Winter laundry warning: Avoid drying clothes on radiators
How to dry clothes in the winter? An interior architect explains why hanging damp clothes on a hot radiator is bad.
Winter is a time when drying clothes becomes a challenge. High humidity, frost, and lack of sunlight can complicate this process. How should you dry laundry to avoid unpleasant odors and moisture in your home? An interior designer warns against a commonly used practice that can have dire consequences. - The moisture from the clothes will immediately enter the air, - the expert warns.
Drying clothes in winter is a challenge
In winter, drying clothes becomes more difficult than in the warmer months. Frost and high humidity make natural drying almost impossible. Placing laundry on balconies when the thermometer shows a few degrees below freezing (around 28°F) can lead to fabric freezing, which delays the drying process.
Another issue is the lack of adequate airflow inside living spaces. Many people, wanting to speed up drying, decide to dry clothes indoors. A particularly discouraged method is one that many opt for.
- Don’t hang clothes on radiators to dry (...). Moisture from the clothes will immediately enter the air and cannot escape if you don't have open windows, which of course you don’t do in the winter (...). This moisture will turn into mold. Mold spores are dangerous, very harmful to health - warns Jojo, an interior designer, in her podcast, quoted by The Sun.
If we have no other option and want to dry clothes quickly by hanging them on a radiator, we must open the windows. The expert also advises purchasing a dehumidifier.
How to properly dry clothes?
To avoid problems, it is worth starting with properly preparing clothes for drying. Increasing the spin intensity during washing allows more moisture to be removed from the fabrics. A good solution is also to add a dry towel to the washing machine, which will absorb excess moisture during spinning.
