We paid for every airer and drying pod we test, and don't accept free samples, so you can have complete confidence in our recommendations. Drying speed Drying space: This is one feature of clothes airers that you don’t want to overlook. This is the total length of all the drying rungs added together as if they formed one long clothesline. Obviously, if you’re a big family you’ll want more drying space, but if you’re living alone this could be something you can compromise on. Generally taller and larger than most other airers, a tower airer comprises several horizontal flat sections and some also have hooks at the top for hanging shirts and dresses. Due to their size, they’re great for hanging double or king-size bedding, as well as heavy bath towels. Radiator

They dry clothes faster than heated bar clothes airers, but typically have smaller capacities. You'll be able to hang dresses and jeans in them, but bedsheets and duvets are a no-go. 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 Tiered airers have several levels, four feet and a signature concertina criss-cross look. They’re assembled in one swift pulling motion and pushed down to revert them to folded. These multi-level airers come in different sizes but they tend to have enough space to hang an everyday load of washing including hand towels, T-shirts, shorts, trousers and delicates. Gated Making the most out of available space, our Extendable Ceiling-Mounted Clothes Airer offers a contemporary twist on a classic design. It has the all the design features of a traditional ‘laundry maid’ clothes rail but is made from sleek modern materials – with five extending aluminium rails and smooth beechwood ends.

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. The best clothes airer for you will vary depending on the space you have available at home, and the washing you tend to do. In terms of shape, here are the different styles available and the best uses for each: Tiered Can heated clothes airers save you money? Our testing found heated clothes airers will cost about half as much money to run as a drying pod. Gated: Aptly named, these airers resemble fences and fold out to stand in a concertina. These are normally the cheapest clothes airers and are popular with students because they’re functional and don’t take up much space in storage. However, this design hasn’t made it into our best buy roundup because they tend to be flimsy and unstable. We took each airer's capacity into account to also calculate the cost of drying a large cotton load.

The Glmahaus airer also gives you the added convenience of a built-in countdown timer. Using the digital controller, you can easily set the timer between 1 and 9 hours, once the countdown is complete it will automatically turn the unit off. This is perfect for those who are busy and which to leave their laundry drying while out and about. Not to worry if you don’t require a timer as the unit can also be manually turned off and will operate on constant when the timer is left on ‘0’. Additional Capacity for Drying More Clothes We also measured the total drying space and volume of the airer, so we can let you know which ones give you the most drying space without taking over an entire room in your home. 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.

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A great way to make the most of otherwise wasted space and get your drying done indoors, this indoor clothes airer is perfect for rainy days or if you just want to give your tumble dryer a rest. Others resemble your typical clothes horse, often with foldable wings for extra drying space. They have a larger middle section, which is good for bigger items such as jeans and bedding, but overall have less drying space than tower models. Drying pods are essentially big hair dryers for clothes, using a fan and heating element to blow hot air through the clothes hanging inside a pod. A typical drying pod will do a cotton load in a couple of hours, and a tumble dryer will take anywhere from one to three hours to do a big load of laundry. It's faster than air-drying indoors, but a heated clothes airer is still the slowest of the three. Versatile in design, this airer features secure feet to provide a solid grip to your bath, and is guaranteed to fit all bath sizes so you never have to worry about the unit falling off while you’re out for the day. What’s more, it’s easy to set up and even folds flat for easy storage, further saving you that much needed storage space. Features and Benefits

Ideal for smaller homes and flats, the OurHouse Over Bath Airer is the perfect space–saving solution for indoor drying. Designed to allow you to dry your garments over the bath, with multiple drying positions, this versatile airer boasts up to 7.5m of drying space and a maximum load capacity of 15kg. Usually suitable for standing in the bathtub or on a balcony, they have two large fold-out wings that are perfect for hanging longer items such as towels, trousers and maxi dresses. Most winged models also have flat sections — either between the wings or between the leg rungs — that are great for drying delicates and smaller items. Due to their large wings, they tend to be quite tall even when folded down. Bathtub 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. There are two main types of heated clothes airer: heated bar clothes airers and drying pods. Both work very differently.With the additional (non-heated) extension bars you get extra drying capacity than with standard clothes airers, which can be a huge help when drying larger garments or for those busy homes that tend to have extra-large laundry loads! Inside the box, you will also find 2 sets of 6 detachable pegs to make hanging smaller garments easier. This unit can also be used even when only half open for those smaller laundry loads. Free Cover Included

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. We used a force gauge to determine how much force is needed to topple over each heated airer, as well as the flexibility of each airer's bars. But do heated airers use a lot of electricity? Our tests found they use significantly less of it to dry clothes when compared with drying pods. If you already have a tumble dryer and are thinking of making a swap, it will also depend on what type of tumble dryer you already own.

Heated clothes airers we tested typically took between four to six hours to dry a small (2.15kg) cotton load. Guarantees: As mentioned before, finding a clothes airer with a good warranty is always beneficial because if and when it does break, you’re covered. Keep an eye out for this when purchasing an airer.