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usethings drying rack

A timber drying rack for washing that is suspended from the ceiling. It lowers down for loading then hoists up to dry or air clothes; where the warmth is, and out of the way.


Convenient and easy to use.

usethings drying rack’s elegant all-timber construction carries a big load in a small space and hoists easily to the ceiling on high quality sailing rigging.

 

Energy / carbon smart

Avoid expensive to run, energy-hungry dryers. Use the warm air in your home. No running costs. Zero carbon emissions.

 

No stress

Leave clothesline hassles outside - no rushing to beat rain or nightfall.  Loads at a comfortable waist height then hoists to the ceiling. Your washing dries gently out of the way up where the warm air is and you retrieve it when it suits you.

 

Solid & durable

Hand-crafted in long-lasting hardwood, with through joins and steel fittings, durable sailing cord and pulleys. Six strong rungs take one full machine-load. Built to last a lifetime.

 


usethings drying racks are now made with plantation sugar gum from SMARTimbers

 

Available Australia-wide in easy-to-assemble kit form.

 

Standard rack is 1500mm long and 800mm wide, with 6 rungs.

 

usethings drying rack kit $250 + delivery

Comes complete with all rigging, fixings and clear instructions -

a drill and screwdriver are all you need.


At the end of 2010 winter the price of our drying rack will be going up.

 

Order here

Phone or email for order and delivery quote

03 5472 3010

usethings@usethings.com.au


Also available from Earth Basics in Canberra 

301 Canberra Ave Fyshwick

 

 



usethings drying rack is our hero product. We aim for all our products to be like the drying rack: sustainable in production, distribution, and use.

Our drying rack is a modern take on an old idea - a timber drying rack for washing that is suspended from the ceiling. The rack is hand crafted by Tim - a shipwright who specialised in traditional shipbuilding and loves rigging and knots.


The impacts of laundering clothes-


From the Care to Air challenge:

While examining the lifecycle impact of a pair of Levi’s® 501’s, [Levi’s] were surprised to find that almost 60% of the climate impact happens in the laundry phase – after a consumer takes them home – and nearly 80% of that impact is due to the energy intensive method we chose for drying.


The single most important step we can all take to reduce the climate impact of our jeans is to choose air drying. Energy from the sun and the wind is free, as opposed to the average clothes dryer, which is the second biggest energy using appliance in the home after the refrigerator.


From Sustainable Fashion and Textiles by Kate Fletcher:

“The washing and drying of a polyester blouse, for example, uses around six times as much energy as that needed to make it in the first place. […] The message here is stark: the biggest gains in environmental performance for many fashion and textile pieces can be made by tackling the impact arising from their

washing and drying.”


Sustainability

 

Our working definition of sustainable is: that only the function of the product be available to future generations at no cost to them in degraded environment, climate or societies.

From working as a sustainable design consultant – looking at products and manufacturing and shaving off parts of the impacts of business-as-usual, I realised we needed to wholly re-conceive products, production, and even economics. usethings is our exploration of this path and the drying rack embodies the products we offer – useful things.

Some of the details of the drying rack and our business:

  1. ★The primary impact of clothing in Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is the energy, water and waste products of washing. Our drying rack reduces the energy consumed (and associated climate impacts) in drying compared to electric dryers and increases the life of clothing compared to electric drying.

  2. ★Sustainable packaging - the kits are sent out in recycled cardboard and jute twine packaging. To be honest it’d be quicker to use packing tape, but I use old fashioned brown card, twine and knots. This does the job and is recyclable or compostable. Packaging is the biggest part of our home waste, leading us to offer this packaging. Distribution in kit form means minimal waste packaging space for efficient transportation.

  3. ★Green power - our office and workshop are powered by 100% green power (new wind capacity).

  4. ★Durable - I recently re-installed one of the first drying racks in the owners new house. Originally installed five years ago; it was in perfect working order. The original drying rack made for our home is still in daily use after 8 years, and the production units are superior to this prototype.

  5. ★Use what exists - as Esio Manzini says. The drying rack is an old idea, a “Chinese laundry” is what a lot of our customers with English backgrounds call them. What we’ve done is design one for contemporary production and distribution using the best parts and materials from our sustainability perspective.

  6. ★Simple knots, physical joins, screws - easy to repair or replace (not throw away when one part fails). Of all the racks we’ve sent out or installed, only a couple have had accidents and broken rods. We simply send out a new rod - it’s designed to be easily replaced.

  7. ★Plantation timber - the sugar gum comes from the western districts of Victoria where it was planted as windbreaks on farms and also coppiced for fire wood. Now SMARTimbers - a Central Victorian landholder co-operative, are producing air dried timber and building products. The species is from the Flinders Ranges in SA so grows fast in the good soil and rainfall of Victoria. We have it machined for the dowels and end frames. Initially we used Vic Ash but where uncomfortable with that as sustainable forestry, so we are very happy with the sugar gum, its strength and great finish. If you’ve ever stared up at an old growth Vic Ash you’ll appreciate us leaving them alone.  One problem with eucalypts is the high tannin content. We now soak the rods to leach out tannin but very wet white clothes will still draw it out through the finish, though this diminishes over time. We recommend precious items are hung to dry on a clothes hanger, also supper absorbent cloth nappies.

  8. ★Waste - you will notice blemishes in the timber and some wonky rods, we use all structurally sound timber in order to reduce waste and so convert as much of the tree as possible into product. Sawdust is composted and off-cuts are burnt for home heating in an efficient triple burn slow combustion fire. Reject rods are holding our tomato plants up.

  9. ★Local supply chain - local producers and services form our supply chain, in Ballarat, Castlemaine and Melbourne. The exception is the cord where no similar was found in Australia. We searched world wide for this particular surface-finish cord as it offers good grip to ease the hoisting of a wet load of washing. 

  10. ★The sailing rigging - a local company supplies us with the simple yet robust pulleys that offer smooth, noiseless running and low friction. The pulleys are rated to 300kgs which is 20 times the sort of load in the drying rack and there are 4 of them sharing this load. These will never fail under this load; we wouldn’t consider using anything less.

  11.  

    One of our customers took the time to email us - “Thanks for the kit which is now assembled, suspended, and carrying a load of rapidly drying clothes. It very much enhances the room and is of great practical use. We particularly appreciate the design, the detailed instructions and the quality of the associated fittings – a very good product.”