Freeze-Dried Clothes? Houzzers Share Their Winter Laundry Tales
Air-drying the wash in chilly temps can be a challenge, but Houzz readers find a way
Erin Carlyle
January 24, 2017
Former Houzz Editorial Staff. Writing about the cost of renovation and what it takes to remodel. Former Forbes real estate reporter. Fascinated by cool homes, watching the bottom line.
Former Houzz Editorial Staff. Writing about the cost of renovation and what it takes... More
Air-drying clothing can be a lovely way to save energy, combat wrinkles and get that sun-fresh scent into your clothes. But when winter temperatures dip too low for outdoor hanging, most people would say it’s time for an alternative technique. We asked Houzz readers to tell us their best methods for air-drying clothing during the winter. Some approaches may surprise you!
Hanging rod plus fan. “We changed our laundry from a closet to a nook off the side of the kitchen,” Houzzer Grimalkin wrote in a comment. Above the washer and dryer, a hanging rod stands at the ready; the ceiling above the rod has an exhaust fan. “I can hang a lot of clothes, about ½ inch apart, and with the fan on they dry overnight. It’s a very efficient system!”
Radiator racks. “For a client with a tightly configured basement laundry room that included slim-line European style radiators, I designed a system of custom removable oak drying racks that mount into socket brackets I fabricated to blend into the radiator design,” wrote Michael Schuler, a carpenter and cabinetmaker in Champaign, Illinois. “As many as five racks could be deployed as needed.”
When not in use, the drying racks fit into a nearby closet.
Horizontal rack. Houzz reader agardnerdesign, a landscape architect in Los Angeles, uses an undercounter drying rack to air-dry clothes.
High rack. Houzz reader norabella1 lives in a part of Colorado where air-drying is possible outside for most of the year. “In the winter, though, I need to hang clothes to dry inside,” norabella1 wrote. “I have a Lofti rack on pulleys that goes down to load and then up out of the way.”
Lofti drying rack: The New Clothesline Co.
Lofti drying rack: The New Clothesline Co.
Tension rod. Sometimes winter air-drying can be achieved without the help of complex drying equipment. “In my 1950’s small utility room, I placed a tension rod in the doorway between the back door and the area with the washer and dryer,” Susan Moskop commented. Works just fine for her.
Outdoors all year. A few Houzz readers commented that they have air-dried laundry outside in freezing temperatures.
“We used ‘freeze dry’ when I was a child,” tsudhonimh wrote. “Things hung on the line would freeze and the ice evaporated because the air was so dry (sublimated, really). Bring in stiff levis and lean them against the wall until they thawed and collapsed. They were barely damp and ready to iron. It only takes a bit of dryer time afterward.”
Similarly, reader Patti Genack found that line-freezing worked for her. “Clothes do dry outside in the winter. They freeze and move like cardboard in the wind, but when they are dry they move like fabric again,” Genack commented. “The freezing and drying actually makes the clothes soft.”
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“We used ‘freeze dry’ when I was a child,” tsudhonimh wrote. “Things hung on the line would freeze and the ice evaporated because the air was so dry (sublimated, really). Bring in stiff levis and lean them against the wall until they thawed and collapsed. They were barely damp and ready to iron. It only takes a bit of dryer time afterward.”
Similarly, reader Patti Genack found that line-freezing worked for her. “Clothes do dry outside in the winter. They freeze and move like cardboard in the wind, but when they are dry they move like fabric again,” Genack commented. “The freezing and drying actually makes the clothes soft.”
More
Homeowner’s Workbook: How to Remodel the Laundry Room
See a $400 laundry room update with sweater-drying racks
Browse more laundry room design ideas
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I added this to my Houzz idea book sometime back; I like how this folds against the wall when not in use.
When in FL I put a large wooden rack in the typically very warm garage to dry clothes. The sheets & towels do go into the dryer for short time. In MA I use a retractable clothesline between the posts of the first floor deck as well as a wooden rack. Again, the sheets and towels go into the dryer with woolen dryer balls. Abhor stinky dryer sheets & fabric softener. We get rated by our utility company and my electricity usage is "excellent".
FYI: Clothes lines have been a favorite subject of artists forever! Don't take away their inspiration!