Clothes horse

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A clothes horse Clotheshorse.jpg
A clothes horse

The term "clothes horse" is used to refer to a portable frame upon which wet laundry is hung to dry by evaporation. The frame is usually made of wood, [1] metal or plastic. It is a cheap low-tech piece of laundry equipment, as opposed to a clothes dryer, which requires electricity to operate, or a Hills Hoist, which requires ample space, wind and fine weather. It also served as an alternative to an airing cupboard. In cold, damp seasons and in the absence of central heating, a clothes horse placed by a fireside or a kitchen range provides a place to warm clothing before putting it on. The practice of airing, once ubiquitous in Great Britain, for example, in the constant battle against damp and mold, has become far less common with the advent of central heating and affordable clothes dryers. [2]

Contents

Terminology

Other names for this device include a clothes rack, drying horse, clothes maiden, drying rack, scissor rack, garment donkey, drying stand, airer, or (Scots) Winter Dyke. [3]

Types

There are many types of clothes horses: large, stationary outdoor ones; smaller, folding portable racks; and wall-mounted drying racks. A clothes horse is similar in usage and function to a clothes line, and used as an alternative to the powered clothes dryer. An electric alternative exists, usually known as a heated clothes airer.

An overhead clothes airer can be lowered by its pulley mechanism to a convenient height for loading the wet laundry, and then hoisted out of the way to ceiling height while the clothes dry.

Figurative usage

The term clothes horse can be used to describe people who are passionate about clothing and always appear in public dressed in the latest styles. From 1850 the term referred to a male fop or female quaintrelle, a person whose main function is, or appears to be, to wear or show off clothes. [4] In this context, the term is similar to "fashion plate", which originally referred to a lithograph illustration of fashionable clothing in a book or magazine.

Clothes horse can also be used to describe people who are employed primarily to display clothing. [5] The term is often used pejoratively, for example to imply that an actor or actress has been cast in a role primarily to show off costumes rather than for his or her acting ability.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laundry</span> Washing of clothing and other textiles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clothes dryer</span> Appliance used for drying wet clothes

A clothes dryer is a powered household appliance that is used to remove moisture from a load of clothing, bedding and other textiles, usually after they are washed in a washing machine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clothes line</span> Device for hanging and drying laundry

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hair dryer</span> Type of home appliance used to dry hair

A hair dryer, hairdryer, hairdrier or blow dryer is an electromechanical device that blows ambient or hot air over damp hair to speed the evaporation of water to dry the hair. Blow dryers enable better control over the shape and style of hair, by accelerating and controlling the formation of temporary hydrogen bonds within each strand. These bonds are powerful but are temporary and extremely vulnerable to humidity. They disappear with a single washing of the hair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mangle (machine)</span> Mechanical laundry aid

A mangle (British) or wringer (American) is a mechanical laundry aid consisting of two rollers in a sturdy frame, connected by cogs and powered by a hand crank or by electricity. While the appliance was originally used to squeeze water from wet laundry, today mangles are used to press or flatten sheets, tablecloths, kitchen towels, or clothing and other laundry.

A fabric softener or fabric conditioner is a conditioner that is applied to laundry after it has been washed in a washing machine. A similar, more dilute preparation meant to be applied to dry fabric is known as a wrinkle releaser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cupboard</span> Furniture enclosing items stored in a home

A cupboard is a piece of furniture for enclosing dishware or grocery items that are stored in a home. The term gradually evolved from its original meaning: an open-shelved side table for displaying dishware, more specifically plates, cups and saucers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wet cleaning</span> Method of laundry professional cleaning that avoids the use of chemical solvents

Wet cleaning refers to methods of professional cleaning that, in contrast to traditional dry cleaning, avoids the use of chemical solvents, the most common of which is tetrachloroethylene. Environmental groups and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have indicated that such alternative "wet cleaning" methods are better for the environment than perc, and proponents of wet cleaning state that these methods can be used without shrinking or otherwise damaging garments that typically require dry cleaning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washer-dryer</span> Single machine for washing and drying clothes

A combo washer dryer is a combination in a single cabinet of a washing machine and a clothes dryer. It should not be confused with a "stackable" combination of a separate washing machine and a separate clothes dryer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Self-service laundry</span> Venue where one may hire the use of a washing machine

A self-service laundry, coin laundry, or coin wash, is a facility where clothes are washed and dried without much personalized professional help. They are known in the United Kingdom as launderettes or laundrettes, and in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as laundromats. In Texas and other parts of the south central United States, the term washateria is still used by some older speakers. The first laundromat opened on April 18, 1934 in Fort Worth, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drying cabinet</span> Same as a clothes dryer, but does not move the items placed inside it

A drying cabinet is today usually an electrical machine designed to expedite the drying of items - usually clothing - that are unsuitable for a mechanical clothes dryer. Such items may include delicate clothing care labeled as "hang dry", "dry flat" or "do not tumble dry" on their wash instructions, as well as items such as comforters, boots and coats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dryer ball</span> Laundry device for tumble dryers

A dryer ball is a spherical laundry device for tumbling clothes dryers used as an alternative to fabric softener, reducing static electricity or softening clothing, or to accelerate the drying process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overhead clothes airer</span>

An overhead clothes airer, also known variously as a ceiling clothes airer, laundry airer, pulley airer, laundry rack, or laundry pulley, is a ceiling-mounted mechanism to dry clothes. It is also known as, in the North of England, a creel and in Scotland, a pulley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ironing</span> Process of removing wrinkles from fabric

Ironing is the use of an iron, usually heated, to remove wrinkles and unwanted creases from fabric. The heating is commonly done to a temperature of 180–220 °C (360–430 °F), depending on the fabric. Ironing works by loosening the bonds between the long-chain polymer molecules in the fibres of the material. While the molecules are hot, the fibres are straightened by the weight of the iron, and they hold their new shape as they cool. Some fabrics, such as cotton, require the addition of water to loosen the intermolecular bonds. Many modern fabrics are advertised as needing little or no ironing. Permanent press clothing was developed to reduce the ironing necessary by combining wrinkle-resistant polyester with cotton.

Winter Dyke or winterdyke or winter-dyke is a Scots word for a clothes horse used in drying clothing indoors. The word "dyke" means a wall or a fence made without mortar that was occasionally used for hanging laundry in the summer months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airing</span>

Airing is the practice of hanging or laying out articles and exposing them to air, and sometimes heat and light. This practice is commonly used to dry many types of fabric. One of the most common methods of drying using airing is the clothesline. It consists of a thin wire from which clothing pieces and bedsheets are hung, using pegs or simply laying the article over the line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drying room</span>

A drying room is a room intended for drying objects. It can act as a replacement or complement for drying cabinets, tumble-dryers, and outdoor drying. Compared to outdoor drying, a drying room means one usually does not have to consider the weather forecast in case of rain.

References

  1. "A Comprehensive Guide to Clothes Horse". Lifestyle Clotheslines. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  2. ""Airing" clothes - necessary or just extra work? | Mumsnet". www.mumsnet.com. Archived from the original on 2021-07-31. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
  3. "DYKE, DIKE, n. and v." Dictionary of the Scots Language. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Retrieved 8 January 2013.[ dead link ]
  4. Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., documents use of "clothes horse" in 1807, and "human clothes horse" in 1850
  5. Hanks, Patrick, ed. (2000). New Oxford Thesaurus of English. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   0-19-860261-8. mannequin noun 2. mannequins on the catwalk MODEL, fashion model, supermodel; informal clothes horse