Hanging out the laundry correctly , and allowing our t-shirts and dresses to dry well and quickly, is a real (almost) impossible mission!On the other hand, with increasingly frenetic rhythms, it is easy to come across tight deadlines, which are difficult to reconcile with the need to let the humidity drain away from our clothes.
So, how to solve?
If your laundry area seems to be overwhelmed with piles of t-shirts and shirts that need drying, and you fear leaving the house with damp clothes because you hadn’t planned the drying phase in advance, then you’ve come to the right place.
We certainly can’t help you plan your life better, but we can certainly help you dry your clothes faster without resorting to the dryer (a real energy guzzler!), banning soaked sleeves and wet waistlines forever!
Try following these tips and suggestions, and let us know how it goes!
Set higher spins on the washing machine
Start by using a high spin setting on your washing machine , so that as much water as possible is removed from your clothes before they are ready to dry.
Sure, the more spins you use in your washing machine, the more energy you consume. However, the increased energy used to increase the spin speed is nothing compared to the energy it would take to run a dryer.
Help yourself with towels
Once your clothes are out of the washer, you can try one (or both!) of these tricks to remove even more moisture:
- the first trick is to put a big, fluffy towel and place the item of clothing to be dried in it. Then, roll the towel up, as if you were making a giant sausage with the item of clothing to be dried inside, and twist it tightly, starting at one end, working your way down, until the entire towel is twisted. This will draw the excess water out of the clothing and into the towel;
- The second trick is to lay the garment to be dried on an ironing board , as if it were ready to be ironed, and lay a thin towel over it. Then press the towel with a high heat source, stopping to turn the garment over so that both sides are receiving this attention. This channels some heat into the fabric without causing any of the damage associated with applying a hot iron directly to it while it is wet.
Try to give the right space
Air drying is the best solution for drying items quickly, but it is not always practical. Therefore, using drying racks is the best option.
Be careful though. Try not to pile all your wet clothes on a drying rack , because the clothes you dry need air and ventilation to dry properly and quickly.
So take the time to hang items individually, leaving space in between. If you use a drying rack that has individual bars, hang the items you need on two bars instead of one, so that more air can circulate around them.
Take advantage of the right positioning
Place your drying rack near a heat source , such as a radiator or heater. Alternatively, place it anywhere there is movement in the air, perhaps near an open window or near a fan on a hot day.
Turn the clothes to dry
Regularly check the drying status of your garment and turn it so that each side comes into contact with air. Pay attention to the pockets, underarm areas and cuffs, as these are notoriously the most humid areas.
If you put a garment on a radiator, make sure you take it off as soon as it is dry, otherwise you are just wasting heat by channeling it into clothing that is already warm and dry.
Use the hair dryer
If time is of the essence, and you don’t have much of it, then try to dry your clothes naturally as much as possible and then give them another very quick blow-dry . Make sure to turn them frequently, allowing air to circulate in pockets, sleeves and collars. There’s no need to use a particularly high setting on your blow-dryer; it’s all about airflow, rather than heat.
Give in to the dryer
If you really must use a dryer, make sure you set it to the most energy efficient setting (a sort of eco-friendly option, which is always available in modern dryers). Also make sure you have removed all the lint so that the machine can run as efficiently as possible.
Some also suggest placing a dry, soft towel with the wet object, claiming that this speeds up the process.
In fact, there is no evidence that this actually speeds up the drying process. Whether or not you fall for this advice, remember to check your dryer regularly; don’t just set it to time and necessarily let it run until the end of the cycle, because your clothes could be dry much sooner… which means you’ll have wasted a lot of time and energy!
We hope these tips will help you dry your clothes properly, and do it faster.
Of course, you can find many housewives’ “remedies” around the web. Just pay attention to their real effectiveness: often in fact they are suggestions that have little to do with a concrete ability to favor a quicker drying of damp or wet clothes.
