Australia.


ceiling-mounted dryer

And there's also the Lift ceiling dryer from Stewi, based in Switzerland; it "can be raised close to the ceiling using the pull-line."


indoor drying line; hang clothes using hangers

For another very different approach, here's Einspine's drying line, where you hang clothes using hangers.


drying rack which installs on window

And finally, another unique product: WindowDry, handcrafted in Seattle. Update on July 15, 2013: Uncommon Goods, the site currently selling this product, says it's been discontinued — so when the stock runs out, that's it.

Update on Jan. 7, 2011: See three more drying racks!

7 comments:

  1. I've had one of those folding drying racks from Robbins Homegoods that I bought from Gaiam for many years, and it is great. It folds quite flat, and we stow it on the back of a door in a utility closet. We air dry lots of our clothes - socks in particular. Anything elastic lasts far longer if it never goes in the dryer.

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  2. Over the bathtub! What a great idea. We hang dry a lot of shirts and jeans, this is a great concept for a drying rack. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I really like that it's adjustable.

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  3. Thanks for sharing your experience, Anonymous. I can think something looks good on the web, but that's not the same as having experience with the product.

    Tabitha, glad you like that one!

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  4. The Ruck Zuck is my favorite! Now need to see about shipping costs.

    Great post Jeri!

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  5. For those in the U.S. interested in the Ruck Zuck, I just got this information in an e-mail from someone at Artweger:

    We would ask you to contact

    Richard Bidwell
    118 Hawthorn Loop
    Crossville TN 38555
    Mobile phone: 931 510-0529
    e-mail: TNTRAVELERS@gmail.com

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  6. Great post! I've been in the market for one of these for a few months and haven't seen any of the ones you listed here (and i'm in australia, so that information was particularly helpful!).

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  7. I'm so glad you found it helpful, Robyn! (And my best wishes to everyone in Australia dealing with the horrible flooding.)

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