Getting your clothes dry can be a nightmare in the UK. If the weather is miserable, which it often is, then hanging clothes on the line to dry is a no-go, and using a tumble dryer can be costly with energy bills still sky-high for many households.
This means many of us resort to using clothes airers to dry our laundry indoors. But this comes with its own host of problems, as clothes can take a long time to dry, leaving them smelling musty when they’re eventually ready to put away. What’s more, wet clothes can cause mould to grow as the water evaporates and gets trapped in your home.
According to one man on social media, however, there is something you can do to help your clothes dry faster. The trick relies on you using your tumble dryer, but it slashes the drying time in half, so your energy bills won’t take as much of a hit.
Peter Walsh, a former professional racing driver who now has his own podcast, shared a video on Instagram in which he spoke about the method he uses to make sure his tumble dryer is only running for half the time it would usually take to dry his clothes.
He said all you need is a dry towel, and your clothes will dry in no time at all. Peter insisted that if you need to dry your clothes in a tumble dryer but are conscious of how much electricity it uses, adding a dry towel to your load of wet laundry can help cut the drying time in half.
He said: “Here’s a life hack for anybody that washes their clothes. It may sound boring, but if you’re washing your clothes and you put your clothes in the dryer, put a dry towel into the dryer with the wet clothes. It cuts the drying time in half.”
Towels are fantastic tools for absorbing moisture, as we all know from using them to dry our bodies when we get out of the bath or shower. They’re not just good for our bodies, though, as they can actually help to soak up moisture from wet clothing.
Professional cleaner Laura Avila previously backed this trick while talking to Homes and Gardens, as she said that not only does the towel absorb some moisture, but it also helps to break up “big bundles” of wet clothes to allow more hot air to circulate.
She said in 2023: “The towel absorbs some of the moisture from the wet clothes, which reduces the overall drying time. An added dry towel absorbs moisture from the wet clothes, which reduces the amount of water that the dryer has to remove as it heats up. This means that the dryer can work more efficiently and dry the clothes faster. Additionally, the dry towel helps to create more air space in the dryer, breaking up big bundles of soaking clothes, which allows hot air to circulate more freely and helps to speed up the drying process.”
Interestingly, as someone in the comments of Peter’s video explained, you can actually do the same trick with a wet towel to get creases out of your clothes. If you find your clothes are wrinkled and you don’t want to iron them, stick them in the tumble dryer with a damp towel for a few minutes. This should create the same effect as steaming your clothes to get the wrinkles out in no time.
How to use a towel to speed up your tumble dryer
1. Start with a dry towel