Getting freshly washed laundry dry is quite difficult in many households. Because without an energy-consuming dryer in the house, all that's left is the standard clothes horse and, especially now in winter, it can often take days until the laundry is properly dry.
This not only puts a strain on our nerves, but can also have dire consequences for our four walls. Excessive moisture in laundry can cause mold to develop, which can be harmful to our health. You can read about the mistakes you should avoid when drying laundry here.
Can I dry laundry in the apartment?
In principle, you are allowed to hang up your laundry in the apartment. If your rental agreement contains a clause that prohibits this, then this is invalid according to the German Tenants' Association. This also applies if there is a laundry or drying room in your house.
However, as a tenant, you are obliged to ventilate the living spaces regularly and properly to prevent mold. If you hang your laundry to dry in the apartment, this is even more important, as wet clothing releases a lot of moisture into the air when it dries.
Proper ventilation specifically means: Ventilate all rooms three times a day during the heating period for around five to ten minutes and open the windows wide. It's best to open the opposite windows and doors at the same time to ensure an exchange of air throughout the entire apartment.
Mistake #1: Drying laundry in the wrong place
One of the most serious mistakes is drying in the wrong place. Aunheated basementor aBathroom without windowsare therefore extremely unsuitable for setting up your clothes horse here. Especially in the bathroom, showering alone is the ideal breeding ground for harmful mold stains.
AlsoBedrooms and children's roomsare absolutely unsuitable for drying laundry. Because sweating and breathing while you sleep increases the moisture content in the air. An additional clothes horse would also increase the risk of mold immensely.
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Important whenDrying laundry in winter
In the summer we like to hang our laundry outside. This is where it is dried most gently and quickly. What few people know, however, is that laundry can be hung outside even in the cold season. On a sunny, dry winter day, laundry can be dried outside as usual. However, if the humidity is high, for example because it is foggy, you have to move indoors.
In this case, not only the location of the drying rack, but also the weather conditions in winter play an even greater role.
Mild winter day:If it's not particularly cold outside, you should turn on the clothes horseopened windowplace. This way you get as close as possible to the effect of drying in the fresh air.
Icy winter day:At low temperatures below 3 °C, you should avoid leaving the window tilted permanently. Then being close will help youHeatingwhen drying laundry. The warmer the room, the faster the laundry dries.
Important:But that doesn't mean that you should turn up the heating extra. This just uses an unnecessary amount of energy. What's more important is that youthe largest roomuse what is available to you. Laundry releases moisture into the air. The smaller the room you use to dry laundry, the faster the humidity will increase to unhealthy levels.
The result can be mold, which usually forms in the coldest places, the so-called cold bridges, in the room. If you hang up your laundry in your apartment, you absolutely have toventilate several times a dayto move moist air outside and dry air inside.
Find out more about indoor humidity:
Mistake #2: Too much laundry for a drying rack
Another avoidable but widespread mistake: you load the drying rack way too full and the wet items hang close together. Especially when families have large piles of laundry, one drying rack quickly becomes overfilled.
Therefore, get a second clothes horse so that you can hang the laundry in a different location. Ideally, air comes into the clothing from all sides. This allows it to dry more quickly and you can straighten the laundry while it is still damp so that there are fewer wrinkles.Here you can order a second grand piano stand directly from Amazon.*
When hanging, the following applies: tops in the middle and trousers on the wings. Tightly woven or coarse items such as trousers dry longer, which is why they belong on the wings because they are automatically offset further and hang at a greater distance from the floor.
Mistake #3: Laundry is not shaken out
If you lift the laundry out of the laundry basket when it is damp and in a ball and then hang it on the rack almost as crumpled, you also run the risk of the laundry remaining damp in places for too long and becoming musty. This also increases the risk of mold. The danger is particularly high with T-shirts, as the sleeves are usually turned inside out or gathered.
Before hanging up the laundry, you should definitely shake it out vigorously and smooth it out. This way you minimize wrinkles at the same time.
Mistake #4: No clothespins
Especially when drying laundry in the house, many people don't see the need for clothespins. After all, there is no wind to blow the clothes away. However, clothespins are also important so that the laundry can be dried optimally.
Where there is a lot of or particularly thick material, the clothing needs to get a lot of air so that it can dry. That's why the following applies to trousers, for example: Hang them with the waistband facing down.
In general, items of clothing should not simply be hung in the middle of the drying rack because a relatively large amount of material will then be doubled up and cannot be ventilated. Clothespins help ensure that as much fabric as possible hangs down and can be ventilated.
Mistake #5: Laundry is left lying around for too long
We sometimes make this mistake twice: Firstly, the laundry is often not taken straight out of the washing machine when it has finished washing. This is bad in that residual bacteria from the washing water can then multiply and infect the clothing again.
The result is laundry that smells even though it has been freshly washed. On the other hand, laundry is often not folded quickly enough after drying. Dry laundry that is crumpled up in a laundry basket becomes extremely wrinkled and wrinkled.
Even if you keep ironing the laundry anyway, you're making your life more difficult than necessary. Because laundry that is so wrinkled needs to be ironed for longer. This costs time and electricity. The quicker you fold or hang the items neatly after drying, the quicker they can be ironed.
Reading tips:
Mistake #6: Hanging delicate materials without hangers
For the same reason that wire clothes hangers are a total no-go, drying rack rods are also not suitable for delicate materials. If a blouse is hung at the chest over the rail of a clothes horse, a deep fold will be created there that will be difficult to remove.
Over time, the fibers lose their shape because they are not designed to be stressed at certain points by a wire. If you want to extend the life of your blouses and shirts, it is best to dry them directly on a clothes hanger rather than on a drying rack.
If you have a clothes spindle outside, you can easily hang a clothes hanger there. Anyone who dries their laundry in their apartment can get a rolling clothes rail (order right here on Amazon)*.
Tipp:The clothes hanger method is a good idea, especially for those who hate ironing. Shirts, blouses, trousers, dresses, T-shirts – everything that lands directly wet on a hanger and dries there develops far fewer wrinkles! Depending on the material, some parts no longer need to be ironed. You can easily hang them in the closet with a hanger.
Important:You should not hang wool sweaters or tops with lace straps, but rather lay them out flat to dry. When wet, the clothes are very heavy and easily get out of shape.
Reading tips:
Mistake #7: Hanging bed linen upside down
If you don't have a dryer, you often have a hard time with bed linen. The classic image from washing powder advertising of a long clothesline between two trees with white bed linen drying is unrealistic for many people.
However, if you have the opportunity to dry bed linen outside, you should definitely take advantage of it. Hang the laundry with the button placket on the side and leave the buttons open. This allows the wind to blow into the sides and help dry them.
