Drying the Laundry Inside - Without a Dryer

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.



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.




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]




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."




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.




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]




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




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.




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.




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."




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




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!