For reasons of hygiene and safety, personal grooming products, cosmetics or items of intimate clothing cannot be returned. Key specs – Type: Winged; Open dimensions: 143 x 60 x 100cm (HWD); Closed dimensions: 104 x 60 x 9cm (HWD); Drying space: 13.5m; Weight: 2.8kg; Guarantee: 3 years

Note that it’s important not to over-dry your laundry either as this can leave fabrics feeling crispy – especially with items such as towels. This is another reason why timers can come in handy. How much do heated clothes airers cost to run?Collapsible size: Let’s face it, clothes airers aren’t good looking. Most people want a clothes airer they can stash away in storage when they’re not in use. Pay attention to the collapsible size of the clothes airer you’re considering so that you know you can fit it inside a cupboard or under a bed.

Over-door and over-radiator: These clothes airers do exactly what they say on the tin – hang over doors and radiators, making them perfect if you live somewhere with little floor space. They also harness the heat from your radiators, so they’re great at drying clothes in the winter. However, they have far less hanging space than free-standing clothes airers, despite being generally cheaper. As much as a bit of heat helps speed up the drying process, so too does a bit of open air, which is why you get the best of both worlds in this winged design. Admittedly, the Minky Wing takes up some space when it’s opened and loaded up, but the lightweight airer folds compactly and neatly for easy storage. There’s also the option of using the airer folded flat without the wings, for smaller basketfulls of washing. Costing less than 4p per hour to run, it’s also impressively economic with its electricity usage. Altogether, the airer offers a total drying space of 12 metres and comes with its own cover designed to retain heat.This airer has a generous 13.5m of drying space, which is more than enough space for a family load. It’s winged, so it has adjustable arms that can lift to accommodate longer items or fold down to save space. It also comes with handy corner hangers that can be used to hold a delicates dryer, or even to dry shirts using clothes hangers. The only sacrifice you’ll need to make is that it’s not as sturdy as more expensive clothes airers on the roundup, which means you’ll need to be careful not to snap the thinner bars with really heavy items such as dripping wet beach towels – items such as these would be best draped over multiple bars. At a fraction of the price of the other airers, though, this one’s a no-brainer. Looking ahead over the next few months, we're bound to see a lot of one thing: rain. The good ol' British weather never fails us, particularly during the colder seasons, which can make getting your washing dry a bit of a tough job. Closely resembling traditional clothes horses, heated clothes airers have heating elements within their rails to warm your washing and speed up the drying process.

Key specs – Type: Heated; Open dimensions: 135 x 66 x 72.8cm (HWD); Closed dimensions: 140 x 66 x 7cm (HWD); Drying space: 15m; Weight: 5.5kg; Guarantee: 2 years You might also be interested in our radiator airers. They hook over the top of the radiator and protrude outwards with a number of rails on them, so you can hang things in the direct heat of the radiator while still allowing air to pass through them. Hanging clothes and towels directly on the radiator doesn’t give you that air flow, so these hangers are a great idea. If lower energy bills and fast-drying laundry can’t get you on the bandwagon, the fact these machines have been sold out for almost the entirety of this winter is a testament to just how good they are. And given that most of us make use of our radiators to mimic almost the exact same thing – especially if you don't have a tumble dryer to hand – having a dedicated space for your clothes to dry that speeds things up makes complete sense. Who wants any dampness caused by radiator drying anyway? We found there wasn’t a lot of difference between the heated airers when it came to their energy consumption, with the models we tested using between 0.09 kilowatt hours (kWh) and 0.91 kWh – that’s between two and 23 pence of electricity an hour. The longer they take to dry items, the more they’ll ultimately end up costing, but even if you use them to start the drying process, they should make a noticeable difference to your laundry pile.The best heated clothes airers are perfectly safe, and can even be left overnight, though many of the better ones have built-in timer modes too. Having said that, you'll probably want to be mindful of having small children in the same room, as the bars on the airers themselves can be quite hot to the touch, so having them set up out of the way will always be best. How we choose the best heated clothes airers Tiered: These collapsible airers fold out to form a cross-like structure that can support heavier weighted clothes whilst taking up very little floor space. They’re compact, sturdy, and (depending on the number of tiers) can hold a whole family wash. That said, many heated clothes airers have safety mechanisms built in, operating on timers with auto switch-off features. We’ve highlighted these in the key specifications below. How long do clothes take to dry on a heated clothes airer?