Before you start giggling like school kids, I’m referring to the size of the casing, and the length of the line. Both of these factors correlate to what we said above about whether you are in the market for an indoor retractable washing line or one for the garden, such as the Minky retractable duo model. What you do need is a solid wall to fix it onto. This is because the Better heavy duty washing line isn’t lightweight like the Vileda, Minky, and Beldray products. In fact, it weighs 3.4 kilograms, and this is why I would only recommend it for outdoor use where you can screw it into the outer walls of your house. If we were to do anything different this time it would be install the unit much higher (almost out of arms reach) and then the same with the hook. What we noticed with both lines fully loaded. The washing sags to the point it really is a bit low. Granted the clothes are wet and heavy but here’s an example. We bought the relatively cheap heavy duty washing line prop and that worked out just fine and has been no problem at all for the last 5 months:

Now repeat the process the other end of the garden with your hook to hold the line. As always I recommend using a long bar of some description to twist in the hook. In this case we used a hammer: The size of your family is something else to think about here, and how much washing you need to hang up at a time. A heavy-duty retractable washing line with multiple lines like the Brabantia wallfix, or the Better 35m washing line, is more likely to suit your needs here than our best overall- Vileda’s cordomatic, as it only has a single, 15 metre, line. However, there is one flaw to this design that stands out, and that is when you have a lot of clothes on each line, the inner lines won’t get as much air flowing through to them and might dry at a slower rate. At 8 metres long this is far from the longest washing line in this list, but considering it is completely portable, it’s a good size and more than enough for a small family on a caravan holiday or camping trip. It’s not going to be enough for huge loads like the Better heavy duty washing line of the Wallfix, but then again, it’s not meant to. This extra weight is just a byproduct of the very solid build quality that this retractable washing line has. Even when all five lines were filled with wet and heavy clothes, towels, etc. it showed no signs of sagging.Vileda Cordomatic 15 Metre Automatic Retractable Clothes Line – fixing kit didn’t feel strong enough For the hook I just took out an adjustable spanner to grab hold and twisted it in – equally, if not better would be some mole grips that actually clamp the hook but I didn’t struggle at all my way – here’s a look at how I clamped the hook for install: But on the downside don’t be fooled, you’ll need an area of 2m by 2m to fit this washing line in, it’s no small compact unit at all. It’s just a different retracting method but if you’re looking for something to put up against a patio or conservatory that’s easy access then it might be what you’re looking for. Here’s a look at that install and demo process – I warn, the music might annoy you so turn your volume down! When choosing a retractable washing line for use in the house, a major factor for me is how well it can fit into the room that I set it up in and not grab too much attention when in its retracted state. Basically, I want it to be inconspicuous. A lot of retractable washing lines are compact these days, the Minky and Bedray products featured in this article are two good examples of that, but even they can’t compete with Tensor’s retractable 3-line clothesline in that department.

In terms of the install, we used a 7mm masonry drill bit. There’s nothing fancy going on here. We simply help the washing line up in place, then with a pencil marked where we should drill. A nice feature of the Better heavy duty washing line is that you don’t have to use all five lines at once if you don’t want to. Let’s say you only need a single line or maybe two for a smaller load, no problem, you can just pull out the ones you need. Although we’ve crowned this product as the best budget for large families, it isn’t a cheap product, but when compared to other true heavy duty washing lines like the Brabantia Wallfix, we think it offers the best value for money. Yes, you can find cheaper multi-line models, but they won’t work as well or last as long as this one.

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The reason it can do this better than the others is that Brabantia have gone with a largely metallic construction for the wall fix, and every support arm for the washing lines is extremely solid and robust. There’s just no plastic model that can compare. So the first thing to mention that I am not happy about myself, if you watched the video you’ll know I binned the screws. I ended up going for 50mm screws but I think anything size 4 and 40mm up is fine, size five would be bullet proof and beyond the weight rating of the line itself considerably, and if you like to be sure then use the size 5 40mm wood screws rather than those supplied and feel immeasurably more comfortable with that. Here’s a look at the fixings: When it comes to retractable washing lines, there are a few things to be aware of that will no doubt affect how long your chosen model will keep on working at its best, and those things are- the housing, the internals, the line, and the fixings. TOP TIP FROM EXPERIENCE: Bin the screws and wall plugs that come with these units and use decent brown 7mm standard wall plugs and a decent 4.5 size (gauge) screw that is at least 40mm long. Almost all the kits I tested were adequate but didn’t fill me with confidence, not with a 10-15kg of wet washing getting thrown about in heavy wind!

If you’re an outdoorsy type, you’re probably here for something to take camping with you, and if that’s so, we recommend the toctax retractable washing line. The reason being that you don’t need to fix it in place with screws or glue like with most indoor and outdoor models. What are the size and lengths available? This clever design means that you don’t need a large garden to take advantage of the 24 metres of line the Wallfix offers, and you can get a ton of washing on there at one time. What’s more, unlike other retractable washing lines, this can really handle the weight without any problems whatsoever.Worth a look: Soreli Retractable Washing line 12M What you should know before buying a retractable washing line The retractable clothesline you can see in the following image is about the most common size, so take a look and decide if you’d have that in your house or out in the garden: How long do they last? The first question that you need to ask yourself is- where do I intend to use my retractable washing line? Is it for setting up in the bathroom to pop towels over? To set up in the garden like a traditional washing line? Or maybe you want something that you can take camping with you? Of course, manufacturers and designers have found ways to limit the weaknesses in these materials, and you can get weather resistant plastics, and metals like aluminium that won’t rust and steel with corrosion resistant coating. Toctax’s camping washing line comes with an aluminium alloy hook for just this reason. Vileda Cordomatic 15 Metre Automatic Retractable Clothes Line installed using 40mm size 5 screws rather than the supplied fixing kit

Don’t get tripped up on install – there’s every chance you won’t be happy with the fixings provided. Whilst I appreciate many have done just fine, I really don’t think the fixings they give you work well at all for wooden structures. As I allude to in my Vileda Automatic Retractable Clothes Line review, you will want to get some decent wood screws – anything over 40mm will do you just fine. For concrete I think the fixing kits are just about OK – you’ll need a 6 or 7mm SDS bit from all of the kits that I tested in this review. Worth knowing as you’ll be pulling your hair out if you don’t have one! Build quality One handy tip worth mentioning. Your fixings are only 40mm long. So you only need to drill 40mm deep. You can put a bit of tape down 45mm from the tip to give you a guide of where to stop drilling. It’s worth remembering just how much weight these are holding. so make sure the fix is firm – following my rundown is going to save you a ton of time. Something that’ll really surprise you (and me). After a good few months of use the retractable coil seems to lose it’s strength. I would say of all the models I’ve tested so far, the Metaltex seems to hold up the best. And I wonder if that’s because I haven’t extended it to near full length ever (the max being 10m on each line as that’s the distance we have: With the wall plugs in screw in your screws provided. Leave them protruding about 5-6mm so that when you lift on your washing line you can tighten them up fully. Because of the excellent design of these units, you don’t have to fit them while carrying the weight of the unit itself. Here’s a look at the screws prepared and ready to take the unit:

The majority of retractable washing lines will be housed in a plastic casing like what you can see in the following photo- , although some have metal too, like the Wallfix model. Obviously, metal is more resistant to impact damage and temperature variations, but rust is always a threat to any metal object left outdoors. Plastic housing, on the other hand, won’t rust but it can be affected and degraded by UV and frost, depending on the quality of the materials used. We all want the things we buy to last more than just a month or two, and so, the durability of any product is always important. To get the quality score, we’re looking at a number of factors, but typically we’re studying the brand of the product, the warranty included and basing it on what customers have to say about the quality. Best alternative heavy duty retractable washing line: Vinsani 30 metre Retractable Reel Clothes Lines Washing Line with Twin Cable – Wall Mounted Heavy Duty Clothes Dryer 2 x 15m Lines of Drying Space– this is easily as robust as the Minky [personally tested and proven]