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Comment by Broken_Hippo | Hacker News Reader

Where I live, it is common to air-dry clothes on dryer racks. It isn't as common for folks to have dryers inside the house.

The catch: I'm in Norway, and can promise you these clothes aren't seeing sun for most of the year. People don't stink - and it isn't due to being used to the smell. Folks didn't stink when I moved here a decade ago either. Clothes don't stink more in the winter, even though they take more time to dry due to colder house temperatures. You can't leave them for hours in the washer, but that's true even if you are using a dryer.

Of course, there are exceptions. You really should hang them up soon after you take them out of the washer.

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> even though they take more time to dry due to colder house temperatures.

However when it is very cold the air is much drier. Contrast that to a temperate but humid climate where everything sits at 20C - 25C w/80% - 100% humidity. Practically a microbial incubator.

That's basically the UK and I haven't experienced a problem with indoor air drying. I would give some basic guidelines though. It's the sort of things that you don't think you need to tell people until you see what they do...

- ideally machine washed with a significant spin to remove water. Air drying hand washed items that are sopping wet is a lot harder - might take 4x longer

- hang in a room with decent ventilation and some active air flow. Trying to air dry in the equivalent of a cupboard would be doomed

- hang fully spread out with decent space between the clothes. Drying time will be significantly extended if densely scrunched together with pieces touching. Buy multiple racks to get enough hanging space.

- don't put used wet gym clothes in a laundry bin to fester. If you aren't washing them immediately, hang them up to dry first and put them in the bin later

I've done the second for a few years when I lived in the US - Indiana, to be exact, which is quite humid. I couldn't really afford the driers at the laudromat, so I brought stuff home to dry inside.

No issues, summer or winter.

Drying time here (Norway) in winter is about the same as high humidity was in the US. Summer is the dry season here - there is often a forest fire watch and a ban on open flames/fires.

In general, as long as there is air flow, you are fine. It'll take longer/shorter depending on humidity and air temperature.

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