The house we’ve been living in the past month (in an unnamed European location😆) has a small laundry room with a ceiling drying rack that pulls down, a.k.a a laundry pulley system for drying clothes, a clothes airer…choose your preferred name!🤗
This setup is supposed to make use of your overhead space for hang drying clothes…but does it deliver in real life?
I’ll go over my 10 pros & cons down below, but real quick, here are five different places you can buy this laundry pulley system setup (and different designs):
- Basic version
- White version
- Modern single-rod version (I like the look of this one!)
- Larger version
- Handmade version (beautiful and while a higher cost for handmade, you could probably ask for a custom size, which I’d recommend depending on maximizing your space!)
LAUNDRY PULLEY SYSTEM
Pros of a Ceiling Pulley Drying Rack
#1: CAN SAVE SPACE!
If you have a small laundry area, instead of having to use up precious wall or floor space, this makes use of your often-overlooked vertical space!
(PS: Speaking of saving space, check out how we raised our washer/dryer!)
#2: LESS FUSS!
Having your laundry pull up to the ceiling means no more fussing with free-standing drying racks anymore! (You know the ones that fold in and out and sometimes catch your fingers or completely collapse on you…😆)
#3: SAVES STORAGE!
If you’ve previously been using up precious storage space using aforementioned free-standing drying racks, you’ll get to use that space for something else when you convert to the ceiling pulley system!
#4: Ergonomic!
You all know from my kitchen counters and laundry shelves that I love me some ergonomic setups! And being able to use this pulley system is definitely good for the neck, arms and back. Easy to drop it down, easy to pull it up, and no more dealing with the freestanding versions (which aren’t my favorite).
#5: more energy efficient!
I just keep thinking that if heat rises, and the laundry room or closet you have it in stays warm and dry, this technically should be even more energy efficient and dry your clothes faster!😊 But as I have not yet conducted a scientific experience to prove or disprove this, you’ll just have to use your scientific imagination along with me.😋
Before You Make ANY More Home Decisions…
Before you run out to buy yourself one of these laundry rack pulleys (or DIY your own, which is often more expensive time-wise)…
…please, my dear readers, THINK THROUGH what you’re actually trying to accomplish (I’ve created this must-do to walk you through it, which everyone should do BEFORE you do another single thing in your home, including laundry improvements!!!).
So—I highly encourage you!—go grab this for yourself before you forget (no worries, I’ll wait right here🤗💛), and then we’ll continue with the following list of “cons” to consider…
LAUNDRY PULLEY SYSTEM
Cons of a Ceiling Pulley Drying Rack
#1: IT can swing.
Probably my #1 annoyance at this ceiling pulley setup is that it rocks around and wavers unsteadily a bit. Usually when I’m putting things on it. And if clothes or my elbow knocks it accidentally while it’s down, it swings back and forth and hits the wall and/or myself. I find myself just wanting it to stay steady.
So if that would bug you, something like this more permanently attached to the wall or ceiling might be better, but read on!
#2: may not fit all your clothes.
I find that with a family of four (and the fact that it’s been colder where we are, so our clothes are bulkier during this season), I often have more clothes to hang dry on it than it allows.
Which I believe the owners also have a problem with, because in addition to this ceiling-mounted version they also have two free-standing drying racks available to use. So…it would probably bug me long-term to have three different ones, but more on that further below.
#3: it may not be the “perfect” size.
Speaking of size, if I had a laundry closet or small area where this could fit, and it didn’t maximize every inch of my space, I’d probably regret buying it.
(But that’s me also being a Space Efficiency Guru, so if you’re not concerned about maximizing every inch, that may not bother you.😊)
Sure, you can DIY your own but that takes a lot of time and when I calculate out how much my time is worth per hour of design, planning, shopping, ordering, and the actual DIY-building part of something, it’s usually better to pay someone else to do it for me, if they can! That’s why I include this version that, like many handmade options created by small businesses, should be customizable if you write to them directly and ask.
#4: more clutter.
Personally, I don’t hang dry a lot of clothes. (As you can see from our space-saving laundry setup!) We have a couple hooks from which hangers or clothes can hang dry when needed, and that’s enough for our family’s needs.
One of my reasons is the visual clutter it creates (which distracts my brain from what are more important things to me), as well as the fact that I like low-maintenance (also so I can spend more time focusing on the things that are more important to me🥰), and hang-drying clothes is not what I’d consider “low maintenance.”
#5: might impede other functions.
Depending on your placement, this may not be an issue for you but in this particular home we’re in right now, you can’t quite open the storage doors when there are clothes hanging (at least not without messing up the clothes or setting that rack a-swinging!).
Next…
Before you do anything on your home (including this laundry ceiling pulley or anything else you have on your list right now!), you truly, 100% need to go through this first! All readers agree it’s absolutely foundational and should be your first step before you make another move on anything in any space! I’ve created it just for you, no matter what type of home you have!
PS: If you’ve already completed that, our Expert Room Design Guide is a great second step! Use it to figure out the smartest practical solutions and optimal layout for every single room and space you have, one-by-one!🤗
PPS: Our complete list of every single home project is viewable HERE.
