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How To Dry Clothes Indoors Without A Tumble Dryer

When sun drying is not an option because of inclement weather or lack of space, there are several ways you can dry your clothes indoors.

The fastest is using a tumble dryer. But a tumble dryer uses a lot of electricity and can damage delicate garments.

Here are other ways of drying your clothes indoors. Read on to learn how to dry clothes indoors without a tumble dryer.

1. A Heated Airer

This is the best alternative to a tumble dryer.

A heated airer resembles a clothes rack with 1-3 tiers with bars on which you can spread or hang your wet clothes.

The airer plugs into an electrical outlet. This powers a heating element that in turn, heats the metals bars.

On average, a load of laundry takes about 8 hours to dry. It’s slow but effective and uses way less power than a tumble dryer.

It also releases very little moisture into the air, making it one of the safest ways to dry clothes indoors. There’s less risk of mould growing inside your house.

2. Non-electric Airer/Clothes Horse

If you don’t want a solution that uses power, consider getting a non-heated airer. This is the traditional type of indoor airer, often referred to as a clothes horse.

It’s a lightweight frame with space for laying clothes flat across bars or hanging them.

Because there is no heat, the clothes take longer to dry. You also have to find a way to remove the excess moisture from the air (a dehumidifier works best).

When you are buying an airer, whether it’s heated or non-heated, make sure you have enough space for it. It should also be foldable, which saves on space when the airer is not in use.

To get the clothes to dry as quickly as possible, make sure you leave enough space between different items. This will maintain air circulation and speed up drying.

It’s better to divide your load into two rather than piling them all on the rack. Alternatively, buy a bigger airer.

3. High Spin Setting On Your Washing Machine

This will not completely dry your clothes but it will remove most of the water. You can then hang the clothes on an airer and they’ll be dry in no time.

Using the high spin setting uses more power but it’s very little compared to what a tumble dryer consumes.

The high spin setting is especially handy for thick fabrics such as towels and jeans that take long to dry.

If you hand wash your clothes another trick is to wring them in a towel. This is slow because you have to do each item individually.

The towel absorbs most of the water, which speeds up drying.

4. Dehumidifier

A small bedside dehumidifier won’t do. You’ll need something more powerful that can efficiently eliminate moisture from the air as the clothes dry.

I recommend dehumidifiers with a dedicated laundry setting. This setting creates the best conditions for clothes to dry faster.

If your dehumidifier doesn’t have a laundry setting, set it on auto. It will automatically work harder when it detects there is more humidity.

Obviously, you’ll need a rack or airer to hang the clothes.

5. Hair Dryer

A hair dryer works great for small garments like socks, underwear and hand towels. But with some patients, you can also dry a shirt or a pair of pants.

Start by wringing out as much moisture as you can. The high spin setting trick can also help remove most of the moisture.

Then take a hair dryer and set the speed to medium or high. As for the heat, medium or warm is perfect.

What matters most is airflow not the heat.

Blast your clothes with the warm fast air, making sure you turn the item over frequently to get even drying.

6. Fan

A fan increases airflow, which is what makes clothes dry faster.

Hang your clothes on a rack or airer then position a fan nearby. You’ll probably need a dehumidifier to avoid getting the room too humid, which could encourage mould and bacteria.

If you don’t have a dehumidifier, leave the window open to let the water vapour escape.

7. A Note About Radiators

You may have noticed that I’ve not mentioned radiators, a popular way to dry clothes indoors. I don’t recommend hanging clothes on your radiator.

The extra moisture in the air is a problem, but you can deal with that using a dehumidifier.

Another problem you may not be able to solve as easily is the increase in power consumption. Because you are blocking the vents, you are making the radiator work harder.

Even if you hang the clothes nearby, not on the radiator, the increased humidity makes the radiator work harder to warm the room.

Either way, you get higher power bills.

Stick to the other tips and forget about using your radiator.

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