How to prevent damp while drying laundry indoors

[stargirl04]

Hi, any advice would be appreciated.

I live in a small, top floor flat and don't like using my tumble dryer for clothes as a) it costs more and b) I've had bad experiences with clothes shrinking, and so I prefer to dry them on an airer.

I use the tumble dryer for large items, sheets and such like.

But how can I dry clothes in my flat and avoid getting a problem with damp?

I can't keep the windows open all day to air the flat while the laundry dries as I live alone and would be worried about lack of security when I go out. (I've already had my motorbike nicked in this neighbourhood and don't want to take chances.)

I'm worried that if I leave clothes drying on an airer and shut the windows/lock up to go to work etc, that it'll create a damp problem.

Any thoughts please, folks?

Thanks for reading.

We have huge issues with damp in our ground floor flat and have managed to keep it under control with an electric dehumidifier. Ours was just under £200 from John Lewis. It is noisy when on its highest setting (specifically for drying clothes so gets moved to the kitchen with the airer at night time and back to the bedroom during the day (has wheels so easyish to move). It does speed up drying time and we have had no damp in the worst affected areas since we got it. Not sure how expensive it is to run, not too bad I think and you can use water collected to water plants etc.

How would someone access your home through the windows if you are a top floor flat?

Another vote for a dehumidifier, but buy from Amazon and read reviews, esp re drying washing. I just bought one w a range of settings, inc timer, that'd 40 decibels. I am delighted w it.

Thanks for the suggestions, folks.

TinyPawz - I live in a low-rise block of only two storeys and, because of the design of the exterior, someone could still climb up and gain access through an open window.

Damp is not always a problem.
I dry on an airer without a problem so don't assume it will be.
Ventilate as much as you can when you can. Do your windows have a trickle ventilation setting?

Also, to dry clothes you need air movement, they can stay wet for days without a flow of air. So it is not just ventilation for air flow but having your heating on.

So I find warm still summer days are the worst for clothes drying, whereas when it is cold and I need the heating on is perfect!
I am guessing, therefore, running an ordinary fan will help to dry clothes but I have not done this - and it will not address the damp issue. Except that you might get the clothes drier quicker, whilst you are at home with the heating on and the windows open!

Also, I guess you know that clothes need to be spread out on an airer in order to dry well, not over loaded.

I use a Simple Eco Air dehumidifier with laundry drying function, but there might be better models out now - I bought mine a couple of years ago.

It dries a load of laundry in 4 hours.

not damp, condensation. Simple laws of physics - the water comes out of the clothes and has to go somewhere. If you don't have the windows open you will keep all the water in the flat.

it will disappear outside if you have draughts or open windows. Otherwise it stays in the flat.

but as there is just you, you don't need to be washing every day. If there is no outside space at all, then choose a dry breezy day when you are at home and do it then.

Dehumidifiers are not cheap to run. It might cost just as much to run your dryer.

Dehumidifiers are cheaper than tumble driers to run, and you can dry delicates/woollies etc with them too. Ours has been brilliant, still going strong after 9 years of use

What CMOT said, although I now have a dehumidifier with a timer and various power settings, which I believe will make it cheaper to run as I will have it running either for less time or on lower power than my old one.

A good dehumidifier is cheap to run, you just need to do your research.

Thanks folks - all this is very helpful indeed - as I had wondered whether it was just as expensive to put laundry in my tumble dryer.

Those who are happy with their dehumidifiers and have cost-efficient models - could you tell me which ones they are please?

Many thanks!

I appreciate that cost can be an issue, but I can honestly say that a tumble dryer is, in my mind, so much better than having washing hanging around drying. By the time you have paid for the dehumidifier and the electricity to power that, might it be more cost-effective to use your TD instead?

I have a Mitsubishi

I haven't used a dehumidifier and would be concerned at leaving one on all day unattended due to the risk of fire. (check this out - may not be a major issue but I know of at least one that caused a house fire)

I would suggest getting a ceiling extractor fan fitted above your bathroom and having that on for some of the time, as it costs pennies to run and will be very effective at drawing out the moisture if you leave your washing in the room.

Piglet John is your man on here - he knows all about them.

Ps Running costs of a tumble dryer are enormous. Running costs of extractor fan are peanuts

Not sure where dehumid lies on that spectrum tbh

A modern tumbledrier costs about 30p to dry a typical load. Or about 50p if it is all cotton. e.g. towels.

Some new heatpump driers cost less, but are priced at £800-£1,000. Probably they will come down in time.

An extractor fan runs for about 50 hours on 12p of electricity.

We have an ebac dehumidifier, was not cheap initially but running costs are low.