Never hang your knickers on the radiator again! A hot new way to hang clothes indoors that dry them - no need for an iron!

  • These handy clothes dryers use to heat to get your clothes toasty and dry
  • The DriBuddi uses vortex action to blitz creases, drying clothes smoothly
  • The Peko ETS-1700E dries ten shirts in only 30 minutes

By Amanda Cable for the Daily Mail

Published: 18:20 EST, 30 September 2015 | Updated: 02:38 EST, 1 October 2015

With warm, washing-line weather fast disappearing, our radiators will soon be draped in damp laundry. But a new range of heated airers claims to dry your clothes without shrinkage or even the need for an iron. AMANDA CABLE put them to the test . . .

CREASE BUSTER

This dryer to took 30 minutes to set up, but allows you to hang up to 18 garments from clothes hangers

This dryer to took 30 minutes to set up, but allows you to hang up to 18 garments from clothes hangers

DriBuddi, £59.99, www.argos.co.uk

If, like me, you thought ‘vortex action' sounded like something from a sci-fi film, you'd be wrong.

According to the makers of this space-age dryer, it is the new high-tech way to dry clothes without having to iron them afterwards - music to any woman's ears.

This dryer consists of a small motor that sucks in cold air, heats it and pushes the warm air upwards evenly around your clothes, smoothing out wrinkles at the same time.

Assembly, however, required a physics degree. It took 30 minutes of trying to fit the metal legs into the base of the motor unit before I admitted defeat and left it balancing precariously.

The inner metal frame, like a circular hat stand, allows you to hang up to 18 garments from clothes hangers, while the smart blue cover zips over the top to retain the heat.

I tried four pairs of school trousers for my 13-year-old twin sons, five of the children's onesies and eight work shirts for my husband, Ray. The dryer made a gentle hum. After two hours the shirts were dry, uncreased and beautifully soft. No more shirts like cardboard for my husband.

The children loved their toasty pyjamas, but the school trousers took three hours to dry - no good for mums in a hurry.

3/5

BEST ALL ROUNDER  

This three-tier rail heats up in three minutes and helps the creases to drop out of properly folded clothes

This three-tier rail heats up in three minutes and helps the creases to drop out of properly folded clothes

Dry-soon Deluxe 3-tier heated airer, £109.99, www.lakeland.co.uk

It took just 30 seconds to get this up and running.

Simply unfold the arms, and you have a rectangle-shaped airer with three tiers on which to place sweaters which need to dry flat, hang trousers from the solid heated rungs or put heavier items such as towels across the top.

It heated within three minutes - and if you fold your clothes, the creases should drop out.

Ever since my twin sons started school eight years ago, I've been fighting a losing battle against school trousers. I either shrink them in the tumble dryer or iron them until they are shiny.

This clever airer - which costs less than 6p an hour to run - has the answer. You need to move the trousers occasionally on the heated rails to make sure they dry evenly which, in turn, makes creases drop out of the material.

A digital timer on the side allows you to pre-programme the airer to turn on and off for up to 12 hours ahead, meaning you could safely dry a large wash overnight or while at work.

I dried ten pairs of school trousers, 15 pairs of socks, and four towels in one go. The towels weren't tumble-dryer soft, but everything dried in three hours, without the need to iron. If only it folded the clothes as well.

5/5

SUPER SPEEDY

LED controls at the top allow you to set the exact amount of warm air to circulate inside, using a timer

LED controls at the top allow you to set the exact amount of warm air to circulate inside, using a timer

Peko ETS-1700E drying cabinet, £798 www.pekodryingcabinets.co.uk

If a large chunk of your weekend is given over to washing muddy football kits and drying sodden boots, then this sleek-looking drying cabinet is the perfect answer.

On the outside, it looks like a large fridge but instead of cool air, LED controls at the top allow you to set the exact amount of warm air to circulate inside, using a timer if you wish.

There's three rows of rails inside, which fold flat if you need to hang longer items such as sheets or shirts. This Rolls-Royce of dryers tackles everything from the most delicate of sweaters, to entire duvets and soaking shoes.

It handles 4.5kg a go and took just 30 minutes to dry ten school shirts. Brilliantly efficient but at a price.

4/5

SPACE SAVER

This is a clever solution for anyone pushed for space, costing 2p an hour to run with 5.6 metres of space

This is a clever solution for anyone pushed for space, costing 2p an hour to run with 5.6 metres of space

Wall-mounted heated dryer, £69.99 www.lakeland.co.uk

Fold-out clothes horses can be a handy contraption when trying to dry laundry indoors. So for anyone pushed for space, this is a clever solution. Simply attach it to the wall in the garage or utility room, and it folds flat when not in use. Once opened out, it provides six heated rungs.

But you need to be sure to fix it high up on the wall in order to drape sheets and towels. This costs just 2p an hour to run and gives 5.6 metres of drying space.

I tried three family towels and a sheet. The sheets were dry in just under three hours but the towels took a painfully slow four hours. It's not big enough for a family - but perfect for one or two people.

2/5

BARGAIN BUY 

Portable heated clothes dryer, £39.99 www.coopersofstortford. co.uk (pictured top right)

First of all, this isn't going to win any prizes for beauty. It looks like someone is standing in the corner wearing a cheap mac. It has a small motor that stands on three legs, and an upright pole with rails on which to hang clothes. A cheap-looking blue zip-up cover goes over the top.

The rails mean you can hang up to 10kg of damp clothes inside. Cool air is sucked in at the base of the dryer, warmed and circulated around the clothes inside and then pumped out.

Set the simple automatic timer for up to three hours, and it will switch itself off - a great function for the price. They say this unit will dry 18 garments at a time but they must mean doll-sized clothes - because pack this too tightly and it takes four hours to dry.

However, it dried eight school shirts without creases in three hours, saving me the chore of ironing. It's noisier than the more expensive models but it's a great price and has the added bonus of heating up the room.

3/5

GREAT FOR YOUR SMALLS

This looks like a fold-out picnic table, but turn it on and it's a heater to put your clothes on in seconds

This looks like a fold-out picnic table, but turn it on and it's a heater to put your clothes on in seconds

Winged heated airer, £76.99 www.lakeland.co.uk

First impression is it's like a fold-out picnic table. You pop the legs down, pull the wings out, plug it in and you have a table-shaped heater on which to put your clothes within seconds.

It's just 93cm high, so when I tried a bath towel it dragged on the floor and had to be folded and took four hours to dry.

The two fold-down wings are heated, too - giving you a capacity of 8kg for just 2p an hour. This was perfect for socks, underwear, delicate sweaters and tea towels. But sheets and bath towels are just too big for the airer to tackle efficiently. It is, however, compact and lightweight enough to take on holiday and who hasn't tried to dry clothes on a rainy staycation?

4/5

GOOD FOR A BIG LOAD

It looks like a child's fabric wardrobe, but inside is a spacious area which can dry toys, shoes and bedding

It looks like a child's fabric wardrobe, but inside is a spacious area which can dry toys, shoes and bedding

Dorms dual deck electric clothes dryer, £68.99 www.amazon.co.uk

This looks like a child's fabric wardrobe, but inside is a spacious area which can dry toys, shoes and bedding.

I'd argue with the manufacturers ‘simple' assembly claim. The numerous poles made it quite complicated and when I attempted to shift it, the frame wobbled precariously.

This takes a huge 15kg load and dried clothes including PE shorts, five pairs of school trousers and two school sweaters in four hours. A pair of sodden baseball boots took six hours.

The small ‘Thermistor' engine at the bottom sends hot air circulating around the rectangle frame, which has a garish blue cover. I didn't find the shirts as crease-free as rival dryers and, at just under 6ft tall and 4ft wide, you need a lot of space.

But when switched off, it's a handy storage unit in its own right.

3/5

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