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, in Scotland, a pulley, and in the United States, a Sheila Johnston's Sheila Maid®. [1]
Overhead clothes airers were often installed, from the late eighteenth century onwards, in the laundry room of large houses and estates in Europe. Originally made by the estate handyman, by the middle of the 19th century they almost always benefited from a rope and pulley system to raise and lower the rack, and such systems began to be manufactured and sold commercially, both in Europe and America. [2] Larger, wealthier or commercial properties sometimes had drying cabinets or drying rooms associated with their laundry rooms, in addition to or instead of clothes airers. The cabinets were of wood or cast iron, with a series of drying racks on wheels which were pulled in or out of the cabinet horizontally. The cabinet was heated by coal, gas or wood. The Shaker community still uses these cabinets. [3] Similar drying cabinets exist today, powered by electricity, but are intended for delicate clothing unsuitable for a powered clothes dryer, rather than for general drying. However, although the washing of laundry became mechanised and electrified in the twentieth century, even households that can afford electric clothes driers may also use a clothes airer, and its environmentally friendly qualities have led to a resurgence in its popularity, [4] with a number of new manufacturers springing up in recent decades.
There are electric overhead airers, which lower and raise themselves. [5]
The airer consists of a rack with several horizontal wooden rails or laths, suspended in two mounts or rack ends which were originally cast iron, but may be other metals or alloys today. The rack ends serve to hold and space the rails, and act as points to secure the cords that raise and lower the unit. Cords go from the metal tether points to pulleys mounted on the ceiling, and then to a cleat hook mounted on the wall.
The defining feature of this airer is its pulley system. The airer is lowered to be loaded or unloaded, then raised to move the items up into warmer air and as out of the way of room occupants as the ceiling height allows.
A pulley clothes airer is sometimes also described as "Victorian", "Edwardian", or "Lancashire" and then comprises two iron frames positioned as far apart as desired to provide a suitable length, with wooden laths, typically four or six, passed through holes in them. The frames are suspended from the ceiling by a system of rope and pulleys. The result is a hoistable rack with several parallel bars on which clothes can be draped out of the way, or hung, extending further down, with clothes hangers. [6] [7]
A modern development uses a wooden frame with seven to eleven continuous clothes lines which increase the capacity of the clothes horse. The frame uses a clam cleat to tighten the clothes lines and hangs on four ropes. This increases the necessary installation effort, but also improves safety by increasing redundancy of the suspension. It uses a pulley system (block and tackle) which reduces the required force to lift the loaded frame.
If the airer is allowed to swing perpendicularly to the direction of the bars, the practicality of the device can be improved: Taking inspiration from the working principles of the Punka, the movement of the clothes will produce a fanning effect to whatever is beneath it. Furthermore, the resulting movement of air would reduce the time it takes for the clothing to dry. Much like the Punka, some force will be required, but this will still be minimal when compared to the use of tumble drier.
Laundry is the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with this universal human need are of interest to several branches of scholarship.
A laundry symbol, also called a care symbol, is a pictogram indicating the manufacturer's suggestions as to methods of washing, drying, dry-cleaning and ironing clothing. Such symbols are written on labels, known as care labels or care tags, attached to clothing to indicate how a particular item should best be cleaned. While there are internationally recognized standards for the care labels and pictograms, their exact use and form differ by region. In some standards, pictograms coexist with or are complemented by written instructions.
A washing machine is a machine designed to launder clothing. Modern-day home appliances use electric power to automatically clean clothes. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water as opposed to dry cleaning or ultrasonic cleaners. The user adds laundry detergent, which is sold in liquid, powder, or dehydrated sheet form, to the wash water.
A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in or let out or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope.
A clothes dryer, also known as tumble 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.
A window blind is a type of window covering. There are many different kinds of window blinds which use a variety of control systems. A typical window blind is made up of several long horizontal or vertical slats of various types of hard material, including wood, plastic or metal which are held together by cords that run through the blind slats. Vertical blinds run along a track system which can tilt open and closed and move side-to-side. Window blinds can be manoeuvred with either a manual or remote control by rotating them from an open position, with slats spaced out, to a closed position where slats overlap and block out most of the light. There are also several types of window coverings, called shades, that use a single piece of soft material instead of slats.
A laundry room is a room where clothes are washed, and sometimes also dried. In a modern home, laundry rooms are often equipped with an automatic washing machine and clothes dryer, and often a large basin, called a laundry tub, for hand-washing of delicate clothing articles such as sweaters, as well as an ironing board. Laundry rooms may also include storage cabinets, countertops for folding clothes, and, space permitting, a small sewing machine.
A clothes line, also spelled clothesline, also known as a washing line, is a device for hanging clothes on for the purpose of drying or airing out the articles. It is made of any type of rope, cord, or twine that has been stretched between two points, outdoors or indoors, above ground level. Clothing that has recently been washed is hung over the line to dry, held in place using clothes pegs or clothespins. Washing lines are attached either from a post or a wall, and are frequently located in back gardens, or on balconies. Longer washing lines often have props holding up the mid-section so the weight of the clothing does not pull the clothesline down to the ground.
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.
A tie, strap, tie rod, eyebar, guy-wire, suspension cables, or wire ropes, are examples of linear structural components designed to resist tension. It is the opposite of a strut or column, which is designed to resist compression. Ties may be made of any tension resisting material.
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, 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.
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.
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.
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.
Solar dryers are devices that use solar energy to dry substances, especially food. Solar dryers use the heat from the Sun to reduce the moisture content of food substances. There are two general types of solar dryers: direct and indirect.
Fabric treatments are processes that make fabric softer, or water resistant, or enhance dye penetration after they are woven. Fabric treatments get applied when the textile itself cannot add other properties. Treatments include, scrim, foam lamination, fabric protector or stain repellent, anti microbial and flame retardant.
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.
Overhead storage can refer to shelves, cabinets, hooks, lift tables or track systems mounted at height, and can be a form of area-saving storage by moving storage up from the floor and utilizing the volume at height.
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.