How long to air dry clothes inside

One or two days a week, my entryway transforms into a makeshift laundry room. It’s a little inconvenient to maneuver around the drying clothes, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Sure, I love a romantic stock shot of sheets on a drying line as much as the next person, but living in a city apartment, I, like many people, have access to neither a yard nor an old-school, outdoor clothesline.

Ditching the dryer is a worthy goal: After your heating and cooling, your dryer is likely the biggest energy hog in your home. According to the non-profit Green America, air-drying your clothes can reduce the average household’s carbon footprint by 2,400 pounds a year! I always thought the dryer was a necessary evil living in the city until I spotted a shot of an indoor clothesline on a blog, which made me realize I could air-dry just about any clothing indoors—not just my special hand-wash items. Nearly a decade into my air-drying routine, I can tell you the benefits go way beyond the impact on your utility bill.

Skipping the dryer reduces the wear and tear on your clothes. (All that lint you see? It is tiny pieces of your clothes that have broken off in the dry cycle!) Because clothes wear out more slowly, it keeps them out of the landfill longer, and in turn, your wardrobe’s increased longevity discourages you from buying new clothes that eat up precious raw materials. Air-drying also prevents laundry mishaps: If you hang-dry, it’s much harder to accidentally shrink a garment or to set in a stain permanently. Best of all, for anyone with a penchant for the color black: Air-drying keeps your blacks and other darks, like deep indigo denim, looking their best much longer.

Hanging your clothes to dry may also be healthier for you and your family. A new study suggests that tumble drying is spewing microplastics into the air we breathe (yikes!). And an increasing body of research reveals that you’d be wise to think twice about a gas dryer because of the impact on indoor air quality (more on that here, if you’re curious). Finally, dryer exhaust vents can become clogged with lint, which causes nearly 3,000 house fires every year, according to FEMA. Friends, get your vents cleaned, please!

If I have persuaded you to give air-drying a go, here are some tips to get started:

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I spent years using the most basic wooden folding rack and it was fine. However, when it finally gave out, I explored bigger options to increase my drying capacity. It took me three tries to find the perfect rack; a large wooden one wouldn’t stay up and a metal one I found was pretty great, but then I came across Brabantia’s 25-meter Hang On rack. As soon as I saw the extra hanging rod and the clever hooks for hangers, I ordered myself one. As an added bonus, I discovered it folds up SO much smaller than my previous racks. (Pssst… there’s a smaller 20-meter version.) An architect friend who is also a passionate air dryer swears by IKEA’s basic rack and Leifheit’s retractable rack for delicates or small hanging.

Don’t skip the clothespins.

Just because you’re not drying on that picture-perfect backyard clothesline doesn’t mean you don't need clothespins. These handy clips will help you hang smaller and awkward items like socks, underwear, and baby clothes.

Shake and smooth as you hang.

I remember the aha! moment when I watched my former roommate carefully smooth his jeans flat before hanging them up to dry. A little effort to shake something out and smooth it flat before placing it on your rack or hanger result in a much nicer look to your air-dried garment. Pay careful attention to collars, pockets, and cuffs that can get bunched up in the wash.

Dry shirts on hangers.

For all our button-up shirts, I simply dry the shirts right on the hangers, which leaves them looking their best. In fact, when I renovated my bathroom, I was adamant that we have a fixed, not tension-style, shower curtain rod because I wanted something that could hold up to the weight of my drying garments.

Take your time with linens.

I love air-drying cloth napkins because they look so much better than they do out of the dryer that I can skip the ironing (unless it’s a truly formal occasion). The trick is to carefully hang the napkins evenly so the drying rack’s bar is along the midline where you would normally fold the napkin.

Lay knits flat.

One thing I don’t put on the drying rack are sweaters and other knitted garments, which can stretch out when hung. Instead I lay these flat on a terry cloth towel (either on a wing of the rack or another flat surface).

Use the dryer strategically.

I haven’t given up my dryer completely. Since I live in a city apartment, towels, sheets, other bedding, and extra bulky garments still go in the dryer. But I’m more strategic when I do use the dryer: I tumble towels and heavier items separately from lightweight ones to reduce drying times. And if you don’t like the stiff, sometimes crunchy feel of air-dried clothes, Janice Christie, one of the founders of Germantown Laundromat, suggested tumble drying clothes for 10 minutes in the dryer and then hanging them dry, which I’ve found super helpful for linen garments.

Don’t delay folding.

My last piece of wisdom goes back to my entryway’s double use as a drying zone. As soon as my laundry is dry I take it off the rack and fold it. Living in a small apartment, a drying rack does take up a lot of space, so it’s key to avoid procrastinating about the final step.

When doing laundry, the last thing you want is to remove your favorite blouse from the dryer and discover it's shrunk. While we wish there were simple, all-encompassing rules for remembering how to dry clothes, it sometimes just isn't that easy. To help keep your clothes free of stains, wrinkles, and damage, use our guide to drying clothes the right way. Different clothing materials, textures, colors, and weights will all affect the best drying method to use. Learn what setting to use on your dryer and when to opt for a clothes-drying rack. When you pay close attention to your clothes and treat them with care, you might be surprised at how long they last and how nice they feel.

As a general rule of thumb, the clothing items you launder in a permanent-press or regular cycle in the washing machine can also be dried in the clothes dryer. But it's always best to check the clothing care label. You especially don't want to machine-dry anything that should be washed by hand. When in doubt, hang-dry clothes on a clothes-drying rack. This option saves money on fuel bills, extends the longevity of clothes, and reduces concerns about ruining specific clothing.

Before even washing clothes, you need to sort clothing. Separate wash loads by:

• Texture (items that produce lint and those that attract it).
• Fabric (put clothing items of similar materials together).
• Soil (separate heavily soiled from lightly soiled).
• Color (whites, lights, darks, items that bleed).

This pre-wash prep work will make sorting clothes for the dryer easier. However, it's essential to separate clothes by weight when drying clothes. Mixing heavier items with lighter ones might mean one comes out overdried, and the other is still damp.

Give just-washed clothes a glance and a shake before tossing them into the dryer. Make sure the washing machine did its part in removing stains. If stains remain, treat them again to remove the stain entirely before drying. If a stained garment goes into the dryer, the stain will likely become permanent. Shaking out garments or linens before putting them in the dryer to remove hidden items (such as socks) helps things dry faster and reduce wrinkles.

You might think you're saving time and energy by packing as much into your dryer as possible. The reality is that clothes will take longer to dry and come out looking like they did when you first stuffed them in the dryer—wrinkled and misshapen. Keep the dryer load small enough to tumble easily and freely in the dryer drum. Learn how to dry clothes rapidly by readjusting large loads, such as sheets and blankets, so they dry more quickly and evenly during their cycle. Doing this will help prevent you from having to iron clothes.

Hang-dry clothes for these benefits:

• hang-dry clothes to use less energy, which saves money and makes less of an impact on the environment.
• hang-dry clothes to prevent static cling.
• Hang-drying outside on a clothesline gives garments a fresh, clean smell.
• hang-dry clothes, and you'll extend the lifetime of garments by reducing wear and tear in the dryer.

If you don't have a clothesline, there are ways to dry your clothes indoors. For starters, you may want to purchase an indoor clothes-drying rack. These usually fold down when not in use, so they store very easily and discreetly, helping keep your laundry room organized. Other places to drape your clothes to air-dry include a towel rack or shower curtain rod. Try not to hang damp clothing on materials that may warp or rust when wet, such as wood or metal. Most surfaces in your bathroom are waterproof, so that's a good place to start air-drying clothes.

Here are additional tips for drying clothes indoors:

• Hang-dry clothes on a rod or lay them flat on a drying rack when air-drying garments inside the home.
• Keep garments separated to allow air circulation and faster drying.
• Place clothes near a fan or a heat vent to air-dry more quickly.
• Lay sweaters and other stretchy garments flat on a drying rack to help retain their shapes. Turn them at least once to allow them to dry evenly.
• Hang fleece garments from a rod to dry.
• Reshape any foam or batting in bra cups before draping bras over a clothing rack to air-dry.
• Air-dry camisoles on hangers; use clothespins if the garments seem in danger of slipping off.
• Pin panties and slips to hangers by the waistbands, or hang them over a drying rack to air-dry.

Whether you air-dry clothes from a clothesline inside or outside, you should hang each item in a particular way, so it ends up looking its best.

• Pants: Match the inner leg seams of pants, and clothespin the hems of the legs to the line, with the waist hanging down.
• Shirts and tops: Shirts and tops should be pinned to the line from the bottom hem at the side seams.
• Socks: Hang socks in pairs, pinning by the toes and letting the top opening hang down.
• Bed linens: Fold sheets or blankets in half and pin each end to the line. Leave room between the items, if possible, for maximum drying.

If you're wondering what temperature to dry clothes, check the clothing care label to ensure you're doing what's best for the fabric. Some clothes may need a lower heat setting or even require line drying. If no care label exists, follow these suggestions.

• Consider wash temperature: If you can wash your clothes in hot water, they can often be dried on a hot setting. Cotton bath towels, for example, can be dried in a regular hot setting. Six bath towels weighing 5 pounds will usually dry in about 40-50 minutes.
• Permanent press dryer setting: Items that need to be washed in cooler water should typically be dried in a permanent-press setting. That setting includes a cool-down cycle at the end of the heated drying process to help prevent wrinkles. A permanent-press load of 12 items, such as slacks, shirts, shorts, and dresses, weighing 5 pounds, will dry in about 30-40 minutes. As the load size increases, so does drying time.
• Delicate dryer setting: If the care labels on lingerie and other delicate items say they can go in the dryer, be sure to choose the "delicate" setting.
• Drying synthetic materials: If machine-dryable, garments made of Lycra, nylon, acrylic, polyester, viscose, or spandex should either be air-dried or machine-dried at a low temperature.
• Clean your dryer: To maximize your dryer's ability to do its job, clean the lint filter after every load. Occasionally, check the outside vent opening to make sure it's free of any outdoor debris, such as dirt and leaves.
• Don't overdry: Overdrying certain clothing items, such as cotton shirts, can be hard on them and lead to shrinkage. It's best to remove cotton garments while they're damp, hang them up, and let them finish air-drying on a clothes-drying rack.
• Prevent mold: Allow any item you remove from the dryer while still damp to dry out completely before putting it away. This will help prevent mildew from growing in areas with poor air circulation, such as closets and drawers.
• Avoid wrinkles: Immediately remove clothing from the dryer when the cycle is finished to help avoid wrinkles. If that isn't possible, run the dryer another 10-15 minutes, then promptly remove the clothing to lessen the problem.

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