Why winter laundry is a mould trap
In winter you can't dry outside, so wet clothes go inside. The water has to go somewhere. Cold corners are where it ends up: condensing on glass, soaking into plasterboard, feeding mould.
Four things that actually work
1. Bathroom plus extractor fan
Hang the washing in the bathroom. Shut the door. Leave the extractor on for three or four hours. The fan vents the moisture outside instead of pushing it into the living room. Simplest fix for most flats.
2. A heated drying rack
$80 to $150 buys you a heated airer. Uses 200 to 300 watts (less than a kettle). Takes a 10kg load, dries it in four to six hours, often with a cover to trap the heat. Doesn't release moisture into the room as fast as a tumble dryer would.
3. Dehumidifier in a closed room
The professional answer. Hang the washing in a spare room. Shut the door. Run a 10 to 20 litre dehumidifier overnight. The clothes are dry by morning. Bonus: the dry air that comes out of the dehumidifier slightly warms the room. Costs about 30 to 50 cents in electricity per load.
4. A heat-pump tumble dryer
If you do three or more loads a week, this is worth it. 60% less energy than vented dryers, gentler on clothes, vents almost no moisture into the room.
What not to do
Don't hang clothes on the radiators. The steam goes straight into the wall behind. Cold walls feed mould. The radiator can't heat the room either.
Don't dry in a bedroom with the window shut. Bedroom mould is the worst kind. You breathe it for eight hours every night.
Don't tumble-dry without checking pockets. One forgotten tissue ruins a load.
Spin twice
A second spin-only cycle takes another 20 to 30% of the water out of the load before you hang it up. Cuts drying time by hours.
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