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Your clothes will be dry before you know it Heated Gilet Uk
This article was updated in November to reflect the latest prices and deals. We also added a new heated clothes airer to our list of recommendations. We will continue to update this article throughout the month to highlight any deals.
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.
So, if you’re after a savvy laundry drying solution that can be cheaper to run than a tumble dryer (or putting the heating on), and speedier than air drying, look no further than a heated clothes airer.
They come in all shapes and sizes, and once plugged in, their electric rails will heat your washing, meaning your towels, sheets and clothes are ready to be put away in no time. Not to mention, you can bid farewell to that classic musty smell that comes from slow winter drying.
Our experts at the GHI put a range of models to the test, timing how quickly loads of laundry dried, monitoring exactly how much electricity each airer used and analysing how easy they were to set up. If you’re ready to invest, here’s a brief look at our best buys, or keep scrolling for the low-down on each airer:
Closely resembling traditional clothes horses, heated clothes airers have heating elements within their rails to warm your washing and speed up the drying process.
As with all clothes airers, their size and configuration can vary, but most are simple to set up. The main difference with a heated airer is that you need to plug it in, so it’s worth checking there’s an accessible socket near to where you’ll position yours when in use.
Heat-up times are also worth considering as they can extend the drying time if they take a while to get to temperature. We’ve listed how long each took on test below.
It’s best not to leave heated airers unattended, and you should always check the manufacturer instructions to ensure you’re using your heated airer safely.
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.
Unsurprisingly, drying times varied from airer to airer. Bedsheets dried more quickly, while drying times for clothes ranged from one and a half hours to four hours one minute. But this is still notably quicker than a traditional airer – for reference, our experts tested these dryers in summer and found a well-spun load of clothes on an unheated clothes airer took six and a half hours to dry.
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.
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.
We’ve listed the cost for each below (based on the £0.27/kWh energy price cap).
To find the very best heated clothes airers for your home, our experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute start by timing how long each dryer takes to preheat. They then wash and dry various loads of laundry, including clothes and bedsheets, and time how long it takes until each load has finished drying.
Throughout use, they monitor how well the airer distributes heat across its rungs and whether the temperature fluctuates. They also measure how much electricity is used, calculating the energy consumption for an hour’s drying.
Finally, each is also scored according to its design, ease of use and instructions.
These are the clothes airers that will make that laundry to-do list easier.
Our highest scoring dryer is different to all the others we tested. The compact hanger design works by blowing hot air down onto whatever it’s holding (our testers managed to clip in single items of clothing and a pillow case), making it perfect for travel or for when you need one item dried in a hurry.
It achieved near perfect marks for speed, drying clothes in one hour 46 minutes. It cost eight pence an hour to run and has some attractive features, including an LED temperature reader and built-in UV sterilisation to give your garments an added clean.
While it’s not one to turn to for everyday laundry, testers found the innovative design easy to use from start to finish, making it a reliable gadget for one-garment drying.
Again, this isn’t a conventional airer, but the pod design dries more than the Aerative above, as there’s room within to hang up to 12 garments. Testers found it simple to assemble and it was by far the quickest, too – it heated up in four minutes and clothes dried within one and a half hours on average.
As the washing must go on hangers, it’s not ideal for bedding, and its energy consumption was higher than others, at 23 pence for an hour. It also requires disassembling to store away and as it comprises several components including a cover, it’s not as slick as a traditional fold-down rack. But, given its perfect drying score, these small gripes wouldn’t put us off.
It may be an extra-large model, but this Minky airer is lightweight, making it easy and convenient to move around your home. Plus, when you don’t need it, the handy concertina-style, folding design ensures easy, fuss-free storage.
It performed well in our tests, with a consistent, even temperature, and proved particularly effective when it came to bed sheets, cutting drying time down to just two hours and four minutes (air drying traditionally takes around four hours and 30 minutes). Its pre-heating time took 12 minutes, which is slightly longer than average, but that’s a minor detail for an otherwise versatile and consistent performer.
Another Minky model, and when it came to drying bedsheets, this winged airer scored full marks on test, taking just one hour 22 minutes. Clothes took over two and a half minutes to dry and testers found the airer's temperature was consistent throughout use.
It folds away neatly for easy storage, while its flat design offers versatility and can hold ample washing. At £60, it’s a more affordable model than many we tested, and our experts found it relatively good value in use too, calculating its electricity usage at about eight pence an hour – one of the lowest on test.
A great value design resembling a more traditional airer, this dried our clothes within two and a half hours and our bedsheets in one hour forty. Testers liked the fact you can lie clothes flat in the middle and found it easy to fit a load of washing on.
It takes up a lot of space when its wings are out and its temperature fluctuated a tad, but this didn’t impact its performance or its energy consumption, using an impressively low eight pence an hour on test.
Testers found this the easiest airer to use, thanks to its simple set up and wheels, which make moving it around the home effortless. You have to wait 16 minutes for it to heat up, but once at temperature, it dried all our laundry evenly, impressing on the bedding test with its one hour 25-minute drying time.
It took close to four hours to dry a full load of clothes, but again that’s still notably quicker than air drying, especially in winter. Not to mention, it maintained a stable temperature throughout use, too.
Thanks to its tall frame, this is suited to drying sheets and longer garments such as trousers and dresses. Testers found set-up straightforward and it’s lightweight if you’re moving it from a cupboard to your drying area.
Clothes were dry (and handily crease-free) within four hours, while bedding took one and a half hours. The instructions are clear and feature detailed troubleshooting and safety advice.
If it’s an iron or clothes steamer-free life you’re after, then this airer may appeal, as our washing was evenly dried with minimal creasing. Testers liked the overall design, finding it straightforward to set up and use thanks to its three well-sized tiers. Its wheels also deserve an honourable mention for making it easy to move it around.
Our probes detected some fluctuation in temperature, but it dried bedding in two and a half hours and clothes in three hours 13 minutes. Its safety information is clear too.
For just under £100, this is a great value, large heated airer from Dunelm. Testers found it well-made and sturdy, commenting on how easy it was to use. In fact, it scored full marks for this on test, thanks to how simple it is to put up and down and move around the home.
When it came to drying our laundry, it dealt with bedding in under two hours, but unfortunately, it didn’t eliminate creases entirely. Our clothes took four hours to dry with the odd cold patch remaining on some items – but overall, it was effective and will undoubtedly transform your laundry drying when the mercury falls.
Testers found this a stable and effective way to dry clothes. Its controls were straightforward, and the three tiers provide ample space to dry a full load of laundry. It was also up and running in a quick ten minutes, but our clothes took four hours to dry.
Bedsheets dried more quickly, but a few damp patches meant we had to wait two hours and 10 minutes before we could put them away. However, there is a cover available to buy separately, which should lock in more heat and aid drying times further. It’s a good buy if you want something sizeable and sturdy.
This compact ladder design is ideal if you have a small space. It can’t house a full load of washing but is handy is you have several garments or items you want to dry quickly. It fared better with bedding (dry in two hours twenty minutes) than with clothes, which took four hours exactly.
It didn’t distribute heat as evenly as some other models, and it struggled with heavier garments, but it’s inexpensive and has the lowest running cost of all at two pence an hour. One for drying in tight spaces.
Hannah is our senior homes writer, specialising in reviewing the latest kitchen appliances, cleaning products, mattresses and bedding, and crafting equipment. Hannah has written about hundreds of products, from air fryers to smoothie makers to pillows, and is committed to finding the most reliable and best value for money buys. Hannah is also interested in sustainability in the home and has completed a course with the University of the Arts London in sustainable textiles, so she can help cut through the noise on what’s green and what’s not. Hannah helps to uncover the best cleaning hacks too, with a focus on easy, natural solutions. Hannah has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has previously worked as a freelance lifestyle and women’s sports journalist, working for Stylist, Sky Sports and more. Hannah has also previously worked in a florist and can normally be found caring for her house plants or sewing something new for her home or wardrobe. You can find Hannah on Instagram on @sewnbyhan
Megan is the Good Housekeeping Institute’s homes writer. She loves diving into the latest product releases to find the very best buys on the market. When she’s not writing about the newest gadgets and gizmos for your home and garden, you’ll find her cooking, running and exploring London’s foodie hotspots – or trying to make friends with every dog she passes. Megan has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has previously written for Stylist, Glamour, TimeOut, SquareMeal, and YOU magazine. You can find Megan on Instagram @meganlouisegeall and on X @megan_geall
Blossom is our Senior Homes Tester. Passionate about finding the best home products and appliances for our readers, she has tested everything from blenders to pizza ovens. Blossom enjoys delving into the intricacies of products and refining testing protocols for hundreds of items. Innovative items like robot vacuum cleaners and wine coolers are among her favourite tests to date, and her most notable accomplishment is toasting 360 slices of bread in a determined bid to find the best toaster. In her free time, Blossom openly admits to being a music geek and indulges her creative side through crocheting, baking, singing and writing.
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