As winter approaches and the days grow shorter, Britons face the dual challenge of managing household tasks amid both seasonal changes and the cost of living crisis. With energy bills soaring, drying clothes on a radiator rather than using a costly tumble dryer is becoming an increasingly common choice for many.
Yet, experts are cautioning against drying laundry inside your home, particularly in one room: the bedroom. Researchers highlight that this practice could lead to mould, dampness, and potential health issues.
According to the team at In The Wash, drying your washing indoors can be problematic: “Keeping moisture-filled laundry in your living spaces doesn’t just encourage mould and dampness, it can also lead to respiratory issues, and wet laundry can be a bit smelly too. The bedroom is one of the rooms you spend the most time in.”
They note that the additional moisture from the laundry is a recipe for trouble: “Given the fact that wet laundry encourages mould growth, dampness and potential health issues it would be better to keep it out of a room you spend a lot of time in.”
Furthermore, bedrooms commonly lack strong ventilation, often missing extractor fans, and residents are unlikely to open windows during the colder months, reports Bristol Live.
The specialists warn that drying clothes in such conditions could raise the risk of mould, which poses significant health risks and structural damage to the property: “Drying laundry in such an ill-equipped environment could enhance higher chances of getting a mould infestation. In turn, this could lead to more serious health complications for the bedroom user, damp could give rise to several structural problems in the bedroom, and said problems could be costly to put right.”
So, what’s the solution? The Bed Kingdom experts suggest investing in a dehumidifier if you need to dry clothes in a room without ventilation. A dehumidifier extracts moisture from your home’s air until it reaches a relative humidity level of your choosing.
Once this level is achieved, a good dehumidifier should automatically maintain that comfortable level without any intervention from you. The bed specialists advised: “Don’t dry clothes on radiators, they can cause a build-up of mould in your home and cause allergy irritations, or even lung problems.”
“They also trap heat so your home doesn’t warm up as much while your boiler is working harder, so will end up costing you more. An airer in front of a dehumidifier uses much less energy.”
While the experts recommended drying laundry in a spare bedroom, utility room or garage, not everyone will have the extra space. In smaller spaces, position the airer as close to a heat source as possible to speed up the drying process, keeping doors closed if possible.