Is it safe to line-dry clothes in the house?

[quelindo]

I've done this in the past (we have laundry lines in our unfinished basement) in the winter, but not exclusively. Well, our dryer just broke -- one more thing Murphy is responsible for in the past month. If it's not fixable I might just line-dry everything for a while. Those things that I prefer dried in a dryer (for some reason darks always get linty if they're line-dried) I can always take to my mom's house.

But I've read that this puts an unsafe amount of moisture into the air, causing mold and dampness issues. Is this always true? I'm in Wisconsin and we're in the heating season. We actually have a humidifier built in to our furnace, so we NEED humidity. But maybe it's too much humidity all at once in one smallish area of the house?

[karne]

I would think that if you are doing a reasonable amount of laundry that the moisture would be fine, esp. during the heating season. You could always take heavier things somewhere else to dry in a dryer, as needed, such as blankets, towels, etc. I line dry many items, year round.

[canuckgal]

I myself would not, but I live in an old house (like 80+ years) with some mold in the basement already, and I have no hood over my stove, and no fans in my bathrooms either!

[karkli]

That's interesting. I've never heard that before but it does seem to make some sense.

I live in South Florida where the humidity can be just plain oppressive. And, in the interest of frugality, I try to run my air conditioning as infrequently as possible which often means that some of that outside humidity creeps in. I also line-dry clothes in my enclosed laundry room.

It would seem to me that on average, line-drying or not, our house would be significantly more humid than yours but we've never had any mold or dampness (other than some related to a leaky roof). I wonder if houses down here are built to withstand significantly more humidity than they are in areas like yours simply by virtue of the climate of the area?

It never would have occurred to me that line-drying indoors could cause any damage to the house itself. I'll be interested to see other people's responses.

[Yooper]

I have dried on inside lines for years and never even thought about mold being an issue. We have a very old house. How would I know if we have mold issues? I line dry in a spare bedroom. We do have forced air heat and no humidifier so I always thought a little extra humidity would be a good thing.

[sunflower.mama]

Maybe it depends on where you do it. We sometimes do it in our laundry room which also has our furnace - so in the winter if the dryer is going (on some items) plus the furnace...it dries in half a day.

[enkmom]

I lived without a dryer for a year, and I hung all of our things in the basement with no problem. I am in Illinois.

[Lilcrunchie]

I think of it as a good way to add moisture back into the air at home while the (very dry) heat pump is running in the winter.

My parents had lines in their basement where there was also a wood stove. Same thing...added some humidity back into the air (I think I've read recommendations to keep a pan of water going near the wood stove, etc. to add some humidity back into the environment).

[KariM]

We do a modified line dry of sorts. All of our cottons (except undies & socks) get hung on hangers and then put on a rack I have up in the basement to prevent shrinkage.

We haven't noticed excessive humidity issues, but then again because of our central heat the house is really dry in the winter here.

[Hedgehog Mtn]

I've line dried for 6 people exclusively for 9 years. if it's too cold or raining I dry in the house.....clothing, bedding, cloth dipes I've never had an issue. I do keep the windows open in the summer and run a woodstove in the winter so maybe with your heat source it's different.

[SleeplessMommy]

Some houses are more "leaky" than others. You should monitor the humidity, as long as it is under 60-70% you are good

[myfatherslily]

I dried all of our clothes on a drying rack for awhile. I didn't encounter a problem. One thing I found really speeds up the drying process is to aim a fan at the clothes.

[Drummer's Wife]

I never even thought of that... I line dry DD's clothes, and DS's jeans. I hang them in a room with a ceiling fan. It's so dry here in the desert that I doubt line drying, even all of our clothes, would cause a humidity problem.

[quelindo]

Originally Posted by SleeplessMommy

Some houses are more "leaky" than others. You should monitor the humidity, as long as it is under 60-70% you are good

That's a good idea. Maybe I'll get a humidistat from the hardware store and hang it in the laundry room.

[lucyem]

Originally Posted by New Mama

But I've read that this puts an unsafe amount of moisture into the air, causing mold and dampness issues. Is this always true? I'm in Wisconsin and we're in the heating season. We actually have a humidifier built in to our furnace, so we NEED humidity. But maybe it's too much humidity all at once in one smallish area of the house?

This is very true. My DH STRONGLY suggests not drying inside and if you have to, do it in the bathroom with the fan on. (and hopefully you fan vents outside) If you would like actual amounts of moisture I can ask DH tonight. DH is a BPI certified and a Weatherization Technical Specialist. He insulates and air seals homes and does energy audits etc etc.

[leavemealone]

I have line dried some of my clothes inside, but not usually a whole load. I hang most of my kids shirts to dry so they won't shrink in the dryer, but it's usually only about child sized shirts at a time. I usually slightly crack the window in the laundry room when I have stuff hanging.

[quelindo]

Originally Posted by lucyem

This is very true. My DH STRONGLY suggests not drying inside and if you have to, do it in the bathroom with the fan on. (and hopefully you fan vents outside) If you would like actual amounts of moisture I can ask DH tonight. DH is a BPI certified and a Weatherization Technical Specialist. He insulates and air seals homes and does energy audits etc etc.

I would love it if you asked him about this, particularly if using a humidistat to monitor things would be at all helpful.

[tessie]

The drying on an airer or radiator seems to cause less moisture than the dryer with vent in my 100+year old house. So, I would. Just keep a window cracked now and again.

[lolar2]

Originally Posted by lucyem

This is very true. My DH STRONGLY suggests not drying inside and if you have to, do it in the bathroom with the fan on. (and hopefully you fan vents outside) If you would like actual amounts of moisture I can ask DH tonight. DH is a BPI certified and a Weatherization Technical Specialist. He insulates and air seals homes and does energy audits etc etc.

Even in dry areas where people use humidifiers?

[lucyem]

I just asked my DH and a load of clothing will put out 4-6 pints of water whether line dried or in a dryer that is vented into the house. There are lots of factors involved but you want your house at 40-50% humidity.