10 best heated clothes airers for drying clothes fast – tried and tested

The best heated clothes airers can speed up laundry drying times considerably compared to drying washing indoors on normal airer.

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 circulate warm air around 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 to suck away the moisture that washing releases as it dries, and your indoor laundry regime is sorted.

The quick list

Short on time? This quick list is an overview of the very best heated clothes airers. You'll find more information on each airer and why our testers recommend it if you keep on scrolling.

Best heated clothes airers 2024

Fastest drying

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.

Largest capacity

A new launch from laundry specialist Minky, the brand's 4 Tier Heated Airer with Timer & Cover looks set to give the market leading Dry:Soon 3-Tier Deluxe Heated Airer a run for its money. 

Currently on the market for just under £40 less than the Dry:Soon 3-Tier Deluxe, the newest Minky heated airer offers an extra fourth tier of drying space that can hold smaller items like socks and underwear. Overall, that means this heated airer has the largest capacity of all the airers we've tested, holding 20kg of washing on 23m of drying rack space compared to the Dry:Soon 3-Tier's 15kg and 21m. 

Similarly to the Dry:Soon Deluxe, each drying rack on the Minky SureDri can be folded down independently, which makes it a great option for drying longer items like trousers, towels, and sheets. Like the Dry:Soon Deluxe, it also offers a useful timer function, meaning you can set the airer to heat for drying intervals of up to 9 hours before it will automatically shut off.

On testing, we were also impressed by the Minky SureDri's angled tiers which make hanging washing easier, and allow a little more space to hang longer items without them touching the rack below. Plus, the SureDri comes with a zip-up cover included, whilst the Dry:Soon's must be bought separately. The cover helps to retain the heat, and can speed up drying times a little. 

However, our favourite feature has to be the fact that the SureDri's clever adjustable feet mean it can be used with one half of the airer folded flat so it fits against a wall – perfect if laundry space can sometimes be limited, or you only have a small load of washing to dry.

And, whilst the SureDri is a bit more bulky when folded flat than the Dry:Soon (the Minky airers folded depth is 15.5cm compared to the Dry:Soon's 8cm depth), because the SureDri is freestanding, it can be stored upright which the Dry:Soon can not.

The only real niggle we have with this airer is the fact that its control panel is on the base of the airer next to the floor, which makes it slightly awkward to operate. The Dry:Soon Deluxe has solved this issue by offering more user-friendly eye level controls.

The Minky SureDri isn't cheap, and drying times are slower than either of the drying pods in our round-up (either the JML DriBUDDI Heated Indoor Airer or the Dry:Soon Drying Pod), but, if you have a large volume of washing to dry indoors then we think this model is one of the best large capacity heated drying racks available right now. 

Most versatile heated airer

The Minky Sure Dri Heat Pod Drying System is somewhat of a hybrid between the fan-powered JML DriBUDDi Indoor Airer drying pod and the Dry:Soon 3-Tier Heated Airer that's become a Lakeland bestseller.

The £90 investment in the Sure Dri Heat Pod Drying System gets you a zippable cover that fits a standard 3-tier airer (which isn't included) and a small motor with a fan that generates warm air and circulates it within the cover to dry wet washing faster.

Its benefits are that it's one of the few (if not the only) fan-powered heated airers we've come across that works with a tiered drying rack, which means it offers more space for hanging washing. The fan-powered JML DriBUDDi Indoor Airer and Dry:Soon Drying Pod are both brilliant for drying washing fast, but garments have to be hung on coat hangers, and hanging space is limited, with the JML DriBUDDi holding 18 items and the Dry:Soon Drying Pod just 12 items. 

In contrast, you can invest in a cover for the Dry:Soon 3-Tier Heated Airer, which does speed up drying times a little, but you don't get the fan motor which is the part that really speeds up drying times. 

In many ways, this combination of more hanging space faster fan-powered drying should make the Minky Sure Dri Heat Pod Drying System the best heated clothes airer going. However, in practice, we found it isn't perfect.

First up, it's fiddly to assemble, requiring the screwing together of a frame for the drying pod to sit on and the balancing of a hose connector on the bottom rungs of your tiered airer (which even when using Minky's own Sure Grip 21m 3 Tier Indoor Airer, isn't a perfect fit). We also found that wet washing still needed rotating regularly for even drying, with washing at the top and sides of the airer (furthest from the fan hose) taking longer to dry than items in the middle of the airer. And filling the drying racks meant drying times increased considerably. The fan motor is also bulky to store, and the controls could be better quality. Unlike a silent heated drying rack, the fan motor also means noise.

However, its larger drying space does make the Minky Sure Dri Heat Pod Drying System one of the best heated airers we've come across for drying larger items like towels and sheets; items you'd struggle to fit into the JML DriBUDDi and Dry:Soon Drying Pod. And, drying times were a lot faster than with a standard tiered heated airer, like the Dry:Soon 3-Tier Heated Airer and a huge improvement on a winged heated airer. 

Ultimately whether this is the best heated airer for you probably depends on whether you have an existing 3-tier airer you want to convert over winter, the type of washing you want to dry faster, and whether you're happy to accept fan noise in return for faster drying.

Bestseller

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.

Ideal Home's digital editor, Rebecca Knight, says, 'I bought the Dry:Soon heated airer back in 2015 and 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 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 I find it takes roughly 5-6 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 budget buy

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.

Ideal Home's ecommerce editor, Molly Cleary, says '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'.

If this model is out of stock right now, you'll currently find a host of other winged heated clothes airers on Amazon.

Compact

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 kids' 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.

Quick-drying alternative

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.

Add wheels for manoeuvrability

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. Plus, the right Lakeland discount code may help you cut down this price tag.

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 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.

Easy slipper and sock drying

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!

Ideal Home's editor, Heather Young, says, '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 also heats up quickly, and means I don't have radiators lined with clothes throughout the house'.

Amazon bestseller

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.

How to choose a heated clothes airer

Finding the best heated clothes airer for you and your household's needs depends on a few different factors. We've rounded up the main considerations below.

Type: There are two main types of heated airer; heated drying pods and heated drying racks.

Based on our laundry-drying tests, the fastest way to dry clothes indoors is with one of the heated drying pods listed in our round-up. That's either the JML DriBUDDI Heated Indoor Airer or the Dry:Soon Drying Pod. Both of these heated airers use a high-powered fan that circulates hot air within the zippable cover to dry washing quickly – in our tests that took roughly three hours. 

The downside of one of these drying pods is the noise of the fan and the fact you can't squeeze much washing in at once – these airers won't hold a full load of laundry, but they're great for drying a school uniform or sports kit super fast.

A heated drying rack, like the Lake Dry:Soon 3-Tier Deluxe Heated Airer, will also speed up laundry drying times compared to a non-heated airer, especially if you don't have the heating turned on. However, the drying process is slower with one of these models. The turn around from wet to dry washing was between six to ten hours in our tests, although drying times will be faster if you also have the central heating cranked up. 

The laundry drying process is a little more labour intensive with a heated drying rack as you might need to readjust longer washing to give all sections a turn next to the heated bars. However, compared to a heated drying pod, opting for a heated rack airer means you can fit more washing on at once, it will use less energy overall, and it's silent to operate.

If you decide to opt for a heated drying rack then you'll also need to decide between a tiered or a winged model. Winged heated airers, like the Status Portable Heated Clothes Airer, are generally the cheapest heated airers available. However, in our tests, we found that tiered heated airers worked a lot better than winged heated airers at drying washing. On a winged heated airer very little of the wet laundry actually touches the heated bars, so longer items can hang down below the heated elements and remain damp at the ends.

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.

FAQs

How we test

You'll find full details of the Ideal Home review process on our how we test page.

Our team of reviewers tested a host of bestselling heated clothes airers to compile this guide. We compared assembly and set-up, design, ease of use, performance, capacity, energy efficiency, price point, and, of course, laundry drying times to find the best heated clothes airers for various needs and budgets.

All heated clothes airers were tested in the same enclosed room with an indoor temperature of 17°C. We ensured the same items of washing were included in each drying test, including lighter items such as tshirts and underwear, and thicker items such as a hoodie and jeans. Where possible, we also tested the heated clothes airer's ability to dry towels and bedding. We monitored how many hours it took washing to go from wet to touch dry.

If there are any products that we haven't managed to test in person, or the product didn't achieve over 4 out of 5 stars, then they won't have an Ideal Home Approved badge. However, you can rest assured we've done thorough research on their technical specifications and read multiple happy – and not-so-happy! – customer reviews to narrow down our suggestions to only the best-in-class.

Amy Lockwood

Amy put multiple bestselling heated clothes airers through their paces to compile this guide, inlcuding the JML DriBUDDI Heated Indoor Airer, Dry:Soon 3-Tier Deluxe Heated Airer, Dry:Soon Mini 3-Tier Heated Airer, and Dry:Soon Drying Pod. She tested heating and drying efficiency, ease of use of controls, and how much capacity each heated drying rack offered to compare performance and price.

Rebecca Knight

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'.  

Molly Cleary

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 Young

Heather is the Editor in Chief of Ideal Home, as well as being a busy Mum to twins who's also 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.