Investing in one of the best heated clothes airers on the market can speed up indoor drying times considerably compared to a non-heated option.
If you don’t have a suitable outside space, have been thwarted in your line drying attempts by the good old British weather, or are looking for the most time or cost-efficient way to dry washing during winter, then we think this is one household purchase that you’ll soon come to view as an essential.
A heated clothes airer plugs into a wall socket and either uses electricity to warm up the drying rack or uses a fan to blast warm air at your clothes. Either option makes tackling a pile of wet washing ten times easier and eliminates that dreaded ‘damp washing’ smell that can haunt colder laundry days. Most heated clothes airers are also foldable or can be dismantled, so they can be tucked neatly inside a cupboard or behind furniture when not in use.
Discover the Ideal Home team's tried and tested favourites below. For top results, pair with one of the best dehumidifiers the team has reviewed to reduce any moisture your washing may release as it dries, and your indoor laundry regime is sorted.
Best heated clothes airers – our top picks
Why you can trust Ideal Home Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
This fan-powered heated clothes airer circulates warm air within its zip-up cover to dry washing in super fast times.
Instead of folding clothes over rails, the heated drying pod has six poles at the top of the airer that you can hang coat hangers from. That means drying space is more limited – you can only hang 18 items on hangers within the pod which means it isn't going to cope with a full washing machine load – but on testing, we were extremely impressed with the drying times, with clothes drying in 1-3 hours, dependent on thickness, compared to 8-12 hours on a classic heated airer. Plus, the bonus of hanging garments is that this eliminates creasing and reduces the need for ironing.
The downsides are that the fan does make for a noisier addition to the household than a silent railed rack – we found that we definitely wanted this option set up in a room with a closed door rather than one we were using – and, the setup is more time-consuming. Unless you have the space to leave the airer set up, then there is five minutes of work in slotting together all of the components, and this airer requires a little more storage space than a racked airer which folds flat.
We did also find the DriBUDDi's 6 hanging poles a little fiddly to extend, with the design operating like an umbrella and requiring the depression of a slightly awkward safety catch to lock them into place. For easier set-up keep scrolling to look at the similar yet more expensive Dry:Soon Drying Pod. However, we really liked the fact that once extended the DriBUDDi's poles have grooves to locate each hanger in, something the Dry:Soon Drying Pod lacks.
It should be noted that the powerful 1200W fan uses more energy than a standard 300W heated airer. However, in our tests, we only needed this airer turned on for a fraction of the time of a standard heated drying rack, with even the thickest hoodies and jeans drying in 3 hours max. That's why this quickly became our go-to airer for speedy drying.
Dry:Soon's deluxe heated clothes airer definitely isn't as quick at drying as the fan-powered JML DriBUDDi Indoor Airer at the top of this list, and it's more expensive, but it is silent and can cope far better with large volumes of washing.
In fact, it offers the most drying space of any airer we've tested. The 3-tiered design offers 36 heated drying bars overall, which means 21 metres of drying space that can hold up to 15kg of washing. Its generous size means there's a good amount of space between clothes which allows for better airflow and quicker drying times compared to more compact drying racks.
The well-thought-out design also means it copes the best of all the drying racks we've tested with airing longer items like trousers, towels, and even bedsheets. Plus, an eye-level control panel makes for easy use, and an auto shut-off timer means you don't need to worry about remembering to switch it off. Although sizeable once erected, the aluminium frame folds down to just 8cm deep, which makes an easy job of tucking it out of sight behind furniture or in a cupboard.
This deluxe version also comes with several attachments (that can be bought separately or as part of a bundle) including detachable castors (opens in new tab) that mean you can wheel the airer around for loading or unloading, or easily move it out of the way if guests arrive. It also comes with clips to secure the hanger when it's folded up for storage, and a useful clip-on container for the plug to stow away into once you've folded it up – little things that do make for a more hassle-free user experience.
"This Dry:Soon heated clothes airer makes it so much easier to dry washing indoors when I don't want to have the heating on, or to have clothes hanging over radiators looking messy. It gets really warm and makes a real difference to drying times, plus it actually heats up the room too – an added bonus with all of us a little more reluctant to turn on the heating right now!".
A little cheaper than Dry:Soon's deluxe model, the brand's original heated drying rack has very similar specifications, but comes without the option to add on the detachable castors for easier manoeuvring, and minus clips or the plug storage container to secure things in place when the dryer is folded.
More importantly, on this model the control switch is at ground level, which is a little annoying, and could be a deal breaker for those with reduced mobility or bad backs, and it's designed with cross-bar supporting legs rather than the deluxe model's side supports. We did find this made hanging washing a little more fiddly, and limits the drying of larger items like sheets and towels somewhat as you can't lay them flat over the tiered levels.
Other than that, this option remains a bestseller for good reason, making an easy job of drying up to 15kg of wet washing on its 21 metres of drying space, and folds up easily when not in use; just lacking the clips to keep it compacted and the plug stowaway that the deluxe version includes.
"I bought the Dry:Soon heated airer back in 2015 and have used it for 7 years. It still works as well as it did when I bought it. The three-tier frame is really sturdy and I find it takes up less space than a traditional clothes horse when completely unfolded. When not in use, it folds flat and I’ve found it slots neatly behind a sofa. It works so well as a clothes airer I use it all year round, even when it’s not plugged in. When it is plugged in it takes roughly 1-2 hours to dry a full load of washing, a little longer if your house is colder, and if you leave it on overnight then clothes are extra toasty".
A winged drying rack is generally one of the most affordable options to consider if you're looking for the best heated clothes airer on a budget.
This Status model has one of the lowest prices in our round-up, plus it's one of the most economic to run, with a relatively low 220W power usage.
That said, the winged design does mean our testers found clothes were slower to dry compared to a tiered option, with longer garments staying wet at the ends that were furthest from the 18 drying bars – a problem that can be solved by rotating your clothes frequently, but that does make laundry drying more time-consuming.
If this model is out of stock right now, you'll currently find a host of other winged heated clothes airers on Amazon (opens in new tab).
"I love my heated clothes airer and have it on most days. However, I do find this winged design means I need to keep shuffling the clothes around so that all sections of a garment get the chance to touch the bars and dry thoroughly. The price is good though, and I found this bedsheet clothes airer hack is a really effective way to speed drying times up".
Cute and compact, this mini version of the Dry:Soon drying rack is a great option for a smaller space, with its footprint and height both of a more manageable size when unfolded.
Of course, that does mean less drying space, and although the rack can support a similar 15kg of wet washing, there is only 13m of drying rack space compared to both the larger Dry:Soon model's 21m.
As well as less heated bars (25 compared to the larger model's 36) each drying bar is also narrower (43cm in width compared to 57cm for the deluxe version) and crucially the distance between each tier is reduced, offering a 33cm gap compared to the deluxe models 37.5cm. It may not sound like much, but it does make hanging longer items without them touching the clothes on the tier below more challenging.
For kid's clothing in particular, it's still a workable size though, and if space is at a premium, it may be the best option for a smaller home.
A little bit different from the usual 3-tier heated clothes airer, this John Lewis & Partners option features a ladder-style design that's quick and easy to fold away and set up.
Although the triangular shape means there's a little less space on the top drying rack, it still holds 15kg of wet washing overall, and the tiered design makes it easy to hang washing flat across each level. It also features a four hooks for thick socks or slippers!
"I've owned this John Lewis & Partners heated clothes airer for a couple of years now. It's solid and reliable, and I like that it's versatile so I can either hang clothes, or lay them flat. It heats up quickly, and means I don't have radiators lined with clothes throughout the house!".
Similar to the JML DriBUDDi airer in design, the slightly more expensive Dry:Soon Drying Pod is fan-powered and circulates warm air to dry clothing within the zip-closed cover
On assembly, it became clear that both fan-powered models were very similar in design, although in general, we found the Dry:Soon Drying Pod to be the more sturdy option, and the easiest to fit together. The Dry:Soon's threaded components are much easier to twist into a secure fit and the hanging poles are less fiddly to operate as they don't require the depression of a slightly awkward safety catch to lock them into place. However, we did miss the grooves to locate each coat hanger on that the DriBUDDi features.
The DriBUDDi can also hold more washing, offering space for 18 coat hangers as opposed to the Dry:Soon Drying Pod's capacity for just 12 items. Both models require clothes to be spread out evenly so that the weight of the washing is well distributed for stability, but when clothes weren't well positioned, we found this model the more stable of the two on its feet.
Performance-wise, the DriBUDDi is slightly more powerful at 1200W compared to the 1000W Dry:Soon Drying Pod, although in practice we didn't see that much difference in drying times. So which would we buy? For the build quality and stability the Dry:Soon Drying Pod gets our vote, but in terms of price, the DriBUDDi is better value in that it's more affordable and has a larger drying capacity, which is why it just pipped the Dry:Soon model to the post in this league table. However, overall, we don't think you'll be disappointed investing in either model.
Unlike the other models in this round-up, we haven’t yet tested the Black + Decker 3-Tier Heated Clothes Airer, but we’ve included it in this list because it’s a good price and regularly gets good reviews from verified purchasers across a multitude of websites.
Similarly to the comparable Dry:Soon models at the top of this list, this 3-tier drying rack can hold a 15kg load of wet washing, and operates in a similar way, although some reviewers have complained about the tight spacing between the rails which can effect the amount of air able to circulate around the washing and increase drying time if it's packed too full.
This model is also foldable, although again some reviewers have noted that it isn't the easiest to fold away, with some also mentioning a lack of stability once its erected. This heated drying rack also lacks an auto shut-off timer, a feature that comes in useful if you're prone to forgetting to turn your airer off after it's had a few hours to run.
However, it is a lot cheaper to purchase than the Dry:Soon alternatives, with an RRP of £119.99 compared to the entry-level Dry:Soon's £149.99 price tag, so if you have a set budget to play with, this could be an option worth considering.
What is the best heated clothes airer?
Finding the best heated clothes airer for you and your household's needs depends on a few factors:
Drying space: All heated clothes airers will give you an estimate of how much drying space they offer, either in kg of washing, or metres of drying rack available. Some options, like the fan models in our round-up, tell you how many clothes on hangers you can dry at once instead. If you only tend to dry a small amount of washing at once, a smaller option will be more cost and energy-efficient. If you have larger laundry drying requirements, opt for one of the most generous airers you can find.
Physical size: Don't underestimate how large a heated clothes airer can be once unfolded. Before you choose one, think about where it will live when in operation. Remember this needs to be near a plug socket and away from children and pets. Consider what available floor space you have whilst still being able to open doors and manouevre around it safely.
Storage: Unless you have a super spacious utility room where you can leave your clothes airer up continuously, then storage is an important factor. The majority of airers are foldable, which makes them easier to store out of the way in a cupboard, or to slide underneath or behind furniture when they're not in use. Just make sure to check the folded measurements of the clothes airer you're considering to ensure it fits your storage space.
Where has heated clothes airers in-stock?
At certain times of year – generally, autumn when more of us are attempting to get washing dry indoors rather than outside – getting your hands on a heated clothes airer can be no mean feat, with stock flying out of stores as quickly as it hits down.
As such, we highly recommend investing in a heated clothes airer during the 'off-seasons' of spring and summer. However, if supplies are still low and our tried and tested favourites above aren't in stock, these are the best retailers to try for an in-stock option:
Shop heated clothes airers at Amazon (opens in new tab)
Shop heated clothes airers at Aldi (opens in new tab)
Shop heated clothes airers at Argos (opens in new tab)
Shop heated clothes airers at Dunelm (opens in new tab)
Shop heated clothes airers at Lakeland (opens in new tab)
Shop heated clothes airers at Robert Dyas (opens in new tab)
Heated clothes airer accessories
If you want to speed up your drying times even more then it's worth considering adding a cover to your heated airer. Although most need to be bought separately, they work by trapping the warmth generated by your airer, making clothes toastier whilst they dry, and including mesh panels or ventilation holes so that moisture can still escape.
If you've invested in a Lakeland heated clothes airer, the Dry:Soon Deluxe 3-Tier Heated Airer Cover (opens in new tab) fits a few different models.
"I used Dry:Soon Deluxe 3-Tier Heated Airer Cover (opens in new tab) over my 8-year-old Dry:Soon heated airer, and it did cut down on drying time slightly. I found with the cover added I was able to dry a t-shirt in just two hours, and a heavier sweatshirt in around seven hours). This is a slight reduction on the time it would normally take without, and an added bonus is that it covers up your drying if you don't want clothes on display when guests come over!"
Or, if you're looking for a more affordable alternative, our Appliance Editor, Molly, tried this heated clothes airer TikTok hack and found it reduced drying times.
How we choose the best heated clothes airers
Amy put multiple bestselling heated clothes airers through their paces to compile this guide. Testing heating and drying efficiency, ease of use of controls, and how much capacity each heated drying rack offered to compare performance and price.
Ideal Home's Digital Editor Rebecca Knight is a long-term fan of the Dry:Soon 3-Tier Heated Airer which saw her through cold Scottish winters at university and is still going strong 7 years later. She says, 'when I first bought the drier I was living in Scotland and it usually took 3 days for clothes to dry in winter on their own, but with the heated airer two loads of clothes would be dry in about 3 hours – and they're extra toasty if you leave them on it overnight'.
The Ideal Home team's resident appliance expert, Molly regularly puts the best air fryers, cordless vacuums, and coffee machines (amongst plenty more products) through their paces for our trusted buying guides. For this guide, she tried and tested the Status Winged Heated Clothes Airer.
Heather is the Editor of Ideal Home and Style at Home, as well as being a busy Mum in the midst of renovating a Victorian home in Surrey – so household tasks need to be done fast.
She's owned the John Lewis & Partners heated clothes airer for a couple of years now and loves its versatility.
As well as trying and testing these products ourselves, we've also taken into account the wider views of as many users as possible, via online customer reviews, social media commentary, and brand satisfaction levels. Click here to find out more about how we review products at Ideal Home.
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