This chic gadget is a travel essential (and a home must-have) - Aerative Portable Clothes Airer review

There are heated airers and then there are life's innovations. Joseph Joseph's compact and stylish heated airer sits amongst the latter as one of the greats, but I think that Aerative's Portable Clothes Airer should take the top spot in innovations. It doesn't take a genius to see why.

Whilst I was searching the market for the best heated clothes airers, the Aerative Portable Clothes Airer kept cropping up. It looks like a clothes hanger, but it's so much more. Trust me.

Lots of people turn to clothes airers because they're cheaper than tumble drying clothes. However, sometimes, they can be slower. More delicate yarns and shoes don't always like being tumble dried either. Enter, the Aerative. I dried a cashmere jumper in under half an hour. It's incredible.

Specifications

Unboxing

You’d be surprised at how much you can tell from the packaging that an appliance comes in. The premium cream box that encases the Aerative Portable Clothes Airer says it all. I opened up the lid to see the Aerative sat neatly next to its plug and a velvet bag, for when you take this on your travels. It’s one seriously nice piece of kit.

All of the packaging is recyclable, so it’s easy to clear out of your home without any weight on your conscience. Aerative also sends four pegs, for if you’re drying socks or delicates and that’s it. You rotate the arms to form a hanger or shoe dryer, and you’re away.

Who would it suit?

The Aerative Portable Clothes Airer is marketed as the perfect travel companion and it certainly is. You can use it to dry shirts in ten minutes, it hangs off anywhere and will take up less room than a wash bag. However, I think it deserves more than just a spot in your suitcase.

The Aerative Portable Clothes Airer has been my godsend for drying clothes that normally take so long that they end up with more of a damp smell than a clean one. I had a hand-washed cashmere jumper dry in just 20 minutes. So it’s perfect if you have heavy clothes that you want to dry quickly, or if you often find yourself wishing for a tumble dryer that doesn’t cost the earth and your bank account. It’s also really useful for drying shoes. These can be tricky to balance on a radiator and they take a long time to properly become water-free. However, just a thirty-minute blast from this will make all the difference. As I said, it’s a godsend.

Aerative's website also points out that this is perfect if you get caught-out in the rain and your outfit gets soaked, or if you spill something on the clothes you planned to wear for the day, Even if you need your sports clothes drying quickly, this is a handy accessory to have around.

That’s not the end of it. If you remember the days of AGA drying, you’ll also remember the feeling of putting on your pyjamas when they’re toasty warm. I hacked the system. If you hang yours, your partner's or your children’s PJs off this for five minutes, they’ll be towel rail warm. It’s one of life’s little luxuries and it makes all the difference.

How easy is it to use?

When it comes to setting up the Aerative Portable Clothes Airer, it’s all easy. There’s a button for turning it on and off, a timer, and a temperature control. You can monitor all of these changes on a slightly retro LED display that sits on the front of the hanger.

I mentioned earlier that you can rotate it out to use as a hanger, you can attach pegs for delicates, or you can put it in wet shoes. This really does everything.

I put the Aerative Portable Clothes Airer through a few tests: drying a shirt, drying a cashmere jumper, drying trainers, and drying delicates. These are all the kinds of items that you'd expect to use the hanger for and, without spoiling the mystique, this absolutely flew through the tests. I actually ran through the house to alert my partner to just how quickly his shirt had dried. There's an insight into the life of a homes writer for you. Some say it's sad, some say it's wholesome. I heavily support the latter crew.

Drying a cotton shirt was the first task that I gave the Aerative Portable Clothes Airer. This came straight out of the wash and onto the hanger. The way the Aerative works means that it almost blows air, like a hairdryer, into the sleeves of the shirt. It wasn't flapping around in the breeze, but it made more noise than other heated airers. It's like a fan on a low setting.

Ten minutes after hooking the shirt onto the hanger, I went to check whether it was that warm damp that clothes get when they're on a heated towel rail. To my amazement, the main body of the shirt was dry. As were the shoulders. It was only the arms that were a little damp still. That's faster than any tumble dryer I've ever used - and more cost-efficient too.

I thought I would throw something a little tougher at the Aerative, so I hand washed one of my cashmere jumpers and hung that on it. With the temperature set to 40 degrees, I let my jumper dry. I casually gave the main body of the jumper a pinch when I walked past it half an hour into drying and, to my utter shock, the jumper was dry. The sleeves, again, had a little damp left in them, but that wouldn't take long to dry out. The Aerative borders on magical it's that quick at drying clothes.

So, what about shoes? Lots of pictures demonstrate the Aerative's versatility by slotting the hanger into shoes. I thought I would try this out on my trainers, which really needed a wash anyway. I slotted it into my trainers and left them on the Aerative for 40 minutes. When I came back, they were bone dry. Granted, I do wear Vivo Barefoots, which are slim all round, but I think you could get even the most cushioned shoes dry in an hour. It's a game-changer.

What is it like to store?

The Aerative Portable Clothes Airer is designed to be portable, which means that the brand has prioritised easy storage. The two arms that form the hanger can rotate around, transforming this into a tube. It comes with a velvety pouch that wraps around the Aerative too, so it looks really tidy.

How does it compare?

Whilst the Aerative Portable Clothes Airer has a very distinct style, it's not the only portable heated airer. In fact, Lakeland's own brand, Dry:Soon has released an alternative Drying Hanger. It boasts many of the same features: it can dry clothes, shoes, and delicates without demanding anything but a hook to hang off. However, the two have a fair few differences.

When setting the temperature on the Aerative, you can be very precise. With the Lakeland Airer, you just get three speed and heat settings. Similarly, the timers go from 1-7 hours on the Lakeland option, but you have much more flexibility with the Aerative. Whilst you might not need the precision and detail of the Aerative, I always like to have the options available to me.

The Dry:Soon is £25 cheaper, so, if you want to save money, I don't think you'd notice any kind of compromise with this one. However, having used the Aerative, I feel that it's a much more premium product. It's slick and stylish, certainly the option for a working professional.

Should you buy it?

If you need something quick and compact for drying clothes, you won't get better than the Aerative Portable Clothes Airer. Of course, the capacity is limited (it's never going to compete with a four-tier heated airer), but it's the quickest model that I've tested and it's the one that I go to use the most. I've used it for rain-drenched jumpers, hand-washed delicate knits, and my trainers. I have told a lot of people in my personal life to buy this and that should tell you everything you need to know.

How we test

I've been working on testing all of the heated clothes airers on the market, so that woman&home can give you a comprehensive guide to the best models out there. Our tests involve a lot more than just the practicalities. I'm always looking online at the latest and greatest releases on the market. Then, if I see one that I think you'll like, I call it in to test in my home.

Once I can see the heated airer in person, I make notes on everything. From the packaging to the footprint, right through to how easy it is to set up and store. I run lots of different clothes items through the wash, from jeans to cottons and wooly knits. I measure the weight of each load and how long they take to dry, so that you can get a good idea of how these would fare in your own home.

Given that I've been working with all the best heated airers, it seems only natural for me to make some comparisons. I always try to look around the same price point for for the same functionality, so that you can get a good sense of 'shopping' around without having to do any scrolling.

I'll comment on value, who I think a product suits, and whether it's worth buying. All of our reviews are unsponsored too, so you'll know that when I say the Aerative Portable Clothes Airer is incredible, I really mean it.