People who stay in apartments often face challenges of limited space and they do not enjoy certain privileges like their counterparts in standard homes. For instance, the small space inside your apartment may not allow you to own a washing machine or dryer. Therefore, you may be compelled to use other options like tub washing your laundry and air drying it.
Apart from limited space for a dryer in your apartment, there are also several advantages that you can obtain from air drying your clothes. As such, this guide gives you tips and necessary information about how to air-dry clothes in an apartment.
Table of Contents
Tips to Air Dry Clothes in Apartment
There are different methods that you can use to air dry your clothes if you do not have a clothesline outside.
Use a Drying Rack
It is essential to buy an indoor drying rack for your clothes. The advantage of a rack is that it is portable and designed in such a way that it can accommodate more garments. It has many rods where you can hang the clothes to dry but you should keep them separated to allow aeration for faster drying.
Wall-mounted Dryer
If you do not have a balcony in your apartment, you can also purchase a wall-mounted dryer. You can place this dryer in the corridor or bathroom and it significantly saves space. There are different types of mounted clothes racks and they are also foldable on the wall when they are not in use.
Roof Pulley Dryer
A roof pulley dryer is another method that makes drying of clothes indoors simple. It is available online and it is fixed on the ceiling. However, you can lower it using ropes if you wish to dry your clothes. It does not waste any floor space.
Before hanging clothes on the drying rack, you must sort them according to the type of fabric and item. You must also hang each item in a particular way to promote quicker drying as follows.
- Hang shirts and tops on the drying line from the bottom hem
- Hang pants from the hems of the legs while the waist is facing down
- Pin the toes of each pair on the line while the opening faces down
- Fold the bed linen into half then pin each end on the drying line
Once the clothes are dry, remove them from the rack and store them in an appropriate place after ironing them. You should also remove the drying rack which folds down when it is not in use to create space in your laundry room. Keep away the drying rack so that you can freely move inside your apartment.
Use Hangers
You just need to be creative and use hangers to hang your garment in different places in your apartment. For example, you can hang your clothes on doorways where there is free circulation of air. You must let the clothes drip first or shake them to reduce excessive moist. You can also use a curtain rod in your bathroom to hang your clothes to air dry inside your apartment.
You should also avoid hanging your clothes on surfaces that may rust when wet like metal. You should also avoid wooden material which warps when wet. Try to utilize space inside your bathroom since most of the surfaces are waterproof. You can even use your towel rack in the bathroom to air dry your laundry.
However, it is crucial to ensure that the clothes get sufficient aeration to prevent molds from developing on them. You can do this by simply opening the windows or air-dry the clothes where there is free circulation of air.
Advantages of Air Drying your Laundry
You may be wondering why air drying your clothes is important apart from having limited space for a dryer in your apartment. The following are some of the benefits that you can get from air drying your clothes in your apartment.
You can Save Money
The option of air-drying your clothes on a drying rack is advantageous in that it helps to save money on bills. A dryer uses power and it significantly contributes to your monthly bills but you can address this challenge by air drying your clothes. If you wash your clothes by hand and air-dry them, you do not incur any cost.
In fact, air drying can help to preserve the quality and color of your garments. A dryer stresses the fabric of your garment which can cause it to lose shape in the long run. The heat from the dryer also affects the texture of the fabric which means that the quality of your clothes may be compromised. In some instances, heat can lead to fading of the garments which also affects quality.
Air Drying Extends Life Span of your Garments
Air drying also helps to extend the life span of your clothes by reducing elements like wear and tear that usually take place in the dryer. If the load in the dryer consists of garments with different materials, friction among these items increases which can ruin their quality. The clothes may not last longer due to constant wear and tear in the dryer.
Air drying adds a fresh and clean smell on your clothes while at the same time preventing static cling. You can monitor the clothes on the drying rack so that they do not get excessively dry which can also contribute to difficulties when you are ironing them. Over-drying your clothes can cause wrinkles. This also helps to keep the fabric soft such that its quality is not ruined.
No footprint through air drying
More importantly, air-drying your clothes does not contribute any footprint into the atmosphere. A dryer releases footprint into the atmosphere but the method of air drying clothes is eco-friendly.
Conclusion
When you live in an apartment, you are likely to face the challenge of limited space for gadgets like dryers for clothes. However, laundry is a compulsory task in every home but you can always find a method of drying your clothes. Air drying is the best option available and you can use different types of racks that fit your space.
