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If you’re like most people, you probably think of drying your laundry in a dryer as the best option. I’d like to challenge this mindset by giving you six good reasons, why air-drying should be worth your consideration:
1 It’s more energy efficient.
Drying clothes in a machine uses up a lot of energy, and it’s not very environmentally friendly to do that. Air-drying uses far less energy than either standard or high-efficiency dryers, so it’s a good choice if you want to help save the planet. As a rule of thump, for a standard load of laundry your dryer will use about 3 kWh of electricity -that’s not a small number. For comparison, a standard fridge runs on 1-2 kWh per day!
2 You’ll save money.
That’s a no-brainer: When air-drying your clothes instead of using the dryer, you’ll save money on electricity bills as well as dryer sheet costs. Since air-drying doesn’t require any special equipment or expertise, it’s easy to do on your own. Better yet, you can turn it into a chore for your kids, if you ever get tired of them spending too much time in front of a screen.
3 Your clothes will last longer.
That’s a big one: Did you ever wonder where all that lint is coming from? In essence, lint is part of your clothing that rubbed off during the drying process. Hot drum cycles will wears down the fabric of your clothing until holes form. By air-drying your clothing, you skip the tumble and your clothing will last a lot longer.
4 It smells nicer!
That is unless you are a fan of obnoxiously scented dryer sheets. If you instead prefer the natural fresh smell of the outdoors, air drying your laundry is the way to go. Granted, the this only works if your neighborhood has decent air quality. If it doesn’t, you should consider moving anyways (see article of Impact of air quality on life expectancy)
5 Improved air quality indoors during the winter.
During the heating season, the indoor air humidity levels tend to be too low, which can lead to a host of potential health issues (see this article by the Mayo clinic). Drying your laundry indoors can help increase the indoor humidity levels. As an added bonus, you will also get the fresh laundry smell inside your home.
6 No more dryer-pounding
Need I say more?
