Hanging laundry inside = too much moisture?

[WCM]

I've been line drying in the good weather, then using the dryer in the winter/rainy spring. This year I decided to try drying things inside on the rack, and see if I can not use the dryer at all. So far I need to build a fire each day to get things warm enough (we don't turn any heat on unless we absolutely have to) and hang them in front of that. Our kitchen does not have room for a drying rack. I know it's naturally a warmer roomdue to appliances.

A friend commented that drying our clothes inside would release more moisture into our home, and moisture is something we're already struggling with. True? Did you find drying indoors caused problems? Do you have solutions?

Thanks.

[PinkCedar]

Yes. It will. But the amount varies. We live where it is SO dry, that despite laundry inside, we still still have two steamer pots on the stove all winter long. We have a washing machine, so clothes are pretty well wrung out. How much laundry do you have? If you have a lot of diapers, that will be more moisture than if you are just drying average laundry. also, one negative is that if you are having moisture issues, it can take your laundry longer to dry. Overall, I say at least give it a go! You can always stop.

[verde]

I dry most of our clothes inside during rainy and really cold weather. Even if it's cold, if there's sun out you can dry your clothes. In the winter the air is so dry that it actually helps us. You don't need a warm room in order to dry clothes. It may take a bit longer to dry clothes but they do dry. Go ahead and try it.

[aikigypsy]

We lived in Ireland for a year and a half, in a small apartment with no dryer, and dried everything on racks inside, except when there was a less rainy day, or when desparation drove us to use my mother-in-law's dryer (huge hassle to get there, get back, coordinate coming and going with MIL, etc.). Maybe there was moisture build up, but it wasn't bad. We kept some heat on most of the winter, which helped. Another thing is that cothes (especially diapers) dried faster/better when they'd just been through a hot rinse in the machine -- the heat helped the drying process get started faster.

It took a long time for things to dry. Sheets, I could dry between morning and evening, but diapers (prefolds and pockets) took a solid 24 hours to dry. Humidity was generally over 90%, and outdoor temperatures were normally in the 50s.

[simple living mama]

Living in the Southwest I depend on my indoor drying to add moisture in to our house as it is so dry here. I do feel a difference.

[wallabi]

In the winter the extra moisture from the clothes is a plus, but in the rainy season when things like chair legs are molding from the high humidity, I use a room dehumidifier in the room where I hang laundry. It is much more efficient than a dryer, and gets the clothes drier than hanging them in a place with 90% humidity

[lucyem]

My DH is a weatherization technical specialist. When you weatherize moisture issues have to be dealt with. Anyhow he is against line drying in the house. Too much moisture is released which can cause mold issues. Damage can happen that you will not even see. Its the same reason you do not want to vent the dryer inside or vent a bathroom into the attic. And if you are already dealing with moisture issues you really do not want to add to that.

[jimblejamble]

I haven;t noticed more moisture with using a drying rack but when I use the dryer it feels like a sauna!

[kimmom]

We too are on Vancouver Island where it is damp all winter! We line dry outside alot of the year and just plan around the weather forecast. It takes longer to dry but as long as I get it off the line before the evening it dries well enough. We just built our cob home and this year will be drying inside even though we aren't moved in yet. I am stringing my lines in there and I know it will dry in prob 24 hours. Mind you with cob our walls breath and do not hold moisture at all. I would say running a dehumidifier is a great idea in the room you are drying in!

[ASusan]

I think it all depends on your situation. I've almost always lived in houses with forced air heating, so any moisture added to the indoor air in the wintertime has been a plus. I would think with wood heat, that would be drying as well. I have done line-drying in a basement, but I did have to run the dehumidifier rather constantly down there.

My parents converted to radiant heat, and even though they had a wood fireplace, it was still rather damp and moldy in the house. Much of the moisture was brought in through the 130-year-old hand-dug basement, built with fieldstone walls, so it was never water tight. Once my dad put drywall up over the stone basement walls (without proper moisture protection or weatherizing), all bets for mold-free living were off. Adding to the moisture in such an environment is only asking for trouble.

[tinuviel_k]

You and I live in a similar bio-region: I'm in western Washington state. It is so wet and damp all winter long. In some climates drying clothing indoors is a great way to get some much needed humidity into the air. In climates like ours, though... it will just make the dampness that much worse.

[Adaline'sMama]

Ive been drying only my diapers inside in front of the stove, and it hasnt been releaseing very much moisture. Not even enough for me to not use my steampot to get some mositure. I dry every 3 days, about 20 prefolds, 10 covers, and whatever baby clothes are dirty.

[yeahwhat]

When we lived in an apartment and had no dryer, line drying inside did cause moisture problems even though it's very cold and dry here in winter.

It also depends on how much you're line drying. One or two loads per week would probably be fine. It would actually help us with our constant winter low humidity levels. One or two loads per day would probably be too much. If you have a ceiling fan in the room you're line drying, that'll dry the clothes much faster and help distribute the humidity around the house better.

[ollyoxenfree]

What are you doing now for moisture problems? I've lived in a fairly damp climate. It was bad enough during the rainy season that I had mildew on my furniture. We had buckets of moisture absorbers in closets and scattered around the house and it helped only a little. I'd hate to add to those problems.

It's not damp where we live now. We've had the heat on for a couple of weeks and I've already noticed that my skin is drying out. I'm moisturizing my cuticles a couple of times a day, drinking more water and using lip balm. Inside line drying sounds like a good plan for us, if only I had room.

[jrose_lee]

Hello, we are in New Zealand right now and energy costs are through the roof. We used a dryer the first month not thinking about it and a couple small heaters at night and got a $1,000 power bill for that month. So, we stopped using the dryer and line dry inside now (rainy season). I don't know if you are not wanting to use much electricity but we have a small dehumidifier plugged in by all of our clothes drying racks and it seems to suck the moisture right out of the air and get the clothes to dry faster even. The energy cost is really really small compared to using a dryer from our experience. That would prevent any mold issues.