How to air dry clothes indoors without mold or musty smells
Drying clothes indoors without a tumble dryer traps moisture in the room and creates a risk of mildew and musty odors. Air drying properly requires using a fan and hanging or straightening the garments so they dry fully before mold can form.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Using an indoor drying rack or clothes horseDid this help you?
- 2Placing a small fan near the clothes to speed up dryingDid this help you?
- 3Opening windows for ventilationDid this help you?
- 4Adding white vinegar to the washing machine to reduce stiffnessDid this help you?
- 5Thwacking clothes in the air after washing and before hangingDid this help you?
- 6Using a self-cleaning fur lifter brushDid this help you?
- 7Using a small drying rack from WalmartDid this help you?
- 8Buying a tiered drying rackDid this help you?
- 9Using heated airers with coversDid this help you?
- 10Using small pod drying systemsDid this help you?
- 11Placing clothes on a basic clothes horse near a radiatorDid this help you?
- 12Using the built-in drying mode on a washer-dryerDid this help you?
- 13Running dehumidifiers or placing clothes near open windowsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“My husband doesn’t want any of his clothes touching the dryer ever. which is fine, except our washer and dryer are in our kitchen and we don’t have a lot of space where we can hang up clothes without them taking over the whole apartment. We also don’t have access to a place where we could hang them up outside. Right now we have a small drying rack from walmart, but it’s not enough for everything haha.”source ↗
“It's that time of year again where I've had to start drying my clothes and other items indoors. Yet they always smell bad when I dry them indoors?”source ↗
“takes 2-3 days to dry anything”source ↗
“feels like it will set my house on fire any minute”source ↗
“if you put a full load on to wash & dry (takes 6 hours) it's never dry as the moisture can't escape”source ↗
“Please can I have any suggestions! I am at a complete loss on what options I have to just have dry nice smelling clothes.”source ↗
“My dryer is being a little goofy and I want to make sure my clothes are fully dry and don’t get mildew. How do I properly air dry? I put it big fan on it and straighten/hang the clothes up?”source ↗
“I am so neurotic about clothes drying in time to prevent mold. I’m genuinely shocked people dry them this way. I agree there’s an issue of it getting moisture in the room.”source ↗
“I have an outdoor washing machine, no dryer, and a cat that sheds like it's his job.”source ↗
“my clothes/towels/bedding still have SO much cat hair after air drying.”source ↗
“Ever wiped your face after a shower with a supposedly clean towel and gotten a mouthful of cat hair?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4Dryer runs full cycle and spins fine but clothes stay wet
- 8Why is putting away clean laundry so overwhelming?
- 2Washer and dryer sticking out in a tight hallway or entryway
- 12Why does my clothes dryer sound like a loud vacuum?
- 3Why does my dryer take multiple cycles to dry clothes?
- 3How to clean a rug that isn't machine washable