Drying clothes inside

It can be really important, it determines how long it takes and also stops it from that damp, musty smell. There are two things when it comes to drying, we want to heat up the clothes to get water out and we have to get the water to go somewhere.

Well something that is great at both of those things are tumble dryers, because it does it all in one space.

Tumble dryers have pros and cons. The first pro is that they are efficient, which is a disadvantage when hanging up, but a clear advantage here. Put the laundry in, press the button, done. The tumbler also stands in its place and doesn't take up any space in your garden or home. They are of course fast. Whether winter, summer, rain or sun - your laundry dries quickly and easily. Finally, they are cosy, the laundry from the dryer is soft, fragrant and cosy. But there are also cons. The initial cost of a tumble dryer can be expensive, ranging in price from around £250.

They also have an environmental impact, however, most tumble dryers do have an eco-setting. I talked about that a bit earlier this year.

Not all fabrics are suitable for the tumble dryer, some can shrink which means you need to be careful about what you put in.

The running costs of tumble dryers vary depending on the type you have. A heat pump dryer is the cheapest to run. On average per cycle it uses 1.8-2.1 kWh, which works out at around 50-56p per cycle using the current energy price cap which is 26.11p per kWh of electricity.

A condenser dryer uses around 4.5-5.2 kWh, which works out at around £1.20-£1.35 per cycle

and a vented dryer uses 4.5-5.3 kWh, which is around £1.20-£1.40. So yes, they can be expensive to run, but they are extremely efficient.

Heated airers are really efficient at drying clothes, they do take longer than a tumble dryer and you also need to find a space to put it.

For costs, it isn't terrible. An average airer's power is 300W, that converts to 0.3 kWh. Using the current unit rates, that means the airer costs 8p per hour to use. Heated airers usually take around 4-6 hours to dry clothes, so looking at the longer end, it would cost 48p for 6 hours of drying.

In comparison to the tumble dryer, that is a little bit cheaper. We do obviously have to buy the heated airer in the first place, these range from £30 to £170 on average, depending what model you buy.

Some pros to a heated airer are that they are gentler on clothes than tumble drying, they are portable and can be used in different rooms if needed, they also provide ambient heat to the room.

However, as with everything there are some cons. It requires manual "management", it is a lot more effort than just putting them in and taking them out the tumble dryer. They also risk condensation and mould if there's no proper ventilation in the room. So do take steps to make sure the room is well ventilated!

But HOW we hang our clothes can be really important and allow the airer to work quicker. Here we have an airer, this is just a regular airer, but it can work on a heated one too.

Obviously, we want to space our clothes out evenly, crowding clothes can block airflow and actually extend drying times. But the main thing we want to do, is put the heavier items at the top, so our jumpers and our jeans, and put the lighter items like our underwear at the bottom.

This is because, warm air rises, and warmer air will dry the heavier clothes quicker. If you want even more space, hangers can be a game-changer. You can use something like this garment hanger and hang on the side of the airer.

This is where I like to suggest a combination of a heated airer and a dehumidifier. A regular load of washing has about 2 litres of water in it, so it needs somewhere to go. This here is a 2-litre bucket of water, so you can visually see how much water comes off your clothes, don't worry we will not be wasting this water, we will use it to water our balcony plants. If you don't have proper ventilation in the room, the moisture can cause mould and mildew. A dehumidifier combats that. It removes all the moisture that evaporates into the air during the drying process.

But this is adding an extra cost to our dryer process. A low energy 12L dehumidifier is around 200W, that converts to 0.2 kWh. Again, using the current unit rates, that is 5.2p per hour, if you have it on for the whole 6 hours of using the heated airer, that is an extra 31p, and that is for one of the cheapest ones.

You can use a dehumidifier by itself and hang your clothes on a normal airer or radiators, however it will have to work for a lot longer to fully dry your clothes. I spoke more in depth about dehumidifiers on 18th September 2025, if you want to hear more about them.

So the cheapest to run out of tumble dryer or heated airer with the added dehumidifier is the tumble dryer, unless you have great ventilation and can run the heated airer on its own.

The tumble dryer is also much quicker, however the initial costs are a lot greater and can take a while to get your money returned through the running costs. So, if you want to have a cheaper alternative for now, the heated airer and dehumidifier are great options.

We also did an experiment on this on Morning Live with Salford University - also involving a radiator. They did it in a specialised house mock-up and the conclusion of that was actually taking into consideration environmental factors, costs and ease, an airer, with a dehumidifier and a RADIATOR too was the best option.

It is really frustrating when we forget about the washing and leave it in the machine a little too long, but it's definitely not uncommon!

There are a few things we can do to prevent the damp smell, but also if the smell has already stuck. Firstly, don't overfill the washing machine. I know it's easy to want to make the most out of each wash and to do as little loads as possible, but if you overfill it the machine can't wash the clothes as effectively which can lead to smelly washing.

Also, make sure you measure out your detergent, you'd think more detergent would result in a better clean. However, overdoing the detergent actually leads to excess suds, which can't be rinsed away as easily, which can cause a smell.

Once the load has finished, take it out and hang it up as soon as possible. The heat, humidity and moisture from the cycle encourages bacteria, mould and mildew and with no ventilation, it's quick to become a breeding ground.

If your laundry takes too long to dry, which can happen in the colder months, it can develop a musty smell from the excess moisture, so try and dry it thoroughly and quickly.

Finally, one of the most obvious contributors to smelly washing is a smelly machine. If it isn't cleaned regularly, soap scum, mould and mildew can build up internally, leading to musty smells. Once you have finished with the washing machine, make sure to leave the door open so it can air out properly.

Now, it you already have some smelly washing, and the smell won't come out by just putting it in the machine again, it can feel like the clothes are for the bin now. However, one simple tip can get the smell away and that it to add about one cup of white vinegar to the load in the machine. Vinegar kills 99.9% of bacteria and that helps to remove smells.