It was always a reality that a summer heatwave was never going to last forever. Although one upside is the fact that our homes and workplaces won’t feel like a Swedish sauna for long, we appreciate the days we can hang out damp laundry and know it will dry in a matter of minutes.
Luckily, there’s a genius device that might just change your life: the heated clothes dryer. In a nutshell, it’s a normal clothes dryer that emits a certain amount of heat (typically between 60C and 70C). If you’re keen to supercharge your drying time, opt for a pod-style dryer, which uses a fan to blast warm air around clothes suspended from rails inside an enclosed canvas pod.
These nifty home appliances aren’t just useful for speeding up drying time, they’re also a cheaper alternative to using a tumble dryer. An average tumble dryer costs 37.5p an hour to operate, while a heated dryer is more efficient and costs about 13.7p an hour to run. While it may feel like a large investment initially, it could save you hundreds in the long run – welcomes news, thanks to energy prices going up.
To help you choose the best heated dryer for your needs, we tested a range of options to find the perfect model. We can honestly say we’ve never paid more attention to our laundry, whether it’s the speed at which damp clothes dry or the benefits of three tiers over two when it comes to drying our shoes, smalls and sweaters.
But before we begin, let’s bust some myths about heated dryers, starting with the misconception that they’re dangerous. Because the dryers are thermostatically controlled, this simply isn’t the case. Although, we’d advise turning it off overnight (more for your peace of mind than anything else).
Additionally, many models have timers that mean the dryer will turn off after a pre-set length of time. Another reason we’d advise against leaving heated drying racks on for hours is because certain materials – especially delicate ones – simply don’t fare well when exposed to heat for prolonged periods and may become slightly stiff due to extreme dryness.
Finally, always spin the clothes first, and, if you’re drying hand-washed laundry that you’re reluctant to wring out, allow the garments to drip dry over a bath or in an outside area for 20 or 30 minutes first. Without further ado, meet the appliance that’s about to revolutionalise the way you think about doing the laundry.
