How to Dry Clothes Indoors Safely

On the face of it, the radiator seems like the best place to put clothes. It’s hot, so things dry quickly, and it’s easy to drape everything over it. While that’s true, drying clothes this way is bad news for your living space and your central heating system.

Here’s why:

Drying clothes indoors introduces lots of moisture-laden air into your living space. In the winter, your home is at its coldest. When this moist air hits a cold surface like a wall or a closed window, it condenses into water. This water feeds invisible mould spores that are always present around us to cause black mould growth.

If your radiator has thermostatic controls, your central heating system will be working to reach a certain temperature. Draping wet clothes over it cools the radiator, forcing your central heating to work harder—and longer—to reach its target temperature. Any money spent on energy is immediately wasted.

A hygrometer measures how much water is present in the surrounding air and can be bought online for under £20.

Aim for between 40%-60% relative humidity (RH) to ensure a comfortable and mould free home.

Levels higher than 60% RH encourage condensation and mould growth, while levels lower than 40% RH can dry out skin and aggravate respiratory issues.

The World Health Organisation recommends that your home needs to be at least 18 ℃ at all times to protect the health of an inhabited building and its suitably clothed occupants.

You may prefer it a little warmer, and that’s completely fine! Small children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems may also require higher regular temperatures.

For healthy adults, 18 ℃ is considered the minimum comfortable indoor temperature, not the target temperature.

Before even thinking about drying your clothes indoors, make sure the room you plan to use is warm and well ventilated. Living rooms are usually ideal.

Space your clothes evenly on the drying rack and avoid overfilling it.

Put the drying rack close to a wide open window or an active positive input ventilation (PIV) fan.

In winter, a ventilation system is preferable to keeping the window open for long periods of time. While airing out your space for 15–60 mins won't hurt, letting in too much cold air could make your home too chilly, which isn’t very energy-efficient.

Find out more about condensation in windows here

Dehumidifiers collect humid air, extract its moisture and expel dry air.

Look for a dehumidifier with a dedicated Laundry Mode, such as the Dryzone Dehumidifier and Air Purifier, to ensure it dries your clothes thoroughly.

Place your damp clothes near, but not on, the dehumidifier and turn it on. By the time you get home from work, your clothes will be dry. Most importantly, all the water from your clothes will be safely contained within your dehumidifier’s water tank, not condensed on your walls to promote mould growth!

Drying clothes indoors can leave them dusty or musty, especially where ventilation is poor. Air purifiers filter the air to remove larger particles such as dust, pollen, mould spores, smoke and dust mites.

The best dehumidifiers automatically filter your clothes through an air purification filter while controlling the environment of your home.

The Dryzone Dehumidifier & Air Purifier has a solo purifying mode, making it suitable even for homes with perfectly balanced humidity levels.

When looking for air purifiers, look out for High Efficiency Particulate Arresting (or HEPA) filters. HEPA is a widely used efficiency standard for air filters that ensures the filtration of particles that are sized 0.3μm or more. Find out more about HEPA filters.