How To Clean Dry Clean Only Clothes

It might not be the most fascinating topic, but how best to get your laundry dry is a problem many of us grapple with weekly, especially during the colder months. There's nothing worse than a load of freshly washed laundry that takes too long to dry and has a lingering damp, musty smell.

If you don't own a tumble dryer or if you're trying to be more environmentally friendly by using it less frequently, you probably dry your clothes indoors on an airer. But all this indoor drying raises the moisture levels in your home, which can eventually lead to mould, mildew and damp.

Here are six top tips from the experts at the GHI for quicker, more efficient drying.

Reduce the load

Don't overfill the washing machine! We have all been guilty of doing this when there's a huge pile of clothes to get through.

It's a false economy – squashing too many clothes into the machine can leave clothes even damper, meaning a longer drying time. Plus, they will come out with more creases, meaning more ironing!

Spread it out

It might be tempting to get all your clean washing out of the machine as quickly as possible but take your time. Hanging clothes neatly and spreading them out, will reduce drying time, the risk of horrid damp smells, and your ironing pile.

GHI Tip: Look out for gadgets to help you spread the load and dry it quicker like this useful peg dryer that sits on your airer and helps separate socks or underwear.

Be sure to check for rogue socks that have made their way inside other items like pillowcases, or that damp balled up sock will linger in the corner of the pillowcase and create a musty damp smell.

Invest in the best!

If you need to dry clothes indoors, invest in a good clothes airer. For winter or if your house is particularly cold and you're struggling to get clothes dry, a heated airer is a good option.

We like the John Lewis & Partners 3-Tier Heated Indoor Clothes Airer; it has plenty of flexible hanging space and clothes and towels dried quickly in our tests. Alternatively if your budget doesn't stretch to a heated airer, the Minky 3 Tier Plus Indoor Airer with 21 m Drying Space did well in our tests and is lightweight and can hold plenty of laundry.

GHI Tip: Damp clothes should not be dried on storage heaters or convector heaters because this can be a fire hazard

Dehumidify

If you dry clothes indoors, all that extra moisture can lead to damp in your home, unless you keep the windows open for increased ventilation. But in the middle of the winter that's not always an option, so it's worth looking at a dehumidifier. If you place it near the clothes airer, it'll help dry out clothes quicker as well as removing excess moisture from the room.

Hispanolistic Getty Images

Save the creases

You may think that setting the washing machine to as high a spin speed as possible is the way to cut drying time.

This is true if you're putting the load straight in the tumble dryer, as you need to remove as much water as possible to reduce drying time. But if you're leaving clothes to air dry, you should reduce the spin speed slightly to stop the laundry load from getting over creased, otherwise what you save in drying time, you'll add in ironing time. Remember to remove and shake it all out as soon as the cycle has finished.

Give your dryer a break

If you have a tumble dryer, be careful not to overload it; it won't be effective and can put pressure on the motor. Also, make sure that it is in a warm, dry room; a tumble dryer sucks in the surrounding air, so if it is in a cold garage it will have to work harder than if it was indoors.

Laundry room ideas - clothes dryers

Wall mounted clothes rack

mDesign amazon.co.uk

£26.24

Over door drying rack

mDesign amazon.co.uk

Folding wall hanger

iNeego amazon.co.uk

£17.08

Linn clothes rack

Brabantia amazon.co.uk

£130.14

Over-door laundry hanger

Wayfair wayfair.co.uk

£47.99

Mini 3 tier heated airer

Dry:Soon lakeland.co.uk

£99.99

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