One room, door shut, window cracked open. That's the whole method, and it works better than most of what gets recommended for drying washing indoors in a British winter.
Why damp actually happens
It isn't the washing itself that causes mould — it's what happens to the moisture once it leaves the fabric. A full load holds several litres of water. Dry it in a closed room with no airflow and that water has nowhere to go except onto your walls, windows and curtains, which is exactly where mould starts.
The method
- Pick one room, ideally the smallest one you can spare, not the whole house.
- Shut the door to stop the moisture spreading everywhere.
- Open a window a couple of inches, even in the cold. A small gap is enough to let the damp air out without losing much heat.
- Leave a couple of hours' gap between loads if you're doing more than one, so the air actually clears.
If you can point a fan at the airer, even a cheap desk fan, it roughly halves the drying time by moving air across the fabric instead of letting damp air just sit there.
Why the radiator is the worst option
Draping washing over a radiator feels efficient because it's warm, but it's usually the least effective spot in the house. The heat dries the fabric touching the radiator while trapping the moisture it releases against a cold wall directly behind it — which is precisely where black mould shows up first in older houses. If you're going to use a radiator at all, an airer standing a foot in front of it works far better than washing draped directly on it.
Heated airers versus the tumble dryer
A heated airer sits in the middle: warmer than an unheated rack, so faster drying and less time for damp to build up, but nowhere near the running cost of a tumble dryer. Most heated airers cost somewhere around 8–10p an hour to run, against a tumble dryer's 40–50p, and they don't need a dedicated vent or ducting.
Choosing the right airer for the room
A three-tier concertina folds flat and suits a small flat where floor space matters more than drying capacity. A four-tier tower with rotating wings holds a full wash in one go, useful for a family load, and still folds down for storage between washes. Browse the full range to see which fits your space.