Sometimes, particularly during the cold months, drying laundry indoors is the practical choice. Some garments are too delicate for a tumble dryer; you may be trying to reduce your energy usage, or you may not have a dryer at all.
However, drying clothes inside also greatly increases the humidity in your home, leading to condensation and mould. You might find that your clothes dry too slowly as well, resulting in an unpleasant musty smell. This is even more likely in the winter, when you’re likely to keep windows closed and may limit your use of central heating to keep bills down.
Thankfully, there are ways to dry your clothes more quickly without spiking your energy bill. Chris Michael, co-founder of Meaco, has offered some tips to help this winter:
Give laundry a second spin in the washing machine to extract more water before hanging it up. This leaves less moisture in the fabric to evaporate during drying.
Empty the machine as soon as the cycle finishes to help prevent damp smells developing in clothes and the drum.
Use a warm, well-ventilated room. Keep the internal door closed to limit moisture spreading through the home, while providing a route for it to escape outside.
Use an airer rather than draping washing over radiators. Avoid overlapping clothes and use hangers for any items that will not fit comfortably on the rack. Gaps between garments allow air to circulate and help them dry more quickly.
Position the rack away from walls to prevent moisture from becoming trapped. Place smaller items towards the bottom and larger garments at the top, maintaining space for airflow throughout the load.
When drying laundry without a dehumidifier, open a window where possible to let moisture escape, although some warmth will escape too.
Limit other sources of humidity
Keep lids on saucepans when cooking and use an extractor or open a window when bathing or showering. Open bedroom windows briefly in the morning to let out the moisture accumulated overnight from breathing. These everyday changes reduce the additional moisture entering the air while laundry dries.
A dehumidifier removes moisture from the clothes, so laundry can dry indoors without opening windows and losing heat, and without the running costs of a tumble dryer. There is an upfront cost, but a dehumidifier saves you money over time. For example, a Meaco Arete One 10L costs approx. 24p to dry a load of washing compared to £1.01 per load for a conventional tumble dryer. If used 270 times a year, that’s a saving of over £200.
