The cold, damp winter months can make drying laundry a challenge. Experts often warn against drying laundry indoors, but it's really hard to avoid in the winter. Here are some tips and tricks on how to dry your laundry indoors, without messing with the humidity and indoor climate in your home.
Avoid drying laundry in a living room or bedroom
If you have no other option than to dry your laundry indoors, it's important to take certain precautions in order to prevent allergic reactions, and mildew and mould in your home. It's advisable to avoid drying laundry in the rooms where you spend the most time: for example, the living room and bedroom.
Instead, you should place the drying rack in the bathroom, the kitchen or hallway where you spend less time. A wall-mounted drying rack is also an option, if you have place for one in your bathroom. It takes up no floor space and you can fold it away when it's not in use.
Give some of your laundry an extra spin
It's worthwhile giving your laundry an extra spin to extract any surplus water and damp. The likes of bedding, towels and jeans are made of materials, which can definitely withstand an extra spin. But please remember that not all materials can withstand an extra spin in a washing machine, so always check the washing instructions on the label.
Tip: One simple trick is to give your laundry an extra shake after washing it. Clothes that have been washed on a delicate cycle are often particularly prone to surplus water after washing. You can get rid of some of this by giving the clothes a shake before hanging them on the drying rack.
Position the drying rack in a ‘hotspot’
You also need to think about exactly where to position your indoor drying rack in a room. It's a good idea to identify a ‘hotspot’. This could be in front of a window where the light and heat from the sun can reach your laundry. Another idea is to constantly switch around the laundry on the drying rack. That way, none of the laundry will remain ‘hidden away’ in the middle between all the other wet items.
Impaired air quality
Indoor drying impairs the quality of the air in your rooms and creates more dust in the flat. This is because, if it is not properly spun, damp laundry contains up to 2-3 litres of water. The water evaporates in the room, saturating the air with damp and detergent.
Create ventilation and allow fresh air into your home
Open windows are the best way to allow fresh air from outside to flow freely into your rooms. Fresh air can prevent moisture damage and create a more pleasant, fresher indoor climate in your home. That is why it is so important to air your home even more on days when you have damp laundry drying indoors. The fresh air also ‘replaces’ the existing air in the room and helps you achieve a healthier, better indoor climate.
Watch out for moisture damage when you dry laundry indoors
Drying your laundry indoors also affects the air humidity in your rooms. So carefully consider how to avoid moisture damage in your home, since moisture damage can lead to both allergy and headache.
Sources:
https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-line-dry-clothes-indoors-1387951
