How To Dry Clothes Indoors Sustainably

Cut down on tumble drying with these simple, sustainable ways to dry your clothes indoors. Find out what equipment actually helps, how to keep your laundry smelling fresh, and how to make sure your towels stay soft rather than stiff.

Over the years, I’ve shared a lot of tips on how to do laundry sustainably. From how to dry clean clothes at home to how to remove stains naturally. Yet I realised recently that I haven’t shared my top tips on how to dry clothes indoors.

This was a big oversight on my part because drying is such a huge part of the sustainable laundry equation. Tumble dryers use loads of energy, while air drying cuts your carbon footprint, saves money, and helps your clothes last longer.

And with energy bills rising even higher this winter, it’s never been more important to curb our use of energy-intensive appliances. So let’s rectify that right now.

I love drying my clothes outdoors, but the weather doesn’t always play ball. On wet days, instead of reaching for the tumble dryer, try these simple tips for drying your clothes indoors. They’ll help you cut down on energy use and still get great results:

How To Dry Clothes Indoors Sustainably

From washing your clothes the right way to choosing the best drying setup, keeping musty smells at bay, and preventing towels from turning scratchy, here are my favourite techniques for drying laundry beautifully without reaching for the tumble dryer:

Start With How You Wash Your Clothes

As a family of four, our laundry basket is often overflowing. It can be incredibly tempting to ram as many clothes into our washing machine as it can possibly hold. However, I know that this is counterintuitive to having clean laundry. And I’ve found that overfilling your washing machine also hampers the drying process.

This is because if you cram too many clothes in, then there is not enough space for your laundry to agitate in the machine. There will also be less water available for the detergent to dissolve in, as the clothes will soak up too much water. This means your clothes don’t come out as clean as you would like, meaning you may have to wash them again.

And what’s more, when your machine is fully packed, the spin cycle is not as effective. Your clothes come out damper than they should, taking longer to dry. Particularly when it comes to drying clothes indoors, you really don’t want to start with too wet clothes.

So, how much should you fill your washing machine with clothes? Aim to fill three-quarters of the drum. Anything more than that is considered overloading.

Use The Right Equipment

When drying clothes indoors, it’s tempting to squeeze as many wet items of clothing onto your radiators to speed up the drying process. However, drying clothes on your radiator is not particularly energy efficient.

Hanging wet clothes on your radiator makes your boiler work harder to get your room to your desired temperature. It, therefore, takes longer and uses more energy to heat your home, ultimately meaning it costs you more money. Plus, it makes your towels crispy.

Instead, here are three different ways to dry your clothes indoors:

A Traditional Clothes Horse

I personally use a standard clothes horse to dry my clothes indoors.

I have a really small house, so I have a tower clothes horse (this particular Brabantia one from Wayfair). It takes up a really small footprint – about 1 m² – but can hold up to two loads of laundry. You can even dry delicates flat, or adjust the racks for optimally drying trousers or towels.

Try to position it in a warm and sunny spot – near an open window or a radiator – to help speed up the drying process.

An Electric Clothes Horse

Alternatively, some people swear by using an electric clothes horse to dry their clothes indoors. I have a few friends who absolutely rave about the Dry:Soon range at Lakeland.

From what I have heard from my friends, as well as read online, they are very energy efficient – costing just 7p per hour to run, and they dry your clothes in just a few hours. This makes them much cheaper to run than a tumble dryer. You can even get a tent that you pop over them to help speed up the drying process even further.

I haven’t tried one, so I can’t personally report on their effectiveness. I will report back if I ever take the plunge!

Ceiling or Wall-Mounted Clothes Airers

Standard clothes horses aren’t your only option. If you lack floor space but have the ceiling height, then one option to try would be a ceiling-mounted clothes airer, like this one from Lakeland. Growing up in Scotland, I knew these as a pulley, but you might know them as a kitchen maid.

I had a pulley in a student flat I once lived in, and loved it. They’re really effective, as hot air rises, so your clothes dry quickly in the warmest part of the room. Ours was situated in our kitchen, so I found it best to do my laundry at night after everyone had their dinner, and then remove my dry clothes the next day. This meant that my clothes didn’t take on any food smells.

Lacking ceiling height? You can also buy wall-mounted drying racks, like this one from Dunelm, if you lack the ceiling height but have wall space.

Open A Window

When drying your clothes indoors, the key thing to remember is ventilation. Damp laundry can contain up to three litres of water, which needs to evaporate.

Inadequate ventilation can cause condensation on your walls and windows when you dry your laundry. If this condensation isn’t vented out, then it can cause damp and mould growth in your home. This dampness and mould can negatively affect your health, so it is best to avoid it.

An easy way to avoid condensation is to close the door and open up a window in the room in which you are drying your laundry. Allowing fresh air to circulate whilst your laundry dries really helps to reduce moisture levels, meaning the risk of dampness and mould in your home is significantly reduced.

To add to this, I would avoid drying your laundry in your bedroom and the living room if possible. If you can, use your hallway, bathroom, or kitchen to limit potential allergic reactions to dampness, dust, and detergent.

If it’s too cold, wet, or windy to open your window for an extended period, then don’t worry. There are other workarounds. If you can dry laundry in your kitchen or bathroom, then running the extractor fan, if you have one, will also help. The extractor fan uses very little electricity, so it won’t drive up your bills, like a tumble dryer would.

Use A Dehumidifier

Alternatively, you can run a dehumidifier, which sucks excess moisture from the air.

We’ve got one, and what I’ve found is that if you pop your clothes horse in a small room, you can run the dehumidifier and not only does it tackle condensation, but it helps clothes to dry much faster too. It’s nowhere near as energy-intensive as the tumble dryer, so it doesn’t cost much to run either. I love our dehumidifier and wouldn’t be without it!

I did A LOT of research before buying a dehumidifier, and want to make you aware that there are two different types: dessicant and peltier dehumidifiers. Both work in different ways – peltier ones work best in warmer temperatures and dessicant ones work better in colder temperatures.

Given that I live in Scotland and mainly use one in the winter, I opted for a dessicant dehumidifier. I have a Meaco dessicant dehumidifier and really rate it. It’s so impressive, but at the same time horrifying because of the amount of water it sucks out from the air!

Hang Your Clothes Properly

It might sound obvious, but taking care to ensure that you hang your clothes neatly – pulling trousers, sleeves, and socks straight – really speeds up the drying process.

Adequately spacing your clothes helps, too. This lets the air circulate freely and helps speed up the drying process.

How To Stop Clothes Smelling Damp

Clothes start to smell damp when they take too long to dry. Opening a window or running a dehumidifier can help.

My other top tip is to spin your clothes at the maximum spin cycle your washing machine allows. Some washing cycles don’t spin on the maximum spin cycle, so a final spin cycle on the maximum setting removes any excess moisture. This makes it quicker to dry your clothes, meaning they are less likely to smell musty.

How to Avoid Crunchy Towels

Crunchy towels can be an issue when you dry your laundry indoors. If you want to keep your towels soft, then a short 10 to 15-minute cool blast in your tumble dryer when they are almost air-dried will prevent any crunchiness, without having to run your tumble dryer for a long period.

Another top tip is to reduce the amount of laundry detergent you use when washing your towels. Too much detergent can make your towels feel crunchy.

Halving the amount of detergent you would normally use in your washing machine helps prevent this problem. As does making your own fabric conditioner, which helps remove any excess detergent from your towels.

Cut Down On The Amount of Laundry You Do

Finally, my very best advice is to simply cut down on the amount of laundry you do. The majority of us do wash our clothes too frequently. Here’s a rough guide as to how often you should wash your clothes, and here are some handy hints to freshen up your clothes without washing them.

Final Thoughts

Ditching your tumble dryer and drying your clothes indoors on wet days can save you a heap of energy and money. However, it’s important to bear in mind some simple tips to help avoid negatively impacting your health. Maintaining ventilation is key – either by opening a window or by mechanical means. Meanwhile, reducing the amount of laundry you do and how you do it can also help minimise energy usage and potential dampness.