Clothes Airers FAQs
Installation Video
Clothes Airer FAQs
What is the difference between the Clothes Airers ?What environmental advantages do clothes airers provide ?
What is the purpose of having extra pulleys ?
Are the wooden laths treated with anything or left natural?
What sizes do you do ?
What colours do you do ?
What is powder coating ?
Can I use your airer on a sloping ceiling ?
What is a cleat ?
What are the parts made from ?
Can you combine postage on multiple items ?
How do you deliver and how long will it take ?
Do they come with instructions are they difficult to fit?
Maintenance and care of your airer and wooden lath mould
All iron airers can have a choice of pulley type, Choose from our standard pulley which is made from solid cast iron with plastic nylon wheels, or our deluxe version which is also a solid cast iron housing and comes with solid cast iron wheels. The chrome and brass airer come with chrome or brass pulleys
All airers can have a choice of rope length. Choose from 10 meters or 15 meter rope. Our rope is made from organic cotton lined nylon, and is a high quality marine yachting rope
What environmental advantages do clothes airers provide ?
Buying a Cast in Style Kitchen Maid Clothes airer is one of the most ecological and environmentally friendly solutions you can do for your home and our planet.
By using the naturally warm rising air which occurs in any home, the Kitchen Maids will dry a whole load of washing in around 2-4 hours. Always try to buy the longest airer you can accommodate in your home to take the maximum advantage of the airers.
Using our clothes airer as a direct replacement to your normal tumble dryer can reduce your carbon foot print by 1.5 tonnes a year and saves you enough in electricity costs to pay for your new clothes airer in 6 months. Don't take our word for it, have a look at the government act on Co2 web site and see for yourself.
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Everything we do to produce our clothes airers has the environment in mind. Our wooden laths come from well managed sustainable redwood pine forests who employ the principle of every tree which is cut down at least one new one is grown to replace it. We are an FSC certified company and our certificate number is showing in the logo above. Our laths are approved by the FSC Trademarks who believe in well managed forests.
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Cast iron is one of the most recyclable materials available on the planet. Every run off and unwanted metal is never wasted, everything is recycled and melted back down to make more cast iron parts.
What is the purpose of extra pulleys ?
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Our clothes airers are supplied with one single pulley and one double pulley as standard which provide a full working pulley system for your airer to travel up and down on.
Should you wish to position the clothes airer away from the wall it may be necessary to extend the run of the rope across the ceiling so that it may travel to the cleat hook at a right angle as opposed to diagonally from the main pulley.
When fixed above the cleat hook, a second double pulley provides the pivot to allow you to do this. You can order an extra double pulley here
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Standard configuration |
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Clothes airer pulley configuration showing an extra double pulley being used to extend the rope away for the airer to give more ease of use
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Clothes airer pulley configuration showing how 2 extra double pulleys can be used to allow the rope to make a right angle turn at ceiling height. This helps if you need to guide the rope around a door frame or window for example. The double pulley in the middle need to be fitted at a right angle to the other pulleys which means you will need to screw it sideways into a block of wood or into the end wall at ceiling height if this is possible.
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Are the wooden laths treated with anything or left natural?
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Our wooden laths have been specially produced in collaboration with our wood supplier, over several years, specifically for our clothes airers. We have developed a special kiln dried technique which removes all the moisture from the red wood pine laths guaranteeing them not to release the tree sap or stains onto your clothes. The wood is deliberately not treated with anything as if it is it can sometimes stain the clothes. We suggest you keep the laths as we send them to you and they will provide many years of service for your airer. |
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Everything we do to produce our clothes airers has the environment in mind. Our wooden laths come from well managed sustainable redwood pine forests who employ the principle of every tree which is cut down at least one new one is grown to replace it. We are an FSC certified company and our certificate number is showing in the logo above. Our laths are approved by the FSC Trademarks who believe in well managed forests.
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What sizes do you do ?
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3 Lath Airer |
Traditional Airer |
Victorian Airer |
Classic Airer |
5 Lath Airer |
6 Lath Airer |
7 Lath Airer |
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Width of airer cast iron end |
33cm |
36cm |
38cm |
40cm |
53.5cm |
61.5cm |
79cm |
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Ceiling Clearance (drop when fully hoisted up to ceiling) |
31cm |
22cm |
24cm |
33cm |
23.5cm |
30cm |
33cm |
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Wooden laths are available in theses lengths |
0.9 M / 2.9ft 1.2 M / 3.9ft 1.5 M / 4.9ft 1.8 M / 5.9ft 2.1 M / 6.9ft 2.4 M / 7.9ft |
0.9 M / 2.9ft 1.2 M / 3.9ft 1.5 M / 4.9ft 1.8 M / 5.9ft 2.1 M / 6.9ft 2.4 M / 7.9ft |
0.9 M / 2.9ft 1.2 M / 3.9ft 1.5 M / 4.9ft 1.8 M / 5.9ft 2.1 M / 6.9ft 2.4 M / 7.9ft |
0.9 M / 2.9ft 1.2 M / 3.9ft 1.5 M / 4.9ft 1.8 M / 5.9ft 2.1 M / 6.9ft 2.4 M / 7.9ft |
0.9 M / 2.9ft 1.2 M / 3.9ft 1.5 M / 4.9ft 1.8 M / 5.9ft 2.1 M / 6.9ft 2.4 M / 7.9ft |
0.9 M / 2.9ft 1.2 M / 3.9ft 1.5 M / 4.9ft 1.8 M / 5.9ft 2.1 M / 6.9ft 2.4 M / 7.9ft |
0.9 M / 2.9ft 1.2 M / 3.9ft 1.5 M / 4.9ft 1.8 M / 5.9ft 2.1 M / 6.9ft 2.4 M / 7.9ft |
What colours do you do?
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All the cast iron components (2 x airer ends, 1 x single pulley, 1 x double pulley and 1 x cleat) are colour coordinated and come in a choice of:
Our Traditional Colour Range of :
Original (Lacquer), White, Black, and Ivory
Or our Heritage Colour Range:
French Grey, Stone Grey, Smoke Blue and Anthracite Pewter
which are all powder coated to ensure durability.
Our Chrome and Brass airers are unlacquered and are both made from solid brass. The Chrome airer is then chrome plated.. |
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What is powder coating ?
| Powder coating is a special colouring technique which is mainly used on metal as an excellent way to not only colour but provide a very tough protective coating to the metal part. It is sprayed onto the part as a free-flowing dry powder. The main difference between a conventional liquid paint and a powder coating is that the powder coating does not require a solvent solution to keep the colour in a liquid form, instead it is spray applied electrostatically using the dry powder. The coating is then baked in an oven to cure it under heat. This allows it to flow and form a hard skin over the surface of the iron. This process can look very unusual to someone who has never seen it before as the dry powder is usually nearly always white in colour, baking it changes its chemical composition and it changes colour before your eyes to the final colour you want, as it enters the oven.It is used to create a hard finish that is tougher than conventional paint. Powder coating is mainly used for coating of metals and is perfect for cast iron. It creates a vibrant beautiful colour finish which will enhance the beauty of your clothes airer. |
Can I use your airers on a sloping ceiling?
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Yes you can. Our clothes airers are perfect for sloping ceilings. The airer must be kept level for correct operation so it simply means that the rope from one end of the airer to the ceiling pulley is longer than the other end, therefore holding the airer level. The only thing you need to consider it that the airer can only be pulled as high as the lowest point on your sloping roof. If this is high enough, so as to allow the airer to be pulled up out of the way, then it won't be a problem. Also the pulley MUST be fitted into the sloping ceiling at an angle to the slope as in the photo shown. The pulleys must always be vertical to the floor, just as they would be if the ceiling was a flat ceiling. This means the pulley will look like the photo to the right when fitted on a sloping ceiling. A ceiling can slope in all sorts of directions and our airers will work with any of them. If you are unsure give us a call on 0800 009 6233 and we will always help you out.
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What is a cleat ?
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The cleat is a small retaining hook used to secure the rope of the pulley airer to the wall and hold it securely in place. It is needed to hold the airer in the chosen position once you hoist it up to the ceiling, it is also used to hold the airer in position when loading it with clothes. The cleat is fixed to the wall near the airer with screws provided.
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What are the parts made from ?
| All of our components are solid cast iron and are powder coated in a choice of colours. Our standard pulleys come with plastic wheels and our deluxe pulleys come with cast iron wheels for a more authentic touch. The wooden laths are solid natural redwood pine and are produced specially from a renewable source to fit our rack ends. These are supplied untreated and are hand sanded so that they will not snag or stain your clothes. Take a look at our wooden laths section The rope is 6mm organic cotton lined pulley cord with a nylon core to give it strength and durability. This is a tough rope and is usually more at home on sail yacht but we find is absolutely perfect for our airers as well as giving that traditional look. |
Can you combine postage on multiple items ?
| Yes, actually you can order as many airers as you like for our standard rate delivery.
Please note that prices are only available to the UK mainland. Scottish highlands and Islands, Northern Ireland and UK Islands are charged at a higher rate |
How do you deliver and how long will it take ?
| We aim to dispatch all items within 2-3 working days of purchase for standard delivery and 1-2 working day for express delivery. All our deliveries are sent with our courier. |
Do they come with instructions are they difficult to fit?
| Our clothes airers come with full instructions and are available on our web site. We have made them as straight forward as possible to assemble. All you will need is a drill to drill 2 pilot holes in the ceiling joists for the pulleys, and 2 holes for the fitting of the cleat. The joists are found under most ceilings and our instructions guide you through how to locate them.Download Airer installation instructions here Also watch our You tube installation video here |
Maintenance and care of wooden laths and mould
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CARE FOR YOUR WOODEN LATHS
The wooden laths are a natural product and need some basic care and maintenance to help ensure the longevity of the natural wood. Wood is susceptible to black mould and it thrives best in damp places. Wood is porous enough to lock in the moisture that black mould spores crave. Hence, all wood is susceptible to mould, but especially so if: • Your property suffers from condensation • It is cold • It has poor air ventilation MOULD PREVENTION The good news is the mould on your clothes airer laths is easy to prevent by following a few simple steps: • Your clothes airer is designed to be hoisted up to the ceiling in order to utilise the warm rising air in your home to dry your clothes. This means you need to install your clothes airer where this is possible, ideally above a heat source or radiator, essentially any location where warm air is available to circulate around the airer is ideal. • Leaving wet damp clothes on your clothes airer in a cold room where the clothes cannot dry out will eventually start to allow mould to develop. • Allow time between washing loads for the wooden laths to dry out, this gives them time to breathe and prevents the conditions that mould requires to develop. • Use of a dehumidifier in your laundry room is recommended, especially if your home suffers from condensation or damp. • Our wooden laths are untreated with no coating, if your airer is installed in a warm location and you follow the steps above it will provide many years of trouble free service. However, if you still want to coat the laths then we recommend a clear matt or satin varnish to seal the wood. DO NOT use stain, gloss varnish or paint as this could transfer onto your clothes. REMOVING MOLD IF IT FORMS There are many products that will kill mould, but not all are suitable for wood as they can result in permanent damage. As a rule, you should avoid products and solutions that are abrasive or corrosive. To remove mould from clothes airer laths, use bleach (hydrogen peroxide) or baking soda. Wooden surfaces respond best to bleach, dishwashing detergent, or distilled white vinegar. Use diluted dishwashing detergent or diluted bleach and wipe down the wooden laths. Make sure the room is well ventilated to help the wood dry as quickly as possible. Please make sure the wood is completely dry before using again to dry clothes to avoid any staining from the bleach solution. Repeat as necessary. When wiping down the laths: • Use an air mask • Wear rubber gloves • Use a soft scrub brush only • Throw away sponges after use |
Why is my rope fraying ?
| If your rope begins to fray this is usually due to incorrect installation of the pulleys of your clothes airer. The pulleys MUST be installed correctly so the rope runs freely between them and does not rub on the pulley housing. The rope should only be running on the wheels of the pulleys. Please make sure the pulleys are straight and in-line with each other when installed.
Please make sure your hand is in line with the pulleys when lowering and raising the airer so the rope doesn’t rub on the pulley housing and it stays within the wheel. |
What does the item come with ?
| Our Kitchen Maid Clothes Airer comes with everything you will need including: 2 X Cast Iron Rack Ends 4 X Solid Red Woods Pine Laths 1 X Double Pulley 1 X Single Pulley 1 X Sash Cord 1 X Cleat Hook 2 X Screws 2 x Raw plugs 1 X Assembly Instructions |
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Can we collect an item rather than pay postage ?
| Yes, we have a showroom in Shropshire, you are very welcome to come and see us and our full range of products. Our address is: Cast in Style® Co Ltd The Granary, Long Lane Kilsall (Nr Cosford) Shifnal Shropshire TF11 8PL United Kingdom 0800 009 6233 Click here to see how to find us Opening Hours:
PLEASE NOTE: Our showroom is currently closed until further notice. We are still accepting online orders, but unfortunately cannot accept any visitors at our showroom.
If you require opening hours outside these please ring us on 0800 009 6233 as we may be able to arrange special opening times. |
Do you ship internationally ?
| Yes, we ship to anywhere in the world. Just order from our web site as normal and our order system will calculate your delivery charge once you enter your destination country. Shipping to other countries can be very expensive. One way to reduce this cost is to order a clothes airer kit without the wooden laths. These include everything you need except the wooden laths which you can usually source in your own country. We can include a small sample of wood which you can request at the time of placing your order in the customer comments section. This will greatly reduce the shipping costs as we don't have to ship the laths which is what makes it expensive to send. Take a look at our kits here |
What is the history of clothes airers ?
| Clothes airers have been around for about 200 years. Popularly used by the Victorians from the early 19th century, they were common in many households. Originally called creels, Scotch airers and Magic Airers these eco airers have made an amazing come back. With modern day concerns about the environment they have become an old age idea brought straight into the new, and provide a beautiful and practical solution to global warming by reducing electricity used by conventional tumble dryers. Ask grandma, she knows best! |
Do you sell spare parts for the clothes airers
| Yes, We sell every spare part for our airers separately.Click here to order |
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