My freshly washed socks dropped off the airer constantly until I tried the space and time-saving $10 Joseph Joseph Petal hanger

My household is a wear-it-once-and-wash-it type of family and as we all swap into fresh socks twice a day, that’s a whole lot of tiny, annoying laundry items slipping off radiators and airers.

To keep our electricity bills down, we typically limit use of our dryer to just big items such as towels, dressing gowns and bedding. The rest gets hung around on indoor air dryers, doors and radiators after we do our laundry.

However, we move our drying laundry in and out of the kitchen to avoid cooking smells making it whiff of food, and that usually means a trail of dropped socks everywhere until I tried a fabulous little hanging gadget, the Petal Joseph Joseph drying hanger available on Amazon, and it finally kept them all secure with minimal effort.

Why I love the Joseph Joseph Petal Drying Hanger

Not only did it halve the time it took for me to hang out the plethora of socks in a light laundry load, but it’s space saving and stops the socks flapping off the dryer or radiator.

Simply pop up the hanger style head, attach to wherever you’re drying your laundry, and slide the elastic of each sock between the petals. That’s it. You can learn more about the benefits of air drying in our dedicated guide, but it's something I've always sworn by.

After using the Petal hanger, I found socks no longer fell or slipped off, stayed put when taking clean socks upstairs to put away, and actually, took up half as much space on the airer as traditionally hanging them out, as seen below. This is the same load of socks. I hung them once on the airer as I usually would, then hung them using the Petal. It took a third of the usual space and half the time.

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Petal: space saving and secure

On airer: slower to hang and more rails needed

This is particularly helpful for me as I have chronic pain, limited mobility, and cannot stand up long for chores or bend down without injury. This folding sock gadget means I can sit down, hook them all on and crouch just once to connect it to the bottom rung of my airer, a space I had stopped using for its lack of comfort and accessibility.

It’s also helpful because my two cats love pulling loose laundry, especially anything deliciously dangly and exciting as a sock, off the lower rungs to play with. We really do have sock monsters in our home.

Plus, when you're done, fold down the metal hanger heads and slide it away on top of your washer or in a drawer.

I have started using my Joseph Joseph sock petal, available on Amazon, this winter but think it will also make a great addition for summer laundry loads hung outside – no more need for dozens of pegs on clothes lines to stop small items blowing off in the breeze. It'll also help you make the most of your outside drying space.

The sock petal grips do a stellar job and do not leave any damp smell around the top of the sock where it’s held in place. I checked, because I have the nose of a hound, and the slightest mildew smells on laundry makes me gag.

Verdict: A totally unexpected laundry winner, and a 10/10 for me.

Next, learn how a Joseph Joseph laundry organizing basket turbocharged tedious sorting in my home, and the Joseph Joseph indoor airer that's discreet and perfect for tiny homes.