The Energy Trust said tumble dryers, along with washing machines and dishwashers, account for a huge 14 percent of households’ energy usage. Some dryers can use as much as £1.50 a cycle, which soon adds up. As well as this, hanging clothes indoors can increase the moisture in your home, which can lead to mould and damp. Not only can this make your clothes smell bad, it can actually cause health problems. So what’s the best solution? Luckily, Daniel Nezhad, Director of UK Radiators, has shared his top tips on drying clothes for those without a tumble dryer and concerned about mould growth.
Daniel noted that the first step is to ventilate the area. He said: “Contrary to popular belief, you shouldn’t opt to trap the heat in your home by keeping the windows and doors shut tight.
“When there are wet clothes filling the area, this will dampen the air in the room and make it near impossible for laundry to dry in good time.
“If the clothes are wet, and the air is wet, you’re giving the laundry no chance to lose its moisture.
“Plus, you could be causing some real structural damage to your home by encouraging damp spots and even mould to form. Instead, crank open the windows and let the outside air in. This will allow the moisture to escape and prevent the room from getting too clammy.”
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He said: “A simple drying rack is affordable and safe and is the first step to drying clothes sufficiently.
“After hanging your laundry on it, position the rack in a safe, but close proximity to your radiator, and in the warmest and driest room of the house – generally somewhere small and cosy, like a little spare bedroom that gets a lot of sunlight.
“Turn on the heating and let the room fill with warmth, taking care to rotate your drying rack every so often. This will equally distribute the heat around all the clothes, helping the whole load to dry at the same pace.”
When it comes to using a drying rack, strategic placement should be used to make sure each piece of clothing dries at the same time. This involves making sure longer and bulkier items are placed towards the top.
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The expert said: “If anything is scraping the floor, it won’t be able to air out and will actually exacerbate the problem, likely making the flooring wet too.
“Socks and underwear can sneakily find their way into other items during the spin, so check for any that have got stuck to avoid long lasting dampness.”
While packing the washing machine with clothes might seem like the time-saving option to get the laundry washed and cleaned, it’ll just result in the clothes taking so much longer to dry.
Daniel explained: “If you have a hugely overfilled washing machine, the clothes will have trouble drying out on their final spins. The washer is designed to wring some of the water out of your laundry, so when there isn’t space for it to move around the moisture is essentially trapped.”
Instead he advised that households try to be restrictive over the amount they put into their washing machine. The first step is taking control over separation, whites, darks and colours. He added: “Although it can be easy to just chuck it all in, you could be asking for trouble in the winter.”
Once the washing machine has finished its cycle, Britons should take it out right away rather than leaving it to sit in the appliance. Daniel said: “Although it can be tempting to take the washing out and leave it in the basket, this will only encourage that damp smell.
“When all your wet clothes are in a pile, they will never be able to dry out as they’re constantly rubbed against other damp objects. Hanging your washing allows the laundry to air.
“Put the load on your drying rack straight away to allow it the best chance to dry in good time and keep the delightful odour of your washing powder.”
