Keeping on top of the washing for a family-of-four (including two fashion-conscious teenagers) when the dirty laundry basket seems to fill up daily is a constant challenge. Is it just me or does it always seem to be full of everyone else's dirty clothes rather than my own – how do they get so many clothes dirty so fast?!
I have a small utility room idea (actually, it's not just small, it's tiny!) that's mainly used for laundry, with a stacked tumble dryer and washing machine, plus a handy extra sink. To keep up with the volume of washing, I've needed to employ every space-saving laundry trick in the book, including a few really great products that have genuinely been game-changing.
Top of the list is this drop-down wall-mounted clothes airer from Argos. With minimum floor area and very little worktop space, using vertical solutions like this is a no-brainer.
This wall-mounted clothes airer can be folded back flat against the wall when not in use. I have two mounted above each other, and that gives me enough drying space for a full wash for my family of four.
The clothes airer comes with hooks which I use for items such as small towels or tea towels, then I hang clothes over the rails and pop a few clothes hangers (I have these white wooden hangers from Amazon) along the outer rail for garments such as shirts or sweaters.
I picked up a set of magnetic storage shelves and hooks from Amazon a couple of months ago. Stacking the tumble dryer on top of the washing machine is a great way to store appliances in a utility room, and it means I can attach the magnetic shelves to the side of my dryer. I've been seriously impressed at the weight these shelves will hold – I've stored full bottles of washing detergent on them without them moving an inch. They've really exceeded my expectations, and I give this space-saving laundry trick an enthusiastic thumbs up. They turn what would otherwise be dead space into usable storage, meaning I have less stuff cluttering up the limited worktop area.
My most recent buy was a magnetic lint bin from Amazon. I was fed up of having a small pedal bin cluttering up the floor (I kept tripping over it), and so finding another wall-mounted solution was exactly what was required.
If using the magnetic surface isn't an option, it also comes with self-adhesive hooks so that you can fix it to the wall using those instead. Plus, it includes a handy lint brush, so I can easily keep the tumble dryer clean to make sure it's working as efficiently as possible.
Space-saving laundry storage buys
This metal lint bin is metallic so it sticks to the side of my tumble dryer, but also comes with self-adhesive hooks for an alternative fixing solution.
Designed as spice racks, I use these magnetic shelves to store laundry detergent, stain remover and other laundry essentials.
While I haven't tried this extendable wall-mounted clothes airer, it gets great reviews and comes in a black or silver finish.
These nifty little space-saving laundry tricks and hacks have maximised the usable space in my tiny utility room and made tackling the family's laundry much easier, all for under £100.
