Drying Laundry Indoors: How to Keep Your Room Fresh This Autumn
As the evenings get cooler, the windows stay shut and the clothes airer comes out. It is the easiest way to dry a wash, but wet laundry releases a lot of water into the air, and in a closed room that moisture has nowhere to go.
Leave it long enough and you end up with steamy windows, a musty smell and, over time, damp patches in the corners.
The good news is that a few small habits keep your room fresh and comfortable all season.
Give the moisture somewhere to go
Fresh air is your best friend on laundry day. Open a window a little while your clothes are drying, and keep any trickle vents at the top of your windows open. If your bathroom has an extractor fan, use it.
Keep it off the radiators
Draping clothes over a radiator feels like a shortcut, but it blocks the heat from reaching the rest of your room and pushes moisture straight into the air. Your room stays colder, your clothes can take longer to dry, and the heating works harder than it needs to. Use an airer and give it a bit of space from the radiator instead.
Spread it out
A crammed airer dries slowly and stays damp for longer. Smaller loads, spaced out, dry faster. An extra spin at the end of your wash also helps, and if your building has a laundry room with dryers, it is worth using them for bulky items like towels and bedding.
Know the signs
Some condensation on cold windows in the morning is normal, so wipe it away with a cloth. If you spot black spots, peeling paint, a musty smell that will not shift or damp patches on walls, let your site team know. Please do not try to fix it yourself: they have the right tools and can sort it properly.
Small habits, fresh rooms
Drying laundry indoors is part of life once autumn arrives. Letting in fresh air, keeping radiators clear and reporting anything unusual keeps your room comfortable, protects your belongings and, if you pay your own energy bills, stops heat going to waste. It also helps keep your whole building a healthier place to live.
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