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Should I contact Dragons Den???
Clothes dry best when there is wind, and low humidity assisted by sunshine. When there is wind rain is not vertical and when iT rains humidity is high, the rest of the time shade would slow drying.
Why don't rotary washing lines have umbrellas on top?
And other questions you never thought to ask.
Should I contact Dragons Den???
No.
But good post, I'm going to install inverted guttering above our washing line to capture moisture from the clothes as they dry. Every little helps in this day and age.
Argos has one with a rain cover if you want one. No need to trouble the dragons.
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9583315?clickPR=plp:1:9
A rotary washing line? You mean a whirligig surely?
Do whirly gigs actually whirl? We had one came with our house that I took down in preference to normal lines.
I don't remember it ever whirling. Do you need to put clothes on it at angle like a propeller for it to whirl? I didn't I just put them along the lines,so maybe user error?
move slightly in a rotating way - yes. Whirl - no. I don’t think they were designed to spin dry just to be easy to stand in one spot and hand or collect the clothes? I do once recall my parent’s taking off and flying across the garden. It was retrieved and repaired but never sat nicely ever again.Do whirly gigs actually whirl? We had one came with our house that I took down in preference to normal lines.
I don't remember it ever whirling. Do you need to put clothes on it at angle like a propeller for it to whirl? I didn't I just put them along the lines,so maybe user error?
Because it's well documented that washing lines obviously work best when shielded from the sun?
How about a gazebo?
A rotary washing line? You mean a whirligig surely?
Erm... A Hills Hoist, ackshallly. "designed to permit the compact hanging of wet clothes so that their maximum area can be exposed for wind drying by rotation."
OP Do you want to see your washing take off like Mary Poppins?
Something like a clear plastic umbrella that comes down the sides, with a vent hole at the top would work. Right up until my beloved rips it off in a tearing rush.
If you motorised the whirlygig - would it both whirl and dry the washing quicker due to the increased airflow over the washing?
Because it's well documented that washing lines obviously work best when shielded from the sun?
This reminded me of the famous American con-artist who sold 'solar-powered' washing lines – people just got a washing line and instructions to hang wet clothes out in the sun 😂😂
I thought of this years ago.
Because it's well documented that washing lines obviously work best when shielded from the sun?
Well, there's two things here:
- The umbrella does not have to be permanent so you can put it down when it's not raining - you know, like a normal umbrella.
- Direct sunlight can fade clothes so you might want to put it up to prevent fading even if it's not raining. The choice is yours.
If you motorised the whirlygig - would it both whirl and dry the washing quicker due to the increased airflow over the washing?
That idea was taken to Dragons Den!
Presumably you put a wind generator on the top to power the motor to turn it?
- The umbrella does not have to be permanent so you can put it down when it's not raining - you know, like a normal umbrella.
- Direct sunlight can fade clothes so you might want to put it up to prevent fading even if it's not raining. The choice is yours.
This may well be me falling foul of Poes Law but
1) you could just bring the washing in
2) would probably be in direct proportion to how quickly it dried the clothes. The whole principle of drying washing is to absorb as much energy into the clothes as possible and then remove it as quickly as possible via the evaporation of water.
Hanging clothes in the shade on a wet day (so near zero radiative heat input and near 100% humidity) would pretty much mean they stayed wet indefinitely.
Something like a clear plastic umbrella that comes down the sides, with a vent hole at the top would work.
In principle, our conservatory with the door open dries clothes rapidly even in relatively weak sun on a cool day. All you need to do is lower the relative humidity by raising the temperature of the air circulating through it. In that regard, making it out of something like clear double wall polycarbonate, but matting the inner surface and painting it black might actually be more efficient? There's an idea for dragons den, a "drying shed".
The umbrella does not have to be permanent so you can put it down when it's not raining - you know, like a normal umbrella.
So what purpose is it supposed to serve? If you have to run out to put the umbrella up when it starts raining, you can equally run out to take the washing in when it starts raining.
One of the top results for a rotary drier reveals the rotary drier has a diameter of 2.71m. It might be sensible then to make the radius of the rotary drier umbrella 1.5m. How far above the drier the umbrella is positioned is unspecified, however, to put it down the top will need to be the height of the umbrella radius above the drier to clear it. A potentially 4m tall umbrella isn't exactly a normal umbrella.
such a great comment i posted it twice 🙄
Rotary drier curious, can you fold them up and then put them back up whilst leaving the pegs on the lines (or do the pegs foul with the other lines)????
You can leave the pegs on. They do catch slightly when you open it up but it pretty much always resolves itself. Far easier than taking them all off.
So what purpose is it supposed to serve? If you have to run out to put the umbrella up when it starts raining, you can equally run out to take the washing in when it starts raining.
It keeps the rain off, obviously. If no rain is forecast, you can leave it down. If it might rain, you can open it up and it will protect the washing. It'll still dry even if it is raining, so you just leave it up. It might take slightly longer if you are wasting sunshine by leaving it up, but if it's protected from showers you can leave it up all day and night if you want without needing attention.
You mean like the drying cabinets we had a *really* dull thread about a few months ago?All you need to do is lower the relative humidity by raising the temperature of the air circulating through it. In that regard, making it out of something like clear double wall polycarbonate, but matting the inner surface and painting it black might actually be more efficient? There's an idea for dragons den, a "drying shed".
(Drying cabinets are widely available across europe, as are clothes rails with covers and heaters, my brother used to use one to dry the dozens of table cloths and napkins/tea towels he used to get through at the pub.)
STW needs more civil conversations such as this one. Life would be so much more pleasant.