Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Day 11: No Dryer Month


It's August 1st and our first month long challenge begins today.  For the month of August we will be choosing not to use our dryer at all.  Are you planning to join us?

I love using my laundry line, but as a mom of a large-ish family, I do regularly depend on my dryer.  On sunny days I often put the first load of laundry on the clothesline and the second in the dryer.  This month will definitely require some extra care and planning on my part.

From comments and emails I've received since announcing no dryer month I've discovered that dependence on a dryer is really a North American thing.  Many people around the world don't even own dryers, and if they do, they consider it ridiculous to use it in the middle of summer. Many of these people live in rainier climates than I do and don't have a backyard. This was convicting.  Here I am taking on this big challenge and it turns out that many people in developed countries all over the world have never even seen a dryer! 

I promised last week that I would share with you how to avoid crunchy towels when you're not using your dryer.  Line drying leaves clothing a little more crisp than the dryer does, but sometimes clothing can end up undesirably crunchy.

Excessive crunchy-ness is caused by laundry detergent left behind in the clothing.  The conventional advice is to add some vinegar to your rinse cycle, which is very useful.  It helps strip clothing of any extra soap residue, and your items don't come out smelling like vinegar, I promise.  But the truth is, I often forget to add vinegar.  My washing machine doesn't beep or anything when it gets to the rinse cycle, and it's not like I'm just standing there waiting for it, so I often miss the vinegar rinse.  But that's okay, because the ABSOLUTE BEST WAY to avoid too crunchy towels is this: use less detergent.

You really don't need as much detergent as the detergent company wants you to believe.  Experiment with less and find the amount that still gets your clothing clean but doesn't leave any residue.  For my detergent, that is a little more than half the recommended amount. Not only does it prevent too crunchy towels, it saves money too!

By the way, I've shared my green laundry routine before, on my other blog.

I know some of you have other questions about line drying, and I am definitely not an expert on the subject, so if you have a question please ask in the comments below, and if you are an avid line-dryer please take a second to answer some of those question if you can! 

Are you taking the challenge? You can get a banner to share on your blog or facebook here.
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57 comments:

  1. Day one of the challenge brought a planned laundry day and much needed rain. Hoping I can still get some laundry hung out this afternoon.

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  2. I always miss the rinse cycle too - the joys of having the w/d in the basement. :/ Often I use softner in the downy ball.. do you think it would work to put vinegar in the downy ball?

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    1. I bought a downy ball specifically for vinegar. I use it rather than fabric softener in every load! & you don't have to put as much vinegar as you would downy either so it saves you even more $
      (Just so that you know, "Technically" you're not supposed to use fabric softener on towels, it messes with the absorbancy, kinda like with cloth diapers)

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    2. I have heard that the fabric softener thing is a myth, and that it really is just soap build -up. I think the best plan is less soap and use vinegar.

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  3. how much vinegar do you add?

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    1. Probably about half a cup. I've never actually measured!

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    2. I only use a couple tablespoons in my downey ball. It works great!

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    3. I fill my downey ball about 2/3rds with water and a good splash of vinegar.

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  4. Yes, you can put vinegar in a downy ball! I don't do that, but I know people do it and it works great. I just put vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser in my machine (I have a top loader). I always use vinegar and very little detergent, but my line dried towels still come out very crunchy. Oh well, I really have to use my dryer cause I work full-time and its not effective to hang clothes on the line at night! (; I do use drying racks in the house, though. The only thing I dry in the dryer is my cloth diapers (prefolds), towels, and socks/underwear. (:

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    1. Thank you! I'm doing a load of towels today and will give it a try. :)

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    2. My washer doesn't have a fabric softener dispenser in it, so I use downy ball

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  5. You can double-up your towels (or just fold them in half over the line) and they will dry slower and consequently they will be less crunchy. They soften up after the first use, so while I don't love crunchy towels, it doesn't stop me from line-drying them. (We re-use bath towels a few times before washing them).

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    1. That's a good idea! I'm gonna try it next time I wash towels. And we re-use towels a few times, too. (:

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  6. Our friends always line dry and then throw their line dried clothes in the dryer with dryer balls on low for five minutes to de crunch that is all the use their dryer ever gets, even in winter. . .

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  7. This is one I am struggling with. My husband does not want our laundry hanging outdoors for everyone to see, (We have a nice tall hedge that would prevent that)to get dusty (the county is redoing our roads and it is very dry and dusty). Considering hanging some things to dry on the shower rail and using the dryer less. Now he wears moisture wicking shirts and does like to hang those in the laundry room to dry.

    Will have to work on this one.

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    1. Why not buy some drying racks/clothes horses? Ours fold up and slide under a couch/bed or stand against the wall in the laundry room when not in use.

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    2. I'll have to look into a drying rack, especially one that will fold and hide. Good idea! Thanks!

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  8. In the UK dryers really aren't common at all. My Mum has one, but didn't get one until I was well into my teens as they are seen as a luxury. In my current cottage (which I rent) I can't put one in as there is no where to put one and I can't put a hole in the wall... so line drying it is. It does save a fortune... I worked it out once for my Mum; at UK electricity prices it was costing her about £1 to dry a load of towels. Ouch. Who wouldn't mind £52 extra in their pocket a year for a load of towels each week?

    On the crispy towel note though; I'm a big fan of less is more in the detergent front and a half cup of vinegar in the softener drawer. They still end up a bit more crisp than if they go in the dryer. My Mum gets round this by putting them in the drier for 5 minutes before folding and putting away and they come out beautifully! However, I've found that my towels are super-soft after being used just once, so for us I just suck it up and get on with it, but for guests I now spritz with water and give them a very quick iron - it makes them sooo soft!

    One last thing - I'm a big fan of no dryers, but right now Scotland is having one of the wettest Summers ever and it is such a pain, especially with a 300 year old cottage that isn't very dry in the first place. Sometimes a dryer would be a blessing, but everything in moderation I guess!

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    1. Love the tip about ironing! Thank you!

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  9. Thought I would share a funny story about cultural differences and dryers... I did missions work in Hawaii about 10 years ago, we had people come from all over to serve in our ministry and we had a guy come from Fiji, where dryers are not commonplace. He wanted to do laundry so he proceeded to put his clothes in the machine with his powder detergent, and started it, only to come back an hour later to find his clothes were not wet/washed- but very hot!! He was very confused and one of the staff educated him on this little cultural difference!!

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  10. Does anyone have any advice for the apartment dwellers? I'm used to living in a big house with a nice yard, but my husband and I recently relocated to a big city where apartment living is much easier (for the time being). Does drying your clothes indoors on a drying rack still give that nice line-dried feeling? It would be lovely not to spend $1 just to dry one load of clothes.... :)

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    1. My sister bought some accordian style drying racks and drys all her clothes inside & since they fold up nice they store easily out of the way

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    2. We live in an appartment too. We have one big drying rack and a smaller one that gets pulled out when we've done several loads.

      But one of the best things is that we have a curtain rod separating the living room from the hallway, and we always hang washed T-shirts, shirts, etc. on the rod (put a wet shirt on a hanger and hang it up).
      For my husband's thick fabric work pants, if we need them dry quickly (say we do a load at about 11pm and he needs to leave for work at 5am), we would loop two hangers through the belt loops (one on each side) and hang them up. Dries MUCH faster than on a drying rack. Heat travels up. :)
      A friend joked once, "Are you guys running a drycleaning business here?" when he saw so many of our clothes drying on the curtain rod.
      But it really does not bother me.
      It saves me time, money, and is better for the environment, too.
      Ieva

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  11. I run an in home daycare and have a hard enough time keeping up w the laundry in general, so I will not be giving up my dryer entirely but... I do line dry as much as possible ie cloth diapers, towels, the kids little blankets, etc

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  12. I am a fair weather line dryer. When it's 10 degrees in the winter and 110 in the summer you will not find me out hanging laundry. I am avid in the spring and fall though! We had some new neighbors move in one winter, as soon as the weather broke in march I started line drying. After about 2 weeks she came over and offered to send her brother over since he knew a little about appliances, seeing as how my dryer must be broken and all.

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    1. Hehe.. that's sweet & funny. :)

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  13. I am a fair weather line dryer. When it's 10 degrees in the winter and 110 in the summer you will not find me out hanging laundry. I am avid in the spring and fall though! We had some new neighbors move in one winter, as soon as the weather broke in march I started line drying. After about 2 weeks she came over and offered to send her brother over since he knew a little about appliances, seeing as how my dryer must be broken and all.

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  14. do you guys not have clothes that arent dryer suitable? when i went on holiday to usa and did some laundry i had to sort through stuff that couldnt go in dryer as it would shrink or ruin.

    i live in the UK and have a washer with built in dryer and i think i've turned the dryer part on once in 3 years. i live in a smallish london apartment and dry all my stuff on racks indoors. it just drys over night and then thats it.

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    1. I live in the US & dry all of my handwashables (or items washed on gentle cycle, such as swim suits & sweaters) on our clothes rack. I know many people put those items in the dryer, but I find they last much longer that way. In the warmer months I put the rack out on our deck & they dry incredibly fast!

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  15. This is one I would love to jump on board with- but we do not have a clothes line (yet!). This is something my husband & I have discussed, but we haven't done it yet. I do have a clothes bar that I use quite frequently for handwashables (sweaters in winter/swimsuits in summer) that I could certainly put into use more than I do. So instead of making August NO Dryer Month, I will make it LESS dryer month. And work on getting that clothes line...

    I will add that we have been a No Dishwasher House since ours broke down this past April... does that count for anything??? :-)

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  16. When I started my maternity leave in February, I started line drying clothes. Now that I'm back to work, I find myself feeling pretty guilty over using the dryer - but I do it regardless. I do minimize the things I put it there, though. I do try to line dry our clothes, but I will machine dry our sheets; that's largely because of allergies. Just the thought of sleeping next to all that pollen makes my nose itchy!

    Here's a question for you line drying pros out there: how do you get pet hair off of things? I have a blanket I put over an upholstered chair, and it gets absolutely coated with cat hair within a week. Washing it doesn't really take care of the hair, it just leaves it clean. Any suggestions?

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    1. Wear rubber gloves like for dishes and rub your hands over the blanket before washing.

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    2. A good shake works sometimes to - before washing and when you take it off the line.

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  17. I'm with Carol - LESS dryer month. Significantly less. My main problem is that I do all of my laundry on Saturdays - about 8 loads. I love the feeling of being totally finished, if even for one night.

    A close friend of mine just lost her house to a dryer lint fire. Another reason not to use the dryer (we clean our lint out regularly).

    One other thing that our family is doing in August...we're disconnecting our garage refrigerator. When we bought this home, it came with a fridge - but we already had a fridge. This has happened to us three times - we've sold one, given one away, but this time, we kept the spare and put it in the garage for infrequently used drinks - soda, beer, etc. We also store our extra milk, juice, and frozen items there. But we've been discussing it and have decided that we don't need it. We'll see how it goes.

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    1. Less is great!! I updated my post and actually dried some things outside on my clothesrack today and it was much easier and quicker than I thought it would be!! (It was only 2 loads, but even so... ) A hot sunny day definitely helped- this will be much harder to do on a cloudy or rainy day- not that we've had many of those, LOL!

      Oh, and I hate to overuse our dryer for fear of a lint fire, even though I clean my lint out regularly! Won't have to worry about that right now!! :-)

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  18. I've noticed when drying things over a rack that the wooden bar leaves an imprint on my clothes! Am I doing it wrong? Or are the clothes maybe to heavy to be laying on the rack?

    Also, I'm LOVING this blog & feel such a sense of community here!

    ~M~

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    1. I am not sure if this is helpful at all but...my husbands scrubs would get dents where the clothes pins are so I started putting them on a hanger then on the line. The neighbors probably think I'm nuts but it really helps!

      Also I put all of our "unmentionables" on a rack in the house. I don't need my panties flappin in the wind!

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    2. Thanks, Amber. I'll have to try that next time. :)

      And I hear ya! Neighbor's don't need to see our bras/panties hanging out there. lol.. my luck we'd have a wind storm & I'd end up chasing them all over the neighborhood. LOL!!
      ~M~

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    3. Amber, oh, so I'm not the only one with the "hanger, then line" :). I think it's perfect.
      I don't iron much, so this way I can just stick the dry shirts in the closet when they're dry. Done! :)
      Ieva

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    4. @Anonymous, no, you're not! ;-) I never use the dryer for business shirts and blouses, because they dry a lot flatter on hangers and I hate ironing. The same goes for jeans, except I don't use hangers there, I just toss them over the line. Might take a little longer to dry, but at least there are no pin marks on them. Any underwear and other small parts I put on a clothes rack that I put at a part of our yard nobody sees....

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  19. I'm joining in! I love this blog- thanks for visiting mine. And yep- downy ball with vinegar in it! Thanks.

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  20. This will definately take some discipline. I can't hang much outside, so most will be hung up around the house or on drying racks ! I feel like I will only be able to do one load at a time while the other dryers if not my house will look like a dry cleaners! I can't wait to see what happens though :-)

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  21. I'll be joining in on the LESS dryer usage. I only have one rack (for now)and no clothesline (with the crazy wind we get here in MT, I'd be afraid that my clothes would end up in KS!)

    I *DID* dry our couch blanket outside...smells heavenly!!

    I just put the vinegar into the softener dispenser instead of using downey. With that, using a more natural detergent, and wool dryers balls I've noticed that my shirts were softer. (My 1 y.o. has very sensitive skin, and I've been following your "green" laundry routine)

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  22. No dryer month here for sure, we're in a drought and having 115 degree days so makes for quicker drying outside than using a dryer. I make our detergent and only use 1 T and it gets our clothes so clean but am going to try the vinegar trick since I can't seem to not have crunchy towels. I am def getting the downy ball since we have front loaders and that's a mess trying to pause

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  23. Updating to add that I washed 2 loads today- 1 small load of whites and a regular load of colors & darks mixed together. (I add a little fabric softener to my wash load because we have sensitive skin so we prefer softer clothes). I set my drying rack outside on my deck and I hung up the whites on it & it took maybe 2 hours for them to dry. I did toss them in the dryer for about 5 minutes with a dryer sheet to get that little bit of crunchiness out. The next load is currently drying outside.

    I noticed some of you used hangers on your clothesline, so I wanted to add that when I ran out of room on the drying rack, I used a few hangers to attach a few of my husband's shirts to the end of the drying rack and they seem to be drying just fine. After this load is dry, I just have 2 pairs of my husband's jeans to dry & then I'm done.

    It took a little extra time this way, but my deck is right off the laundry room, so it was pretty easy to do. And since I'm short, I have always struggled with clotheslines anyway, LOL...

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  24. I just found your new blog - and I am absolutely enthralled! Congratulations and my best wishes for this long-term project, way to go! :-)
    I will jiggle this idea a few weeks on our holiday and hopefully join you afterwards. Just have to figure out a way to trick my husband out who is the collecting type of the human species. "Why, it's perfectly alright, we might use it one of these days!"

    The "no dryer month" is a great thing too, can't do it right now though because of our vacation trips. Impossible to dry a fortnight's laundry of a family of 5 (including 2 teens *sigh*) within 2 days when the weather is rainy and humid... I already do dry all sheets, towels, jeans, hubby's business shirts, and many other things on the line though and I will try to do it even more.

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  25. I am really enjoying your blog. I have never like clutter and don't have a lot in my house but there is still more I could probably get rid of. :)
    I just wanted to comment on the subject of laundry. I NEVER use my dryer in the summer... I actual hangs my clothes outside spring, summer and fall. The smaller items I hang on a drying rack. Even in the winter I hang as much up as possible (around the house) and just use the dryer for a few things.
    I have found when using the dryer that dryer balls are excellent at helping clothes dry faster. This means my dryer is running less, and the clothes don't get over dried which leads to static. The best dryer balls are the 100% wool ones.. you can make them yourself.
    Also, with laundry soap I use one by a company called ENJO. It is a very basic soap with no added harsh chemicals and works great. I use 5-10mL per load and don't use ANY fabric softener. My clothes are never scrunchy. The reason we need fabric softener is because the soaps you buy in the stores leave a chemical residue on our clothes causing them to be srunchy and have static. A good soap will not to this. Vinegar is not good for our water systems (it really blends with the water and is hard to take out, even at a water treatment place) so it's not good to be using too much of it.
    Thanks for your blog!

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  26. Think I might have to purchase a drying rack! Clotheslines seem to be VERY frowned upon where we live (although I've thrown blankets and curtains over our deck railing on a regular basis, with no repercussions), but if I could make a drying rack work, I'm all for it.

    Thanks for your constant challenges for us to rethink what we believe is necessary!!

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    1. I just bought my second drying rack today- and put it out on our very warm enclosed front porch for the day. Why didn't I think of doing that before???

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  27. I am enjoying your new blog a lot. My husband and I are currently working room by room to clean, organize and get rid of anything we don't need. I'm still trying to convince him to give up paper towels, but so far I'm winning the homemade cleaning products argument. :) I have definitely been trying to use my dryer less, but we are kind of limited on places to put a clothes rack, as our apartment deck is tiny, and my cat thinks everything is his toy. We have a rack above our washer/dryer I use now as well as the laundry room door to hang sweaters, jeans and anything I don't want to shrink, but I am going to start using our guest bathroom shower rod as well when we don't have people over.


    bsnovelwritingblog.blogspot.com

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  28. I asked on the announcement page what you all do to keep your underoos from stretching out but I wanted to comment on how we're doing over here.

    First of all: on cloudy days take this tip my Grandma gave me when I was line drying in December: Put them out before 10am and all but the heaviest of clothes will still dry (jeans, towels, and certain blankets being the exceptions-these can then be brought inside to finish drying overnight). It works great!

    So far this month I've used the dryer twice because my toddler has wet the bed too late in the day for her only blanket she'll sleep with to dry on the line. She also got really concerned about her blanket and Elmo line drying one day...

    So if you cloth diaper (just did my last load of diapers today since she is now in undies at night) or are potty training this is very doable, especially if you have the ability to dry overnight and your child hasn't wet their favorite sleeping buddy!

    I actually prefer line drying to conventional drying because all of our clothes except jeans will dry within a few hours in our 70's degree weather. When I had to use the dryer I was so aggravated with it taking just as long as if I had put the clothes out midday. It was like I was paying for energy I could have gotten for free!

    I also think it has helped my toddler better understand the consequences of purposely wetting herself since she sees it hanging outside for a long time and it isn't just "magically" reappearing a little bit later all clean. She now wants a lesson on folding and on hanging them up on the line. I think it I can fix our old drying rack I'll use this for her to put her smaller clothes on once she can master the clothespin.

    Sorry if this seems irrelevant to anyone but I have been having so much fun that I wanted to share this all SOMEWHERE where it has a chance of being useful!

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    1. I'm not sure what you mean about keeping undies from stretching... Excess heat ruins elastic, so they should last longer and be less stretched out if you line dry! :-)

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  29. I'm loving your blog! It's like you're reading my mind some days- especially about the knives & books! I actually came across your blog while searching for line drying tips to help rid (or at least soften) the clothes of the crunchies! Less detergent did the trick. I live in California and I think it is so silly that up until last month I'd NEVER line dried our clothes. It really is a funny thing that all my family over seas (Northern Ireland & England) rarely use their driers in MUCH damper weather than we have in sunny So. Cal. Go figure! Well it's been over 3 weeks now and I haven't used the drier once! (I think our air conditioning usage is more than making up the difference though!) Keep up the good work everyone!

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  30. Anyone know about drying in cold weather? I have heard of literally "freeze drying", but not sure what that entails...

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  31. Well, water does evaporate even when the temperature's below 0°C (whatever Fahrenheit that is...). It just takes longer - naturally - and the colder and dryer the air is the better. Temperatures just around the freezing point with a lot of rainy snow (or snowy rain. or ice rain.) is the worst.

    I know of many people who dry their laundry in the heated house/flat during the cold season. It's ok, just as long as you remember to air the room a lot. Else there'll be a mildew issue soon....

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    1. in superdry climates, like the high desert areas of USA West, the indoor drying does help add humidity to the air :)

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