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OP
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[question] I just encountered a bit of Britspeak with which I'm unfamiliar. What, pray tell, is an airing cupboard?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Just by typing "Airing Cupboard" in Yahoo search box, I got two sites so named. The first was used as name for place to to leave messages about one's gripes. The second involved building a louver ventilated clothing storage space.
After seeing wow's post below, I went back and looked at the pictures taken of the process of building the airing cupboard, and could see no wiring to provide warmth, which actually could be hard to make safe, nor any way of forcing air through it. Things would be packed so tightly I would be concerned that mildew could develop.
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Carpal Tunnel
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What, pray tell, is an airing cupboard?
Geoff! You brought back a memory. When in Ireland I stayed with relatives and one day did some laundry and hung it outside. When I brought it in my cousin Patsy asked if I'd like to "put it in the airing cupboard awhile." I responded "I think they've had enough air, I just want then to dry!"
Then, she explained that an airing cupboard is a kind of large closet with shelves and places to hang things. The airing cupboard is built with warmth circulating through it so all dampness is taken out of clothes, linens, shoes etc.... I wish I had one in my house, to be truthful!
Hope that answers your question because that's the only one I know about. I would imagine airing cupboards are the same in England.
Any UK friends out there with a different solution?
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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wow asks
Any UK friends out there with a different solution?
When once I visited my mother-in-law in England, I noticed that when it is a sunny day there was a lot of "hanging of the laundry on the line" activity going on in the neighborhood. There was no airing cupboard in the house so when the laundry is taken in they "decorate" the areas that are considered "warm and airy" and that would mean the heater/radiator and its vicinity, the back of the fridge (which is set far from the wall for this purpose), and the closet where the water heater is hidden.
chronist
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Thanks, wow, wwh, and WC! (Wordcrazy, not water closet!) The cause of my query was an article in a UK-based radio-controlled model jet airplane magazine. In an article on soaking balsa wood in ammonia solution for molding purposes, the author was explaining that molded balsa could be dried in an airing closet. He did comment that it required the permission of the missus!  So, now the secret's out: Aside from words, I also play with little toy airplanes. As the saying goes, "You tell the men from the boys by the price of their toys."
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Carpal Tunnel
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So, now the secret's out: Aside from words, I also play with little toy airplanes.
Now, now! When you're too old to play with toys ... you become a model maker!
Any suggestions on how I could explain my collection of stuffed animals?
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OP
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Any suggestions on how I could explain my collection of stuffed animals?Let's see, infantile tactile deprivation leading to a desire for fuzzy things to snuggle in adulthood? Nah, too Freudian. Symbolic representations of household gods per ancient Roman custom? I think they were called penates, or some such. Or maybe they're just cute? 
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Carpal Tunnel
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But we still haven't figured out how enough warm air is made to circulate through the contraption to make it work
P.S. I went back and looked at the pictures again, and the very first picture shows a red insulation covered cylinder which must be a water heater. So, that it how warm air is made to circulate through the enclosure..
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Carpal Tunnel
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In reply to:
After seeing wow's post below, I went back and looked at the pictures taken of the process of building the airing cupboard, and could see no wiring to provide warmth, which actually could be hard to make safe, nor any way of forcing air through it. Things would be packed so tightly I would be concerned that mildew could develop.
Of course here in the tropics we don't need airing cupboards, but all my family have them at home in England. A hot water tank -- I think it's part of the central heating system -- is what provides the warmth. I don't think anyone's ever had any problems with mildew. Clothes only stay in the airing cupboard for a couple of days before being passed on to the wardrobe or chest of drawers, or being worn.
The question is of course if US'n households don't run to airing cupboards what do they do with their laundry during bad weather?
Bingley
Bingley
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old hand
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The question is of course if US'n households don't run to airing cupboards what do they do with their laundry during bad weather?
We have the amazingly modern technological convenience called the drier. It's a big box that sits next to the washer. It does exactly what its name says plus it rotates the clothes around a lot so they don't get wrinkly, unless of course you leave them in too long after the drier stops.
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