Drying clothes indoors during the winter months is difficult at the best of times with those living in smaller houses and flats suffering the most.

Being unable to dry clothes properly is not ideal with jeans and t-shirts being susceptible to the smell of damp.

If you're searching for solutions to drying your clothes in a smaller property, then look no further.

How to dry clothes in a small house or flat this winter

Here are some top expert tips for drying wet clothes indoors if you live in a small house or flat.

Build a DIY drying rack

Nick Ee, product and training manager at BLACK+DECKER, says that one solution to the issue of drying clothes indoors is the use of drying racks but he acknowledges that these can be "quite clunky and take up lots of space."

He recommends that people customise their own DIY drying racks to fit in an appropriate space. This could include an airer that is fitted to the wall.

He recommends using wooden dowels or PVC pipes to create the frames and levels of the rack.

Once these have been cut to the desired lengths, he says the wooden dowels or pipes should be attached to the frame using wood glue or screws and nails.

Finally, Nick adds: "You want your drying rack to look like a masterpiece so make sure to sand any rough areas using a sander and apply paint or wood stain for a finished look and to protect the wood from the damp clothes.”


Recommended Reading: 

I tried this 'burrito method' to dry my clothes in half the time - did it work?

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How much does it cost to run a tumble dryer as UK households turn them of


The burrito method 

The burrito method, which was shared by YouTuber Tor Rydder on 'Organizing TV', is said to allow people to dry their clothes in half the time.

Tor explains: “To do the burrito method, we place a newly washed t-shirt down on a towel. Then we start by folding the t-shirt over, like so."

The content creator then began rolling the towel and t-shirt into a burrito shape before pressing his knees on the rolled-up towel.

The towel absorbs the water, making the t-shirt much drier when the towel is unwrapped.

Bed sheet method

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Another way to dry your clothes quickly in a small home where a tumble dryer isn't practical is the bed sheet method from TikTok.

In a video by @chloedealsclub, the creator starts by placing her wet clothes on a drying rack (or airer) before placing them next to a radiator.

When this is done, she takes a bed sheet and places it over the entire airer and tucks it in “like a tent”.

She adds that when the heating is on, she can also dry her clothes at no extra cost.