Rising energy bills and perma-drizzle are conspiring to keep the nation’s laundry damp, not least by making it such a turn-off to turn on the heating. No wonder heated clothes airers are having a moment. These modish appliances sell out within hours of reaching shops and inspire evangelistic fervour among owners, who call them “life-savers” and “gamechangers”.
Can a hot clothes horse really change your life, let alone dry your soggy washing as fast as a tumble dryer for a fraction of the cost and with none of the noise? Over the past 18 months, I’ve put 17 bestsellers through their paces – including three new models in the past few months – to find out whether they’re the best thing in laundry since the clothes peg, or destined for the loft.
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At a glance
Best heated clothes airer overall:
Lakeland Dry:Soon Deluxe 3-tier heated airer and cover
Best budget heated airer:
Black+Decker heated winged clothes airer
Best heated airer for fast drying:
Minky SureDri heat pod drying system
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Why you should trust me
I’ve spent three decades testing products from Sky boxes to mattress toppers, and it’s made me professionally sceptical of manufacturers’ claims to magically solve domestic problems. I also have a solid background in procrastinating by doing laundry, hanging laundry and folding laundry, so I couldn’t resist the Filter’s offer to pay me to watch clothes dry.
How I tested
Heated airers all do much the same thing in much the same way. There are small differences in design – some have triangle frames, some are winged and some have covers – but they’re basically all clothes horses that you plug in. I had to find clear distinctions between them, and this chiefly meant devising fair, quantifiable tests to measure how quickly, evenly and cheaply each airer dried clothes.
The key test was a half-hourly laundry weigh-in to measure how quickly each airer dried an identical load. Actually, two identical loads – one small (4kg) and one big (8kg) – 17 times, once for every airer. I removed and weighed the clothes every 30 minutes to see how much moisture had evaporated until the fabric was dry, and this gave me an overall drying time. Room temperature remained at a steady 19-20C throughout. For more behind-the-scenes insights into weighing knickers, check out the Filter’s newsletter.
I took other measurements too, not least to give me something (anything) to do while the laundry dried, such as the dimensions of each airer and the length of its heated bars. I used an infrared thermometer to take the bars’ temperature every 30 seconds to compare heat-up times, and a wattage meter to check power usage. I then used the January 2026 default energy tariff (27.69p a kWh) to work out running costs an hour.
Some brands didn’t want the airers I’d tested returned, so those were donated to two organisations that do important work in and around Southampton. The first is Scratch, which provides services and furniture for families and individuals experiencing poverty, and the other is Stop Domestic Abuse, a charity offering support for survivors of abuse and stalking.
Here’s my guide to the 11 best heated clothes airers based on my tests.
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The best heated clothes airers in 2026
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<em>Best heated clothes airer overall</em>:Lakeland Dry:Soon Deluxe 3-tier heated airer and cover
- What we love:Dries almost as fast as a tumble dryer; has a timer and cover
- What we don’t love:It’s expensive – and we’d like a much longer cable
This airer is for anyone who’s fed up with choosing between the expense of a noisy tumble dryer, the mess of clothes on radiators, and the rank stink of laundry slowly drying on a conventional clothes horse. With its ventilated heat-retaining cover in place, it’s the most efficient barred airer I tested.
Why we love it
Lakeland’s Dry:Soon Deluxe three-tier heated airer arrives ready to use. It took me only two minutes to unfold the tiers, position the cover, plug in the cable and switch it on. The airer is a handsome chrome rack on its own, but the light grey embroidered cover makes the whole thing look rather gorgeous.
The bars warmed up faster than most of its rivals, reaching 27C within 30 seconds before maxing out at 50C. When I laid a 4kg load of damp T-shirts across them and closed the cover, the lot was dry in two hours. That’s no faster than a tumble dryer, but it’s much more energy-efficient, costing about 9p an hour compared with £1.11 for my tumble dryer.
The Dry:Soon Deluxe has some excellent user-friendly details. In particular, a timer lets you set it to switch off in hourly increments up to 12 hours ahead, which is handy for leaving it on overnight without the risk of forgetting it in the morning. All Lakeland’s airers come with a three-year warranty compared with the basic statutory guarantees for most heated airers.
It’s a shame that … this airer costs almost as much as a tumble dryer. Deluxe by name, deluxe by price. But it’s many times cheaper to run, and with energy costs rising, £200+ may be worth spending to keep your bills down.
Suitable for: families who want to give up their expensive tumble dryer habit
Available drying space: 21m (up to 36 hanging T-shirts)
Dimensions (open): 73 x 75 x 137cm (DWH)
Dimensions (folded): 10 x 75 x 137cm (DWH)
Max capacity: 15kg
Time to dry small load: 2 hours
Running cost: 9p/hour
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<em>Best budget heated airer:</em>Black+Decker heated winged clothes airer
- What we love:Cheap to buy and run; light to carry and easy to move
- What we don’t love:Not big or powerful enough to dry a full load
The Black+Decker doesn’t get particularly hot, which helps if you have curious toddlers and delicate clothes. It still managed to dry my small load of T-shirts in an afternoon, and at £50 with a 10p-an-hour running cost, it’s a decent budget buy. It’s also one of the easiest airers to fold down and slip under the sofa when not in use.
Why we love it
The Black+Decker winged airer has the smallest footprint in my test, taking up about 50 x 50cm on its beam supports, yet it boasts a capacity of 10kg when unfolded, thanks to its ironing board-style shape. It warmed up to 33C in its hottest spots and dried my small load of T-shirts in just over four hours, with a little help from me flipping them and moving them around.
I also like that the wings fold inwards to double up the heat when drying thicker garments, albeit not very large ones, and the dryer is so light (about 3.5kg) that I could move it around using one hand.
It’s a shame that … it warmed up slowly and failed to get hotter than 33C even after three hours. That’s great for delicates and damp towels, but not hot enough to dry thick fabrics.
Suitable for: drying light fabrics and warming up towels
Available drying space: 11m (up to 20 hanging T-shirts)
Dimensions (open): 54 x 148 x 93cm (DWH)
Dimensions (folded): approx 54 x 100 x 20cm (DWH)
Max capacity: 10kg
Time to dry small load: 4 hours 15 minutes
Running cost: 10p/hour
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<em>Best heated airer for fast drying</em>:Minky SureDri heat pod drying system
- What we love:Works with your existing clothes horse to speed up drying
- What we don’t love:It’s noisy and the unit is cumbersome to set up
Heat pods turn your old unheated airer into a heated version. This one has a waterproof cover that fits a standard three-tier clothes horse, plus an electric heater that sits underneath to fill the space with hot air.
Why we love it
Minky’s pod system is a damp-blitzing machine. Even on its lowest 360W setting, it was one of the fastest dryers in my tests, because the heater and cover combo kept in the hot air. I measured the highest setting as using 915W, which cost 25p an hour, and it dried a large 8kg load within three hours. That’s as fast as a tumble dryer, but with less damage to your electric bill, or indeed to your clothes.
At £90 RRP, the Minky isn’t quite a bargain buy, but I love that it brings hot new life to your existing clothes horse. If the cover doesn’t fit yours, you can use a sheet with the Minky heater unit to much the same effect.
It’s a shame that … drying clothes with the Minky is more of a faff than with barred heated airers. First, you have to set up the pod, then you have to put up with the noise. The cover also makes it fiddly to check your clothes while they’re drying.
Suitable for: work clothes and school uniforms that need a fast laundry turnaround
Available drying space: about 18m, depending on your clothes horse
Dimensions (heat pod unit): 28 x 17 x 33cm (DWH)
Max capacity: about 10kg
Time to dry small load: 1 hour 40 minutes (setting 1); 45mins (setting 3)
Running cost: 10p/hour (setting 1); 25p/hour (setting 3)
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The best of the rest
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Dunelm XL 3-tier square heated airer
- What we love:One of the few airers that’s big enough to dry a full load
- What we don’t love:Takes up a sizeable chunk of space when unfolded
Best for: a never-ending cycle of laundry that needs constant access
This huge, uncovered airer lets you get at your washing as it dries, so you can check, rearrange and replace items easily. It’s so big that I could lay an entire 4kg load of 10 T-shirts across the bars, and they dried in two hours at a cost of 22p. To save space, you can fold down half of the airer while it’s drying.
It didn’t make the final cut because … this airer will be too big for many homes to accommodate.
Available drying space: 25m; dimensions (open): 73 x 85 x 136cm (DWH); dimensions (folded): 10 x 85 x 136cm (DWH); max capacity: 25kg; time to dry small load: 2 hours; running cost: 11p/hour
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Dunelm 3-tier A-frame heated airer
- What we love:Small but sturdy, with clever stands to dry soggy shoes
- What we don’t love:Lacks the power to dry thick fabrics
Best for: runners and dog walkers who need to dry soggy shoes and socks
Heated shoe stands are a simple addition and work well on this airer, drying my thick walking socks faster than if I’d laid them across the bars. The A-frame design also makes this among the sturdiest smaller airers I tested, and it stood firm even when I threw a large load of washing at the top tier.
It didn’t make the final cut because … my small 4kg load needed an unusually long five hours, even after I’d moved things around and flipped them over. I also hated risking my fingers in the metal-hinged supports each time I folded and unfolded the airer.
Available drying space: 17m, including shoe stands; dimensions (open): 54 x 91 x 146cm (DWH); dimensions (folded): 18 x 91 x 146cm (DWH); max capacity: 15kg; time to dry small load: 4 hours; running cost: 10p/hour
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Argos Home 3-tier heated airer
- What we love:Surprisingly powerful for one of the smallest airers on test
- What we don’t love:Too dinky for a family load, and a little unsteady
Best for: solo households and small living spaces
Argos’s three-tier airer took several minutes to heat up and maxed out at a reasonable 45C – hot enough to dry my small load in four and a half hours (after a bit of rearranging). The pivoted frame makes it feel less sturdy than airers with feet at each corner, but it’s a breeze to fold and unfold.
It didn’t make the final cut because … the Argos Home airer feels less robust than similarly priced rivals.
Available drying space: 17m; dimensions (open): 73 x 70 x 144cm (DWH); dimensions (folded): 13 x 70 x 144cm (DWH); max capacity: 15kg; time to dry small load: 4 hours 20 minutes; running cost: 9p/hour
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Aldi Ambiano winged heated airer
- What we love:Ideal for drying underwear, then folding away quickly
- What we don’t love:Not big or powerful enough to dry a full load
Best for: small living spaces and limited budgets
Aldi’s Ambiano-branded airer is the cheapest I tested and well worth a trip to the shops – but Aldi isn’t kidding with that “while stocks last” label. After waiting for a restock, I finally tested this bargain airer on the coldest days of January, and it performed almost as well as the more widely available Black+Decker winged airer. With the free cover in place and a bit of rearranging halfway through, it dried my small load in just over four hours. It’s a smart pick if you’re short on space because it folds down easily to merely 6cm high for slipping under a bed or chest of drawers when not in use.
It didn’t make the final cut because … it’s not powerful enough to dry a full load on a cold day without resulting in stinky slow-dried clothes, as with the Black+Decker and Argos three-tier models here. However, it will dry a few items laid flat – especially if you fold in the wings to double up the heat.
Available drying space: 12m; dimensions (open): 54 x 148 x 83cm (DWH); dimensions (folded): 54 x 94 x 6cm (DWH); max capacity: 10kg; time to dry small load: 4 hours 15 minutes; running cost: 6p/hour
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GlamHaus digital electric clothes airer
- What we love:This large airer’s open design gives you easy access
- What we don’t love:Touch display is fiddly, and initial setup could be easier
Best for: sizeable wardrobes that contain delicate fabrics
This is one of the biggest and most feature-rich airers I tested, with a ventilated cover, timer and digital temperature controls that I found fairly easy to use. The top setting reached nowhere near the claimed 70C but did manage 52C in places, and I love having the lower-temperature settings for drying flimsy fabrics on the bars. You can attach peg hangers to dangle your smalls in the heat, but they don’t allow much dangle room. As with all the airers I tested, you get a much quicker dry if you lay items across the bars.
It didn’t make the final cut because … it doesn’t dry clothes quite as fast as the Dry:Soon Deluxe, and it’s a right old jigsaw to put together the first time you use it. After that, though, I found it easy to open and close.
Available drying space: 30m; dimensions (open): 73 x 70 x 147cm (DWH); dimensions (folded): 15 x 70 x 147cm (DWH); max capacity: 25kg; time to dry small load: 3 hours 30 minutes; running cost: 9p/hour
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Black+Decker X-frame heated airer
- What we love:Unfolds in seconds and looks smart
- What we don’t love:There’s not enough room to dry a full load
Best for: good looks, and super-quick folding and unfolding
All the other airers I tested required some kind of setup, either when you get it out of the box or – in most cases – each time you want to use it. But this stylish Black+Decker model unfolds in an instant, and is ready for action straight out of the box. Open up the hinged “X” shape, plug it in, press the red button and load it with laundry. It then takes five minutes to reach its maximum heat of 38C, certainly not the hottest in my test, but warm enough to dry a small load of T-shirts in two hours. It’s then supremely quick and easy to fold away again.
I didn’t find much use for the little hammock attachment, which is supposed to be for your underwear. All my undies dried much faster when I dangled them from the bars. Fast-drying items, such as tea towels, also dried fast enough when dangling, but T-shirts and other clothes had to be laid across several bars to get them dry.
It didn’t make the final cut because … it looks quite big, but this airer has much less flat drying space than tiered airers, so it won’t dry a full load of washing.
Available drying space: 11.5m; dimensions (open): 57 x 71 x 126cm (DWH); dimensions (folded): 57 x 7.5 x 144cm (DWH); max capacity: 10kg; time to dry small load: 3 hours 30 minutes; running cost: 10p/hour
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Beldray winged heated clothes airer
- What we love:Dries all your socks and pants in a couple of hours
- What we don’t love:Not powerful enough to dry large items
Best for: drying a week’s worth of undies
Beldray’s 230W winged airer is a good buy at £50, but don’t expect it to dry a week’s worth of laundry. Hanging clothes from its 18 bars doesn’t dry them fast enough to avoid mild stinkiness, and there wasn’t enough room to lay more than four of my T-shirts across the bars. It blazed through underwear, though. The bars get surprisingly warm given the airer’s modest 230W power rating, so it made fast work of my damp socks, knickers and boxer shorts, as long as I gave each item its own spot on the bars. It folds up small for storage, too, although you have to wrestle the heated bars off the X-frame stand – not something I managed without a little light swearing.
It didn’t make the final cut because … it’s a great helper, but not big or powerful enough to dry a load of clothes.
Available drying space: 12m 40cm; dimensions (open): 54 x 148 x 91cm (DWH); dimensions (folded): 54 x 105 x 7.5cm (DWH); max capacity: 15kg; time to dry small load: 3 hours 30 minutes (all small items); running cost: 6p/hour
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Dunelm heated ladder airer
- What we love:Cheap to run and looks rather handsome
- What we don’t love:Far too small for a laundry load, or even large items
Best for: keeping in the hallway to dry damp socks, shoes and gloves
The smallest airer in my test and by far the cheapest to run, Dunelm’s 90W aluminium ladder uses a mere 2p an hour under the 1 January energy price cap, and takes up very little space. Its plastic feet are a pain to attach and add about half a square metre to its footprint, so I used it without the feet, and found that it worked perfectly fine (and looked better, to my taste) when leaning up against the wall. A great little gizmo for taking the soggy edge off hand towels, tea towels or even rained-on hats and gloves.
It didn’t make the final cut because … feet on or off, it’s not big or powerful enough to dry a load of washing.
Available drying space: 3m; dimensions (with feet): 53 x 34 x 87cm (DWH); max capacity: 5kg; time to dry small load: 3 hours 30 minutes; running cost: 2p/hour
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What you need to know
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Heated clothes airers are such a simple and smart idea that it’s weird they haven’t been around longer. They’re wildly popular, too: I waited four months to test Aldi’s winged heated airer because there were none left in the warehouse within days of it going on sale last September. But do they deserve the hype – and how can you get the best out of yours?
How much do heated airers cost to run?
Minimal running cost is the biggest selling point of heated airers. Their packaging bears promises that they’ll dry your clothes for as little as 6p an hour, dramatically undercutting all rival methods other than blazing sunshine. Really? Yes, in some cases, at least until jumps in energy prices piled on the pennies.
Even under energy prices of autumn 2024, when I first tested most of these airers, 6p an hour was a little optimistic. I found that standard barred airers, running at about 320W, worked out at 7p an hour in September 2024 and 9p an hour now.
Most heated airers take a full afternoon or more to dry a load of washing, and those 9p hours will add up. Airers that dry clothes faster, such as the fan-heater-based Minky SureDri, cost more to run. At 915W, the SureDri now costs about 25p an hour, adding up to 75p to dry a load.
That’s still significantly cheaper than running a tumble dryer or, indeed, a washing machine. Under January 2026 energy prices, a tumble dryer running at 3kW costs 83p an hour to run, and it can cost even more to switch on the central heating.
How long do clothes take to dry with a heated airer?
A standard T-shirt, laid flat and unfolded across several bars of a 300-320W barred heated airer, should dry in about two hours. If you’re drying a whole load of clothes, though, it’ll take a whole afternoon – or about eight hours if the air feels cold or humid. You will need to flip and rearrange items during this time to give the fabric equal access to the bars.
Airers that contain a fan heater dry clothes more quickly. The fastest-drying airer in my test, the Minky SureDri, blew out enough hot air to dry my small load of washing in less than two hours. With a large load, I found it easier to halve it and dry it in batches.
Can you leave them on all night?
An hour or two on a heated airer won’t make a dent in the dampness of your jumpers or thick towels. Overnight would do it – but is it safe? The good news is that a 300W airer uses about the same amount of electricity as a fridge freezer, so yes, you can leave your clothes to dry while you snooze. Gentle warmth in the room is a lovely bonus.
But while barred airers are safe to leave on overnight, as confirmed by brands including John Lewis, Lakeland and retailer Direct365, be more cautious with the fan heater type. The 915W Minky SureDri packs just below half the wattage (and noise) of a tumble dryer, and I certainly wouldn’t leave one of those on overnight or while I’m out.
How can you make clothes dry faster on a heated airer?
There are ways you can speed up the drying process. My best tip is to ignore the marketing photos that show airers draped like Christmas trees, with clothes hung from every bar. As I discovered while running this test, your clothes simply won’t dry that way unless it’s a warm day, which rather defeats the point. Instead, lay individual items across the bars.
Covered airers cut drying times by almost half, but you can achieve a similar result by throwing a fitted sheet over the top, as long as there’s a gap for moist air to escape. Whatever cover you use, I’d recommend removing it as soon as your clothes are dry. Covers are vented to avoid condensation, but I found that some moisture crept back in if I left my clothes inside.
However powerful your airer, always spin your clothes to remove as much water as possible before laying them on it. Wet clothes won’t dry, and water and electricity are not a happy combination.
On that note, don’t use a heated airer in the bathroom. Electric peril aside, bathroom air is notoriously damp. I had the best results when using my test airers in the bedroom with the window ajar – and the faint fabric softener scent was a sweet bedtime bonus.
Do heated airers make your house damp?
When you dry clothes on any warm surface, whether it’s a heated airer or a radiator, the moisture rises from the clothes – to where? I asked a range of experts about this, and they broadly agreed that the key is to let the moist air escape from your home.
“It’s not the drying method alone but the combination of moisture and lack of ventilation that leads to damp problems,” says Dr Anastasia Mylona, technical director at the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers. “You can manage this by ensuring good ventilation when drying clothes indoors; for example, by opening windows or using extractor fans.”
A dehumidifier can help avoid damp, as well as speed up the drying process, says cleaning expert Nancy Emery of bathroom retailer Drench. “If you’re investing in a heated airer, my advice is to invest in a dehumidifier as well, and always run them together.”
I’ve found heated airers much less likely than radiators to cause damp walls, and property expert Phil Spencer explains why. “Airflow is key, so if you want to use a heated airer, put it in the middle of the room rather than next to the wall,” says Spencer, who, among other things, has founded the property advice website Move iQ. “This is why heated airers are preferable to wall-mounted radiators.”
However, radiators can heat up the room, and heated airers can’t, at least not significantly. That’s an important factor in the battle against damp, says Emery. “Maintaining your home’s temperature above 18C helps because condensation can’t settle on warmer surfaces.”
I put these tips to the test using an affordable humidity meter. I measured the moisture in my spare room’s air before doing any laundry, and then again at various stages of drying a medium load on a large heated airer – with and without opening the windows and using a dehumidifier.
It had rained all week, so perhaps it’s no surprise that my house boasted a base humidity level of 70%, 10% higher than the recommended UK maximum. I was surprised, though, when this only rose to 72% once I’d loaded the airer with damp clothes. Running my dehumidifier brought the room’s humidity down to 70%. When I opened the windows, it dropped to 65% – even before the load was completely dry. I’ve now defaulted to leaving the windows open whenever possible, whether or not I’m drying clothes.
“Opening windows regularly is the best way to allow humid air to escape, though it may seem counterintuitive in colder weather,” says Nicholas Donnithorne, UK technical services manager at Rentokil Property Care. “Leave quarterlights ajar or trickle vents open. Dehumidifiers can help, but they require regular emptying and aren’t a substitute for proper ventilation.”
For more autumn and winter home essentials, read the Filter’s guides to:
• The best electric blankets and heated throws
• The best electric heaters, tested
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Jane Hoskyn is a features journalist and WFH pioneer with three decades of experience in rearranging bookshelves and “testing” coffee machines while deadlines loom. Her work has made her a low-key expert in all manner of consumables, from sports watches to solar panels. She would always rather be in the woods
• This article was originally published on 18 October 2024. Reviews published in the Filter may be periodically updated to reflect new products and at the editor’s discretion. The date of an article’s most recent update can be found in the timestamp at the top of the page. This article was updated on 21 January 2026; three new airers were added after testing, information was added on how long it takes for washing to dry, and prices were updated throughout.
• This article was amended on 15 January 2025 to remove a recommendation for the Dunelm heated airer with wings, which was originally rated as the best budget option. After publication, this model was the subject of a safety recall from Dunelm, which has advised purchasers to stop using the product and return it for a full refund. For further information on the recall, please go to Dunelm’s website.
