Drying Laundry Indoors Without Damp: Simple Tips

In winter or on rainy days, you do not always have a choice: the washing has to dry somewhere. The trouble is that all this wet laundry releases litres of water into the air of the house, which encourages misting, condensation and mould. Here are simple tips for drying laundry indoors without turning your home into a damp zone.

Drying laundry indoors without saturating the air

Laundry that dries is water moving from the fabric into the surrounding air. If the room is closed, that vapour settles on the windows and cold walls. For drying laundry indoors without damage, the golden rule is to ventilate the room where the washing hangs and to avoid confined spaces such as a closed bedroom.

The right habits for drying laundry indoors

• Set the airer up in a room you can air out easily;
• Open the window ten minutes morning and evening, even in winter;
• Leave the door open so air moves from one room to another;
• Space the laundry out well on the airer for faster drying;
• Spin thoroughly before hanging: less water in the fabric, less vapour in the air.

Outdoors whenever you can

The best way to dry the washing without adding humidity to the house is still to hang it outside, on a balcony, a terrace or in a garden. Even in cool but dry weather, laundry dries very well outdoors. Keep indoor drying for rainy days, and in that case, ventilate without hesitation.

A few simple moves speed up drying with no effort. Shake each item before hanging it to smooth it out and open the fibres, and put clothes on hangers whenever you can. Washing that dries quickly spends less time releasing vapour into the house, which limits misting on the windows and walls.

Keeping an eye on the humidity level

While the washing dries, the humidity in the room rises fast. A hygrometer helps you stay in the comfortable zone, between 40 and 60%. If the level climbs too high, open up more or move the airer. Treating the cause, here the excess vapour, is always better than putting up with misting and stains.

Going further for healthy air

Drying your washing well is one of the habits that lighten the air in a home. To go further, find out how to ventilate a room without windows, often the case in a utility room or a small shower room. And if the air stays heavy all season, see why it pays to watch humidity in winter.

Frequently asked questions

Is drying laundry indoors in the bathroom a good idea?

Only if the room is well ventilated, with a working mechanical ventilation or a window you can open. Otherwise the bathroom, already damp, turns into a vapour trap and mould arrives very quickly.

Does a tumble dryer really avoid humidity?

A condenser or heat pump dryer releases little moisture into the room. A vented model, on the other hand, must send the damp air outside. In every case, a little airing out always helps.