Washing and drying clothes is a laborious task that every household has to undertake, but it is a particularly frustrating job in the colder months.
The autumn season brings with it frequent bouts of rain and cold temperatures that makes drying washing outside extremely difficult. While you can wait for a dry day to get a load of laundry done, the weather isn’t particularly reliable at this time of the year and more often than not, rain will put a stop to your plans. It means drying clothes indoors is on the cards for the coming months, which means a longer laundry process than usual.
For households that aren’t lucky enough to have a tumble dryer or a heated airer, the best method for drying clothes inside is simply hanging items up on an airer. These are cheap to buy, energy-saving and can be neatly stored away after use, but it can take a while before clothes are fully dry and ready to be put away, especially if you aren’t running your heating yet to speed the process up.
So to help get clothing drying a little faster, laundry experts recommend taking one extra step after clothes have been washed – and that’s simply running an extra spin cycle on your washing machine.
During a spin cycle, the drum of the washing machine runs at a higher speed which creates centrifugal force, helping to extract excess water from your clothes, meaning they’re not as we when you take them out – and therefore don’t take as long to dry.
Laundry experts at In The Wash explain: “Running your clothes through another spin cycle will remove even more moisture from them.
“In turn, this should reduce how long it takes you to dry your laundry and could help to reduce any running costs too (you might be able to run shorter drying cycles in the tumble dryer, for example).”
According to experts, a thorough spin cycle can cut drying times for clothes by up to 50% so it’s well worth doing before hanging your laundry up, especially in the colder months when the air is cooler.
Most washing machines will offer various spin speed options, with low spins (around 600 to 800 RPM) recommended for delicates, medium spins (around 900 to 1000 RPM) for everyday clothing, and high spins (1000+ RPM) for heavy fabrics like towels and jeans.
Explaining the benefits of using a spin cycle, experts at Clearalif said: “A thorough spin cycle can cut drying time by up to 50%, getting you back into your favourite jeans faster.
“Less time in the dryer means lower energy bills. Your wallet (and the planet) will thank you! Shorter drying times mean less wear and tear on your clothes, helping them last longer.”
