Expert issues warning over drying clothes on your radiator

With winter well and truly here, folks who usually rely on hanging clothes out in their garden to dry are having to come up with a different solution - and for many people that will be popping them onto the radiator.

But experts have warned that using a radiator to dry your clothes is actually a pretty terrible idea and strongly recommend people stop. Sorry.

In a clip on TikTok, an expert from Which? explained why drying your clothes could end up leaving you out of pocket.

He warned: “You need to stop drying your clothes on radiators. Radiators circulate warm air around the room, so if the heating is on and set to 20 degrees celsius your radiators will pump out heat until the room reaches that temperature, at which point the boiler will stop.

“But cold and wet clothes act as a barrier to the heat being given off. That means you could be heating your room for a lot longer than you need to.

“And while you might end up with dry clothes, you’ll also end up with a colder home, bigger energy bills and maybe even mould.”

Not ideal.

Stressing the problems drying wet clothes on radiators could cause, Owen Whitlock, interiors expert at Beanbags.co.uk, told Huffington Post: “While hanging wet clothes over your radiators will dry them, this could cause excess condensation in your home. This will lead to mould which can create all kinds of damage including staining paintwork, not to mention the allergens that mould can produce.”

He also reiterated the point that it would make your energy bills rise, which - again, is not ideal amid a cost of living crisis.

“Hanging clothes over the top of your radiator will prevent it from heating your house, which means the boiler will need to work harder than it needs to, therefore increasing its running costs,” he added.

However, it wasn’t all bad news, with the bloke from Which? suggesting that placing your clothes on an airer near to radiator will speed up drying time while still allowing the warm air to circulate the room.

Meanwhile, Whitlock said that regularly turning clothes while on the airer will help them to dry quicker; as well as washing them during the day time so you can leave them to dry in any sunny spots in your home; and washing fewer items per load so there’s more room on the airer for them to dry.