How to dry clothes when it’s raining (part 2)
Thursday, June 28th, 2012 by Nigel
As the Great British summer continues its all too familiar course, a friend has been telling me that the rain has been causing a few arguments in his house.
It’s all about where they’re supposed to dry clothes. He doesn’t want to get a tumble dryer (they use 4 times as much energy as anything else), and he also refuses to put the heating on, as it’s June.
With two small children, they have a lot of washing. His wife is more pragmatic and wants to use the radiators.
I was thinking about this, when by coincidence a new product dropped into our inbox: the Rotamate rotary washing line cover.
Like a few of our other great products, you may have seen it on Dragon’s Den.
Rotamate was invented by Roger Hind, a young man in his early twenties living with his mum and dad.
One day when his parents were out, it rained and Roger forgot to bring the washing in.
A simple cover would have saved it from getting wet, and when they couldn’t find one, Roger set about inventing it. As he says, “we live in England and sometimes it rains…”
Rotamate is a clever design. A bit like an umbrella, it keeps washing covered. Only unlike an umbrella, it funnels the rain water down the middle, away from your clothes. And when it’s windy, Rotamate doesn’t lift off or blow away.
Using one means you could hang your washing out, then leave the house without worrying about it.
If you have a rotary washing line you could give it a try, it’ll save dryer energy and cost too.
September 3rd, 2012 at 8:35 am
Have just got one of these. Love its simplicity. Was worried that rain coming at an angle when its windy would get to the clothes, but that hasn’t happened, so we’re very happy.