Here’s Why You Should Dry Your Clothes Like Grandma Did

Asking, “What is the greenest way to dry clothes?” might seem like a silly question because obviously air drying your clothes is the greenest way of drying clothes. But if you dig a little deeper you can find out more about air drying and tips to make it more efficient.

Avoid these 10 laundry mistakes during your next load.

Is It Better to Air Dry Your Clothes?

It might be a no brainer but for those unsure, it’s pretty clear that air drying your clothes is better. A dryer slowly destroys clothes by loosening the fabric. You see the toll drying takes on clothes every time you empty the lint trap.

Plus, you can save money with air drying and help the environment. Your dryer typically ranks in the top four of appliances that use the most energy. According to Silicon Valley Power, a dryer typically costs between $.28-$.44 a load depending on how many clothes you’re drying. Dryers also need regular cleaning so there isn’t a buildup of lint, which will decrease a dryer’s effectiveness.

Check out the things you never knew your dryer could do.

Outdoor Air Drying Factors

You’ll have to consider the weather when it comes to air drying clothes. Certainly you’ll want to check the forecast to avoid any rain but you need to factor in humidity because the more humid it is outside, the slower it will take to dry your clothes. If it’s humid and cold, your clothes will take even longer to dry outside so you might want to consider air drying clothes indoors. If you live in a climate that routinely dips below freezing in the winter, you’ll want to air dry clothes indoors because freezing can damage clothes.

Air drying your clothes outdoors will help soften clothes and combat the crispness issue people don’t like when they air dry clothes indoors.

These are the things that should never end up in your dryer.

Air Drying Without a Clothesline

If you don’t have a clothesline, live in a homeowner’s association or live in an apartment, you can still air dry clothes, you just have to get a little more creative. There are a number of drying rack options or even wall-mounted drying racks you can add to your home.

Find a Clothes Drying Rack

There are a variety of drying racks sold at retailers, like this Walmart clothes rack or this Target drying rack.

Wall-Mounted Drying Racks

You could always try adding a wall-mounted drying rack to your laundry room to save on space. Amazon has several types of wall-mounted drying racks.

Best Way to Dry Clothes Indoors

If you’re going to start air drying clothes inside then you should know some of the best practices. Washing clothes in the morning will give you all day for your clothes to dry.

Make sure you space out your clothes on the drying rack so they’re not touching each other. One way of ensuring this is putting the clothes that you can on hangers.

Put your drying rack in the sunniest and breeziest place of your home to get faster drying results.

Here’s how to unshrink four different types of clothing.

Plus, learn about a product that might stop you from washing you clothes altogether in the video below.