Lakeland sale has ‘best thing since sliced bread’ 9p-per-hour clothes dryer cut price

The Dry:Soon Deluxe holds up to 15kg of washing across 21 metres of drying space and has a built-in timer that can be set for up to 12 hours

Drying clothes in the winter can be a real challenge. The icy temperatures outside make line drying difficult, while using a tumble dryer consumes a lot of energy, which isn’t great for the bills (especially with rising energy costs).

Moreover, drying clothes indoors with the heating on creates extra moisture, potentially leading to mould – not exactly what you want after Christmas. However, one solution to ensure efficient clothes drying is a Heated Clothes Airer, and Lakeland currently has one on offer in its up to 50% off Boxing Day sales, running until 14 January.

Now marked down from £199.99, the Dry:Soon Deluxe 3-Tier Heated Clothes Airer – a Which? Best Buy product – only costs 9p per hour to run (far more efficient than a tumble dryer, which can use up to £1 per hour), and can hold up to two wash loads thanks to its 15kg capacity and 21m drying space.

Constructed over three tiers, the Dry:Soon Deluxe 3-Tier Heated Clothes Airer consists of 36 heated bars and claims to be ‘far more economical than drying clothes on your radiators’. It’s also designed with convenience in mind, featuring a built-in timer that can be set between one and 12 hours, after which it will automatically switch off, reports the Manchester Evening News.

While it works well on its own, the brand suggests using the product’s custom cover to trap in the heat and speed up the process. Lakeland offers the heater and cover as a bundle for £204.98, reduced from £244.98.

Manchester Evening News’ Family Editor Emma Gill champions this Dry:Soon Deluxe 3-Tier Heated Clothes Airer throughout autumn and winter and has praised its effectiveness: “What I really like about it is that when it’s in use I don’t need to turn the radiators on, as it generates enough warmth to heat me as well as dry my washing.

“It can actually hold up to 15kg of wet washing over 21 metres of drying space, which is probably why customers call it ‘a life changer’ and say they ‘wouldn’t be without it’. It costs just 9p an hour to run, which is a hell of a lot cheaper than turning up the thermostat, or using the dryer.

“I tend to leave it on for hours at a time – it’s on all day when I work from home or sometimes I stick it on overnight – and the room I work in gets toasty warm when it’s on. Once I turn it off after about 8 hours or so, the heat that lingers in the room helps to finish drying any thicker clothes that might not be thoroughly dry.”

She also observed how whilst the purpose-built covers do work wonders in accelerating the drying process: “I’m told sticking a bed sheet over the top has the same effect”. Though she added: “The cover does have a mesh top and sides though to aid circulation and prevent it from getting too hot.”

Nevertheless, Emma pointed out that the ‘real beauty of this particular model’ lies in its size. “Especially when you’ve got a family-load or loads to get dry, with school uniforms, sports kits and whatever else they’ve decided to stick in the wash after a couple of hours’ wear. But it’s light enough to move around to wherever you want to use it – you can buy wheels for it to help with that, costing £7.99 – and when not in use it folds away neatly, with the cover turning into a handy storage bag to keep it in.”

While this specific heated airer has received some fantastic reviews, with one person exclaiming: “Best Buy ever, I even sent my daughters off to uni with one… Absolutely the best everyone needs one!” – shoppers who don’t wish to spend as much can look to Argos and Dunelm for more affordable models.

For instance, the Black and Decker 3 Tier Heated Airer is currently discounted at Dunelm, priced at £70 down from £100. It offers the same 21m drying space and up to 15kg of laundry weight, and comes ready assembled for immediate use. At Argos, the Argos Home 21m 3 Tier Heated Airer is also on sale for £69.99, reduced from £105, and has a similar tiered design and capacity to both Dunelm’s and Lakeland’s models.

The great thing about the Lakeland drier is that, although it’s quite large when in use, it can be easily compacted for storage. Constructed from lightweight, sturdy aluminium, the Dry:Soon Deluxe 3-Tier Heated Airer is easy to manoeuvre and folds down to 8cm deep, making it perfect for tucking into corners.

With nearly 500 reviews, the heated airer has been praised for not only drying clothes effectively but also warming up rooms, eliminating the need to turn on the heating.

One person commented: “Amazing for drying my wet walking gear and washing whilst keeping the chill off the living room therefore not needing the heating on as much! Fantastic I have now bought them for my daughters at uni and a friend who’s boiler is broken and he loves it. Absolutely the best everyone needs one!”

Another reviewer wrote: “What a great piece of equipment! This is so easy to put together, turn on and then dry my clothes! It saves tonnes of washing being hungover the radiators and also means your clothes aren’t dry/ hard if they’ve been on too long!”

Someone else even described it as the ‘best thing since sliced bread’ and gushed: “I love my Dry Soon Heated Airer, I’ve noticed a drop in my electricity usage since switching from the tumble dryer. I can get two full loads onto the airer. Some item take longer to dry but everything Dries much quicker then a regular airer.”

Despite this glowing review, they did mention: “My only two issues are the little sock hanger is quite useless as, with only six pegs, you can really only put three pairs of socks at a time. I’ve never got less than about 15 pairs when doing a load.”

Having also bought the cover, they noted: “The cover could do with a zip entry on both sides as someone who is 5ft1 it is quite hard to get cover on/off.” However, largely, the Dry:Soon Deluxe 3-Tier Heated Clothes Airer has been acclaimed as a ‘must have household item’.

Shop Lakeland’s 50% off sale here. It’s running from 26 December to 14 January.