How do you dry clothes indoors in an HDB flat on wet days?

Why clothes stay damp indoors

Wet laundry dries as water leaves the fabric and moves into the air around it. In Singapore, that air often holds a lot of moisture already. Meteorological Service Singapore says humidity is high all year, with relative humidity often above 90% in the morning before sunrise and around 60% in the afternoon on days with no rain. It also says rain falls on an average of 171 days a year, and that the inter-monsoon period of October and November is generally wetter than the inter-monsoon period earlier in the year, with afternoon and evening thunderstorms.

This is the usual story behind clothes not drying indoors. On a rainy afternoon the windows get shut, the air in the room stops moving and the moisture coming off the rack has nowhere to go. Thin shirts may still dry, but towels, jeans and bedsheets can stay damp for much longer.

Wet weather affects more than laundry. For other ways to look after your flat when the rain sets in, see our post on monsoon home care. The rest of this page sticks to getting clothes dry and keeping them fresh.

Get more water out before you hang

Every drop the washing machine removes is a drop the air does not have to carry away. In its energy saving tips, the National Environment Agency (NEA) suggests enabling the spin function to reduce moisture in the load. It also notes that spinning uses less energy than using heat to dry clothes.

Take the load out as soon as the cycle ends. Clothes left in a closed drum stay wet and pressed together, and that is often where a musty smell starts. Shake each piece out firmly before you hang it. This loosens creases and opens up the fabric so air can reach more of it.

A clean machine helps too. If the drum or door seal smells, that smell can carry into every load, so see our guide to cleaning a washing machine.

How to dry clothes indoors in an HDB flat

Once the load is out, give every piece as much moving air as you can.

• Space the pieces out. Leave a gap between items. Where pieces touch or overlap, they dry slowly.
• Put thick items at the ends. Hang towels and jeans at the outer ends so they do not block air from reaching thinner pieces.
• Open windows on the sheltered side. Let fresh air in from the side the rain is not hitting.
• Run a fan across the rack. Moving air carries the damp away from the fabric.
• Keep the rack out of closed bedrooms. A closed room fills with moisture, and that damp stays where you sleep.

If a load has to dry in a closed room, a dehumidifier for drying clothes can help. It pulls water out of the air, so the clothes keep drying. Keep the door and windows of that room shut while it runs.

For a fixed rack in a spot with better airflow, see our guide to laundry rack installation.

If you use a dryer

NEA's energy saving tips suggest you air-dry your clothes instead of using a clothes dryer. When you do use a dryer, the same tips suggest drying full loads whenever possible and cleaning the lint filter after every load to improve air circulation. They also suggest using the auto-dry function instead of the timer, which avoids energy wastage and over-drying.

If you are thinking about buying a dryer, NEA's tips on buying energy-efficient appliances ask you to consider whether you need one, as air-drying is completely free. If you decide to buy, they suggest choosing a model with a moisture sensor and more ticks on the Energy Label.

A dryer is most useful on days when the windows must stay shut and the rack is full of towels and bedsheets. If you are weighing up dryer types, our condenser vs heat pump dryer comparison sets out how they differ.

Stop the damp laundry smell

A musty smell is a sign that clothes stayed damp for too long, whether in the drum, in a basket or on a slow-drying rack. A few habits help keep it away:

• Rewash anything that already smells. Drying it again rarely gets rid of the smell, so wash it again and dry it with more space and air.
• Wait until clothes are fully dry before you fold or store them. Check seams, collars and waistbands, which tend to dry last.
• Do not pile damp towels. Hang them out after each use instead of leaving them in a heap or a laundry basket.
• Keep the machine door open between loads. This lets the drum and door seal dry out.
• Air the drying area. Keep the spot clear of clutter, open the windows when the rain eases and leave the fan on for a while after you take the clothes down.

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