Air-drying clothes in the summer is quite simple, hanging shirts and linens on picturesque laundry lines in the dry, warm air. When winter comes with its cold, wet days, it’s hard to imagine the line full of laundry in the backyard — but winter weather doesn’t necessarily mean it’s time to start tumble-drying again.
Drying clothes in a dryer adds to the environmental impact of your laundry, as machine-drying makes up 75% of the total carbon footprint of laundry. Running the dryer also costs money — depending on the efficiency of the model and number of loads, it can cost a household between $100 and $200 a year.
While the warm summer sun might make it easier to line-dry clothes, laundry can still be line-dried in the winter, both inside and outdoors. Here’s how.
Line-Dry Clothes Outdoors
Yes, even in the coldest months of the winter, you can dry your clothes outside.
It’s possible because of a process called sublimation, whereby water turns from a solid to a gas without having a liquid phase. Essentially, it evaporates without turning to water first. Think of the way ice cubes get smaller in the freezer over time. It’s the same basic process as freeze-drying.
Clothes hanging out to dry on a winter day on Prince Edward Island, Canada. OliverChilds / iStock / Getty Images Plus
It’s best to dry outdoors on dry, sunny days if you can, and a little wind helps a lot. Even if the clothes don’t dry off completely outside, you can always finish off the process in the machine for a few minutes.
Your clothes might come off the line rather stiff, though. To prevent this, add about half a cup of vinegar near the end of the wash cycle, which cuts through the chemical residue from the detergent that makes dry clothes stiff.
Dry Indoors
Clothes drying on a rack indoors in New Westminster, British Columbia. Dennis Sylvester Hurd / Flickr
Drying clothes indoors can happen year-round with pretty minimal effort. It’s best if you have some drying rack or airer to hang clothes on — one that folds up, or one built into the wall. Some have multiple tiers, or additional sections that fold out to give you more space. You can also use lines that can be taken down after you’re finished.
Reduce Laundry Loads
As tempting as it might be to reduce the number of loads, don’t overfill the machine. The spin cycle will be more effective and remove more water from the clothes when there’s more space. Your clothes will be less damp when removed, putting them in a better position to dry quicker.
Take It for Another Spin
Another way to make sure that laundry is less wet when coming out of the washing machine: give it a second spin. Another spin cycle can get rid of excess moisture, and the extra energy to do that is negligible compared to a whole dryer cycle. While it sounds counterintuitive, you don’t necessarily want to set the spinner to a faster setting — a slower spin might actually work better to dry off clothes. After the last spin cycle, give the tub a good shake and a spin to get any excess water off.
Towel Them Off
Yes, with an actual towel. Wrap clothes up in the towel to absorb excess moisture before hanging them up. Lay the towel out flat, then lay a piece of clothing on top. Roll it up tightly, squeezing as you go, then roll it back out. This won’t remove all the water, of course, but especially for heavy items like sweaters or jeans, it’ll cut back on air-drying time
Spread Clothes Out
Clothes drying outside in winter at an Amish house in Indiana. David Arment / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Hang things up right away to avoid giving them that damp, mildewy smells — and give them space on the drying rack or clothes line. They won’t dry as well if they’re overlapping, so leave an inch of room between each item if you can. If there isn’t enough space, hang items on hangers instead. You can suspend them from curtain rods or other places around the house — maybe from a tension rod in the frame of a seldom-used door. Some drying racks even have small holes on the sides to allow for hangers.
Use Other Heat to Dry
Even without the drying machine, other, less energy-intensive heat can be used to dry clothes. A heated clothes airer uses less energy than a tumble dryer, and can be folded up and put away. It also leaves clothes less wrinkled, so it’s good for those items that might need to be ironed after drying anyway.
For homes with radiators, you basically have a built-in heated clothes airer! Place your drying rack close to the radiator so it can take advantage of that heat, and your clothes will dry in a fraction of the time. If the radiator has a cover, lay items directly on top, flipping them after some time.
Clothes hanging to dry near a radiator. Tommaso Barbanti / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Keep in Rooms That Aren’t Humid
The last thing your drying laundry needs is more moisture. Avoid hanging clothes in damp basements, in a steamy bathroom, or the kitchen where the air can get moist from boiling water — unless there are efficient fans or other ventilation in those rooms. In humid seasons, a dehumidifier can remove excess moisture from the air. In a closed-off room with the machine running, clothes can dry pretty quickly.
Place Near a Window
Good ventilation and air flow is key. Leave the window open for a bit if you can on warmer winter days, or place the drying rack in a room that you don’t use much during the day. An open window is even more effective when paired with a fan to circulate air. Fans use much less energy than a dryer — the standard electricity usage is 33 watts, while clothes dryers are in the thousands.
Clothes drying on a metal rack by an open window. Wirestock / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Use Dryers Correctly
When you do use the dryer, use it as efficiently as possible to avoid wasting any energy. Clean the filter after every use to remove lint — even just a little impacts drying time. Once a year, clean the vents too, following the specific cleaning directions for your model.
To dry clothes faster, put a dry towel in with wet clothes during the first few minutes, then remove and hang it up to air-dry. Dryer balls can reduce drying times too by keeping clothes from sticking to each other, allowing air to circulate around them more easily.
Linnea graduated from Skidmore College in 2019 with a Bachelor’s degree in English and Environmental Studies, and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. Along with her most recent position at Hunger Free America, she has interned with the Sierra Club in Washington, DC., Saratoga Living Magazine, and Philadelphia’s NPR Member Station, WHYY.
