For the Brits on board. I read references to this. What is it- a closet that has a window or is vented to the outside? History, function, construction- stuff like that. Is this something old-fashioned or do new houses have them? Why don’t we have them in the U.S.? Thanks.
like a pie safe?
I wish I had something like that. The covenants in my neighborhood prohibit clotheslines, but I’d love a place to air out pillows and blankets.
What my mother called the airing cupboard was the cupboard (closet to Americans) that contained the hot water tank (ours was heated by an electric immersion heater), but also had shelves, generally slatted, for storing things like towels and linens. You would not put things that were still wet or seriously damp in there. They would be dried first, either on a line or in a machine. I guess the idea was that the warmth from the tank would help the fabric to get any last vestiges of dampness out. (Or at any rate, if you put a sheet from the airing cupboard on the bed, it would not be cold.) I don’t remember the ones we had being vented to the outside.
Ours was just as njtt describes. The point was to keep small cotton items warm, which presumably prevented rot and also made them pleasantly comfortable and soft to use.
Actually, now that I think about it, it may have all been for nothing, based on an old wives’ tale-type myth.
Not really a myth, but probably redundant in a modern house.
The British Isles (for those not familiar with them) are frequently cold and damp; and, before the widespread introduction of central heating, so were our homes. Linens and the like that had been stored had a good chance of being a little chilly and clammy, so they would need to be “aired” before use: outside on a line, on a good day, or else on a wooden frame called an “airer” in front of the fire.
Once domestic hot water systems became common, many homes had the hot water tank in a cupboard or closet, which, being the one part of the house that was consistently warm and dry, made the ideal spot for storing the linens so that they didn’t need airing before use.
Once a home had central heating, of course, linens were much less likely to get cold and damp in storage, so keeping them in the airing cupboard wasn’t necessary, but many people still do because, well, it’s handy storage space.
Is this the same as a “hot press” or is there some distinction?
“Hot press” is Irish English for “airing cupboard”. Same thing. (The use of “press” for all kinds of cupboard really confused me when I moved to Ireland.)
My 1930s English house has an airing cupboard - just a small warm room with wooden shelves surrounding a lagged hot water tank. The shelves are where I keep towels and bedding. I also use it to prove bread dough.
Oh, yes. Useful for home brewing, too.
I was most amused to find on moving into our very modern flat (built thrree years ago) that despite the fact that it has a combi-boiler and therefore no hot water tank, it does have an airing cupboard. The hall cupboard has wooden shelves and a small electric heater. We’ve never user the heater as it seems a bit wasteful but it’s there.
I also encountered the use of the word “press” for a storage cupboard when I went to Catholic school in upstate New York with Irish nuns. That was a newie.
The word “airing” in airing cupboard had me thinking that somehow this closet was vented to the outside.
The places where I’ve lived in the States, if the hot water heater was in a separate closet, the room-ette was about 2’X2’, only big enough for the hot water heater and nothing else. Where I live now, the washer, dryer, and hot water heater are in a storage space with some shelves, where I guess I could store blankets, etc. Good idea.
Although here in Texas, what I usually do in the summer is put my pillows, quilts, etc. outside when it’s about 102 and leave them in the sun all day. That’s some serious “airing.” I also used to put bread dough outside (though not in direct sunlight) with some plastic wrap and towels on top of it- the dough seemed to love that, rose beautifully.
An airing cupboard in England is where they keep the 'erring and other fishes 
Hot press here in Dublin. Where Mammy’d stick your jammies to warm them up before bed.
Irish mammies. The bestest.
Not the same thing, apparently, but my ex-husband’s family’s cabin in the mountains in Colorado has a cabinet in the kitchen that is open to the outside (with a screen) for keeping items cool (the cabin didn’t used to have electricity). That’s what I thought of when I saw the thread title.
When I was a kid and got out of the shower I’d run to the hot press and open the door, it was so nice. Yay for hot presses and Irish mammies. Hopefully the IMF won’t take them away.
The house I grew up in (built in 1980) had one kitchen cupboard with a vent to the outside in which was presumably also intended for keeping food cool (odd though as the house certainly had electricity).
This is called pantry in the UK. They sometimes contained a shelf made of stone or marble to keep food cool.
In the US a pantry is any closet/cabinet that you store food in. In the UK it’s only ones that open to the outside? Interesting.
Some are open to the outside, usually via a small window or a couple of ventilation grills. I am talking about older houses which were built before many people had fridges.
That’s the way this cabin was, too.