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In which we discuss the Drying of clothes using DIY equipment, not The Drying of clothes that are homemade... :-)

Has anyone experimented with DIY clothe drying. An article today on hackaday.com highlights the possibility of using ultrasound (I seem to remember some consumer products based on this tech coming out a few years back and never really catching on), and in the comments there is mention of commercial dryers based on a centrifuge design. Whilst the latter seems like it would be amenable to bodgineering, how would it differ from a conventional washing or drying machine spin-drying though? My current, rather basic, Winter economy plans comprise hanging a Sheila-maid in front of an air-to-air source heat pump (thanks Nowty). Surely that can be improved upon.

P.

I may be wrong, but years ago the "water free" / water-miser follow up Dyson washing machine was ultrasonic according to one of his engineers, before Dyson turned into a complete money driven twat.

That's as close as I can get to alt-tech for now.

We have one of those Victorian style clothes drier things, with a winch that hoists it up close to the ceiling in the utility room. Works a treat when there weather's too bad to put clothes outside to dry, although they never seem as fresh-smelling as when they've been dried outdoors. Can't really beat solar and wind for drying clothes:

OGB,

They are called pulley maids, we have one in the living room adjacent to the WBS and it dries all the family washing through the winter, being a leaky 1800's cottage there never seems to be a build up of water vapor in any of the rooms - aided by the fact that the windows in all the bedrooms are kept open around an inch throughout the winter.

Moxi

We’re lucky enough that it’s just the two of us at home and never have masses of washing - during Winter, we tend to do the washing by the weather forecast.

Always manage a few hours outside - even if it doesn’t dry completely, it reduces the moisture level significantly so that overnight on the airer inside is sufficient.

I suppose we could always invest in a stand alone spin dryer to remove more water than the automatic WM spin cycle before hanging out.

Agree with OGB, washing does seem to benefit from a blow, ideally with some sun, outside.

I've tended to do a cycle of washing then split into three piles: one of shirts and more fragile items, stuff that dries quickly and two equal piles of the remaining washing to pit through a spin and drain cycle.

Everything then dries on a clothes maid or three to an acceptable standard in some and in winter dries in front of the fire.

Given that the spin and drain doesn't use much power and removes any extra water from towels and large t shirts etc I reckon this is the most efficient way forward unless one builds a giant hand powered salad spinner...

If you have sufficient PV, a dehumidifier in a small room may suffice for most drying?

My desiccant dehumidifiers consume only ~375W on the low setting and ~750W on high power.

Oldgreybeard wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:43 pm We have one of those Victorian style clothes drier things, with a winch that hoists it up close to the ceiling in the utility room.

Yes, 'Sheila Maid' is a brand-name version of that thingy. Super rainy local micro-climate + cob construction (with correspondingly high indoor humidity) means stuff just doesn't dry very effectively unassisted.

Krill wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:58 pm and in winter dries in front of the fire.

Personal preference I suppose, but I cannot stand the place looking like a laundry all the time. And yet one more thing to trip over.

Oliver90owner wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 4:32 pm If you have sufficient PV, a dehumidifier in a small room may suffice for most drying?
My desiccant dehumidifiers consume only ~375W on the low setting and ~750W on high power.

I am hoping the A2A will do a nice job as a dehumidifier, looks like energy consumption will be similar too, with the added benefit of warming the place.
Perhaps a super-short poly tunnel over the clothes line is the way forwards.

Thanks folks, very useful feedback.

Patrick

Oliver90owner wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 4:32 pm If you have sufficient PV, a dehumidifier in a small room may suffice for most drying?

My desiccant dehumidifiers consume only ~375W on the low setting and ~750W on high power.

Absolutely Oliver, we did it last Winter to great effect and will be running an up and downstairs dehumidifier again this year. Tumbledryer is never on now and SWMBO is very onside.
We may go to an A2a next couple of years.

patrickl wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 4:46 pm
Perhaps a super-short poly tunnel over the clothes line is the way forwards.

Thanks folks, very useful feedback.

Patrick

One of these perhaps? https://www.shielingdryer.co.uk/