Most of us grew up seeing laundry air-drying on long ropes across large courtyards. But those days are gone. The tiny balconies of metro cities don’t have much space for ropes . Even those who do have slightly larger balconies prefer to decorate them with a swing or a couple of chairs to enjoy the outdoors, rather than unsightly clotheslines or drying racks. Moreover, unpredictable, wet weather will drench your clothes faster than they dry. It’s a perfect recipe for a laundry disaster.
What’s the solution, then? Machine drying isn’t a very good one, given the adverse environmental impact, cost, and effect on clothing.
The Perfect Clothes Drying Solutions For Your House Interior
One solution best suited to modern Indian homes is to set up inconspicuous drying racks in different parts of your house.
They might seem like an unnecessary expense at first, but trust us when we say that it’ll be more than worth it. Keep reading to find a solution perfect for your home.
Accordion Laundry Rack
A wall-mounted accordion laundry rack can be as small or as large as you want it to be and you can place several around the house, so you’ll never have to worry about running out of drying space. For instance, you could put a small one in the bathroom for your face and body towels, a large one in each bedroom for assorted clothing, and another one in the kitchen for kitchen linens and other small items.
Metal folding racks are commercially available, but you can also have one tailor made to your space. Choose one whose size, material and finish perfectly match the rest of the room so that it blends in and practically disappears when you fold it up.
Pull-Out Drying Racks
If even folded-up drying racks are too conspicuous for you, pull-out ones are the perfect, completely invisible alternative. These devices look like drawers but are actually racks with rods for hanging your clothes. You can install them in any part of your house interior—your bathroom or bedroom, under your sink or in your wardrobe. If you’ve got some extra cabinet space in your kitchen you can even turn a few drawers into drying racks!
They can get in the way if you leave them out when the house is busy, so it’s best to put them to use at night. Put your laundry out to dry before you go to bed and collect it when you wake up, tucking the racks away neatly.
Vertical Pull-Out Racks
All of these solutions are ingenious and look very smart, but they do require you to have some free horizontal space available. If that’s something you struggle with, vertical pull-out racks might be more suitable. These can be tucked into any corner of your house interior, including the one right next to your washing machine!
They function like sliding doors, so you can pull them out whenever you need them, and slide them back in when you don’t. Since these rely on vertical space, it’s a good idea to place them in a room with high ceilings. This could even be your living room, since they’re almost as invisible as the drawer racks. You can choose to place your racks all around the house in little nooks or in a single room where you have some space to spare.
Laundry Rod
Sometimes the simplest solution might be the best one for you. If you live alone or will just be air-drying delicate clothing and using a tumble-dryer for the rest, a few laundry rods scattered around the house might be good enough for you. It’s also really easy to use these drying racks because you can use clothes hangers to hang clothes on them just like you would in your closet, no fiddly clothespins necessary. Use smart wooden hangers and you finally have yourself a laundry solution that isn’t unsightly in the least!
Laundry rods are small enough that they can be placed anywhere, but you can make the most efficient use of your space by placing them directly above cabinets, shelves or even your washing machine itself.
So there you go, laundry drying hacks for every house and every part of your house! But remember, wherever you use wood or another material that is vulnerable to water damage, make sure it’s given a generous waterproof coating!
For most of us tiny-apartment dwellers, the perfect laundry drying solution will be one that combines some or all of these devices to make the most of every square foot of your home. For advice on how to set up the most efficient laundry and wardrobe system for your house book a free consultation with our designers.