How to dry your laundry fast without a tumble dryer
Sometimes things have to be done quickly, particularly when you need freshly washed and dried clothes ready for the next day. But is this possible without a tumble dryer? Yes, and you can save electricity in the process! With our tips, you can dry your laundry really quickly, whether it’s individual items or whole loads of laundry.
20 March 2024 • 5 min reading time
No dryer, no worries! With our tips, laundry will dry quickly.
If you don’t have a tumble dryer, you probably usually hang your wet clothes on a clothesline or indoor airer. Already at this point there are some things to consider that will help dry your laundry faster. Read on to find out how to properly hang your laundry both indoors and outdoors to speed up drying time.
In general, when drying clothes on a line or airer, you should leave gaps between the individual garments; this applies to hanging them either indoors or outdoors. This allows air to circulate and the clothes to dry quickly.
Make sure that thick items like trousers, sweaters or jackets are hung on the outside of the drying rack so that they get more air and dry faster. Thin shirts and underwear can be hung more towards the middle.
By alternating long and short items in each row, you will also ensure better air circulation. In addition, the clothes should not overlap or hang wrinkled on the line or airer. If you do, the creases in the clothes will stay damp for longer and will barely be dry even days later.
Save time and achieve optimum results without a tumble dryer.
If you’re drying clothes indoors, make sure to air the room where you hang the laundry more often. This lets the resulting damp air out of the room and ensures that the air can absorb more moisture from the washing. It will dry faster. Your radiator can also help out here, if you put the clothes airer right in front of it. However, to prevent energy loss, this should only be done in exceptional cases. The heating should always be switched off while airing the room.
If the weather is good, it makes a lot of sense to dry your clothes outside. In the sun, wet clothes often need only a few hours before they are completely dried. But even in autumn and winter, you can hang your clothes outside. Sun and a light wind are ideal for your laundry to dry quickly.
Use nature to dry your clothes.
Did you know this? Even sub-zero temperatures are suitable for drying clothes in the fresh air. If your laundry freezes and then thaws again, the moisture escapes from your clothes directly into the air – a process known as sublimation.
Damp, especially rainy weather is less suitable for clothes drying. If the humidity outside is very high, the drying process usually takes longer than it would within the home. If this is the case, hang your clothes up indoors or use the tips below.
In addition to drying them on the clothesline or airer, there are some technological aids that will help you dry your clothes even faster. Right at the forefront is the washing machine itself. A lot of moisture is removed from the wash during the spin cycle. With hard-wearing cotton clothing, you can increase the spin speed to shorten the subsequent drying process.
For your machine to perform at its best, you should not throw too many heavy items in at once! Shaking out the clothes has a similar effect to a spin cycle.
If you want to dry individual clothes quickly for the next day, you can also blow-dry them or put them on the radiator. Since hair dryers and heating consume a lot of electricity, these methods are not suitable for whole loads of laundry, but only for individual items. You should also only dry thin and hard-wearing textiles such as cotton on the radiator. For delicate items made of silk or wool, it’s better to put your hairdryer on the cold setting.
If you have more clothes to dry, you can also iron them gently. Although the items will not get completely dry this way, this tip is very useful for the remaining moisture after hanging. Make sure the clothes are suitable for ironing and do not set the iron too hot.
If, on occasion, you want to dry several loads of laundry faster than usual, you can also do this at any regular launderette, where there are usually several tumble dryers that you can pay a small fee to use.
Have you been invited to a party the next day and want to wash and dry your favourite piece again for the occasion? To get individual items ready to wear quicker, there is a simple trick that requires only two towels.
Simply place the wet garment between the two towels on a smooth surface, weigh everything down and leave it for about an hour. The small amount of residual moisture should escape completely from the clothing overnight – if thicker garments are still not dry shortly before the start of the party, you can then blow-dry them in no time at all.
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