Should you dry your clothes indoors or outdoors? There are different schools of thought, and different preferences.
Location
First of all, you have to consider your location. In many cases, it simply may be impossible to dry your clothes outdoors. The absence of a garden or yard may make an outdoor drying rack or clothesline impossible. You may also live in a neighbourhood that would frown on the use of an outdoor clothesline.
However, this does not mean that you have to limit yourself to indoor drying. Many portable clothes drying racks can be set up on the patio to dry some items outdoors.
If you have a very small apartment, or your house has no laundry room, you may feel the need to dry some items outdoors on a clothes drying rack.
Clothes Drying Racks
For small areas, a ceiling drying rack may be the best solution. It will not take up any floor space, and can give you plenty of drying surfaces. One of the great things about a ceiling drying rack is that, since heat rises, the clothes will dry more quickly.
Another advantage of drying racks indoors is that they can raise the humidity in the house. When winter comes and forced heat saps moisture from the air, drying your clothes indoors can add some moisture to the atmosphere. This often can help people with sensitive sinuses.
There are, however, some potential problems with drying your clothes indoors, on a drying rack. Some racks are in the way, and can get knocked over. In some cases, the garments placed on the rack may be so wet that they drip, which can get the flooring underneath the rack to get wet. If you use the drying rack a lot, the excess moisture can cause carpeting or rugs beneath the rack to mildew. Hard flooring may become slick, so you need to be careful.
Drying Clothes Outside
Drying your clothes outside is a great way to freshen them, and the sun may bleach out your white items a little more. If there is a little bit of breeze, the clothes will dry even quicker.
However, it is not always a great way to dry clothes if there are bugs about. Some bugs are attracted to the moisture in the fabric, and you may carry the bugs into the house when you bring in the laundry.
Sometimes, too, the fabrics are more stiff. This is usually due to the fact that there is no fabric softener sheet for the clothes line. When you dry clothes in the dryer, you can add a dryer sheet.
Drying clothes outside on a clothesline may also leave marks on the garments from the clothespins. If this is the case, you may want to switch to a drying rack. With a rack, you just drape the items on the rack without clamps. You just have to be careful that the wind does not blow them away!
