Introduction

I've got vented radiators at home which have grilles that run across their tops and whilst this means that they throw out a lot of heat and keep my home warm during the colder months of the year it also restricts me with what I can do with them. Unlike traditional radiators that you can get your hands behind I can't with mine as the gap between the edge of the grille and my walls is so narrow that nothing will fit between them so I have problems when it comes to decorating as I cant get behind them to paint and, more annoyingly, I can't use my radiators in the normal way to dry clothes or my washing on as it's impossible to drape things over them. It's a bit of a nuisance truth be told and whilst I do have a tumble dryer which I use regularly sometimes it's just not practical or economical to use it all the time. Figuring that there had to be something I could buy which would help me with this problem I found a number of differently shaped clothes airers available to buy in my local Dunelm Mill store and figuring that bigger was better I bought a couple of 5 bar ones as shown in my picture as these seemed to offer me the solution I was looking for. But are they?

5 Bar Radiator Clothes Airer

Measuring in at 52cm in width and 35cm in length the 5 bar clothes airer from Dunelm Mill costs £2.99 and is designed to hook onto a radiator as shown in my supplied picture. The plastic 'hooks' are adjustable so in theory the airer should be suitable for any radiator it is used on although in practice it's another matter which I'll discuss further on in this review. The bars are set at such a distance to "easily" allow things to be draped over them and whilst I do think it's a good idea in principle I have to admit that using mine once was enough for me to come to conclusion that it's really quite useless and I ended up replacing mine with a much more simply-designed single bar airer which is a lot easier to use.

The problems start as soon as you try to hook the thing onto a radiator, both of the leg parts of the airer are made from quite chunky plastic and in use they're awkward at holding in place over the back of the radiator grille. Whilst they are adjustable and you can attach them to the main body of the airer where the bars are the legs slip a lot and it's a lot of hassle to get the 2 legs locked into position at the same place either side, they have to be even otherwise the airer doesn't hold squarely in position and the slightest movement ends up dislodging the legs and makes the airer wobble. The same thing happens when you try and drape clothes over the bars, you have to be very careful not to knock the legs as otherwise the whole airer falls off the radiator and even when it is finally in place with a few clothes draped over the bars it never feels sturdy or secure.

The single time I managed to use mine successfully and actually got clothes to hold in place without everything ending up in a heap on the floor I found that the airer to be pretty useless really, only the first couple of bars actually benefit from the heat of a radiator and anything placed further back remained as damp as they were when they were first put on. I don't know whether I expected too much from this airer to be honest, I thought it was might have been a good space-saving solution to my problem and offer me something that would dry off my clothes rather than have to use my tumble dryer all the time and whilst the first 2 bars were close enough to the heat given off to be of some help the other bars are just surplus to requirements really. I think it's just too much of an ambitious concept really, it could have been better designed as the plastic legs are too chunky and it just feels badly made. For a Dunelm Mill branded product I think it's poor and there are far better airers available to buy from the likes of Asda that offer a single bar and a metal frame which easily hooks into place and holds firm and that's what I ended up buying to replace this as using mine once was enough for me to realise that it just too awkward to use and just wasn't for me.

The other thing to bear in mind with this as well is how far out it protrudes once it has been hooked on to a radiator, It's very easily knocked as already mentioned so if you have children or animals around your home then do be aware that the slightest bump against it will dislodge it. It also sits far too low down on a radiator too so things like trousers are difficult to hang from the bars as they trail on the floor, bedding or sheets have to be folded too small so never fully dry out and the only thing it's probably good for drying is t-shirts and underwear really so again its design makes it a rather limiting airer all in all.

Conclusion

I think by now it's probably obvious that I'm not impressed with this 5 bar radiator airer, it might look the part when you see it in store or online at Dunelm Mill and in theory it is a good idea but using it is another matter and I found mine to be fiddly, awkward and next to useless. It's too large, never hooks firmly in place and is badly made in my opinion and it's not something I would recommend to anyone looking for something that would offer them something useful when it comes to drying or airing off their clothes. Look around for something else would be my advice and avoid this one, there are better-designed airers available which hold firmly in place, don't slip and are cheaper in price, my 1 star rating here goes to show how disappointed I am in this one and for me it's not something I'd recommend.

Thanks for reading my review.