Have you ever found that freshly washed clothes smell fresh when you take them out of the washing machine, but start to smell sour or musty after they’ve been left to dry? A common reason is that the laundry dries too slowly. When clothes remain damp for a long time, this creates ideal conditions for bacteria and other microorganisms that can contribute to unpleasant odours.
The problem is particularly common when you dry your washing indoors, for example in a basement, utility room or bathroom with limited ventilation. But there is a simple solution. By improving air circulation and keeping humidity levels down, you can help your laundry dry faster, reduce the risk of a sour smell and, at the same time, prevent all the moisture from the laundry from lingering in your home.
When you hang up wet laundry, the water in the clothes begins to evaporate into the air. This causes the humidity in the room to rise. If the air already contains a lot of moisture, evaporation slows down and the clothes remain damp for longer. Damp fabrics create ideal conditions for bacteria and other microorganisms, which can contribute to a sour or musty smell. The longer the laundry remains damp, the greater the risk that it will start to smell unpleasant. This is why you may sometimes find that clothes smell clean straight after washing but develop an unpleasant odour only once they have been hung out to dry.
It’s easy to assume that a sour smell is caused by the washing machine or the detergent. Sometimes that is indeed the cause, but when the smell occurs can provide an important clue.
When does the smell occur? | Possible cause | What can you check? |
| The laundry smells bad straight out of the washing machine. | The problem may lie with the machine, the washing routine or the fabrics. | Filter, detergent dispenser, cleaning and wash programme. |
| The laundry smells fresh straight out of the machine but develops a sour smell after a few hours of drying. | The laundry may be drying too slowly. | Humidity, ventilation, air circulation and drying time. |
| Towels and thick fabrics in particular smell. | The fabrics retain moisture for a long time. | Check that they are completely dry before folding them. |
If the laundry smells fresh when taken out of the washing machine but starts to smell musty or sour whilst drying, it is therefore a good idea to check the humidity level; you can do this easily with a hygrometer.
For the laundry to dry, the water in the clothes needs to evaporate. How quickly this happens is mainly influenced by the temperature, humidity and air circulation. When the air around the laundry becomes more humid, evaporation slows down. This means that the clothes can remain damp for a long time, even if the room feels relatively warm. Good air circulation helps to carry away the moist air closest to the clothes. However, for the drying process to continue effectively, the moisture also needs to be removed from the room itself, for example through ventilation or dehumidification.
Have you ever emptied the water tank after running a tumble dryer? If so, you’ll have seen just how much water can actually remain in the clothes after the spin cycle. When you hang the same load out to dry instead, the water doesn’t disappear. It evaporates from the clothes and ends up in the air in the room. The amount of water involved varies depending on the load size, the fabric and how effectively the washing machine spins. But it can amount to several litres of water from a single wash. This means that every time you hang out washing indoors, you’re adding moisture to the room – moisture that needs to be removed.
If the moisture isn’t removed, it can contribute to several problems:
Increased risk of mould: Prolonged high humidity can create favourable conditions for mould growth on sensitive materials.
The problem is therefore not just about getting the clothes dry. It’s also about managing the moisture released by the laundry.
It doesn’t have to be difficult to get freshly washed clothes to dry faster. With a few simple changes, you can improve the conditions for drying.
The less water remaining in the clothes after spin-drying, the less moisture needs to evaporate when they are hung up. Adjust the spin cycle to suit the fabric’s tolerance.
Avoid hanging garments too close together. Air needs to be able to circulate around the clothes to carry the moisture away.
Good air circulation helps to remove the moist air closest to the fabrics, so that more water can continue to evaporate.
A dehumidifier removes the water that the laundry releases into the air whilst simultaneously circulating drier air throughout the room. This allows the air to continue absorbing moisture from the clothes, creating better conditions for faster drying.
A dehumidifier removes the water that the laundry releases into the air, whilst blowing dry air onto the clothes and circulating the drier air throughout the room.
This allows the air to continue absorbing moisture from the clothes, creating better conditions for faster drying. With a dehumidifier, you don’t need to rely solely on ventilation to remove moisture from the laundry.
Drying laundry with a dehumidifier is simple. You hang up your laundry as usual and let the dehumidifier take care of the moisture. When the water evaporates from the clothes, it enters the air. The dehumidifier draws in the damp air, removes the water and blows drier air back into the room. The drier air can then absorb more moisture from the clothes. In this way, the drying process continues whilst the humidity is kept under control. The water collects in the dehumidifier’s tank or is drained away via a hose to a drain.
A dehumidifier is therefore an energy-efficient and practical alternative or complement to a tumble dryer, particularly for items you’d prefer to hang-dry.
Dehumidifier for drying laundry
Dehumidifier for drying laundry
Dehumidifier for living area and apartment
If you regularly dry washing indoors, it’s best to choose a dehumidifier specifically designed for drying laundry. The most important factor is the combination of high dehumidification capacity and good airflow. Dehumidification capacity describes how much water the dehumidifier can remove from the air, whilst airflow describes how much air it can circulate. When drying laundry, the damp air needs to be drawn away from the clothes whilst drier air is circulated back around the laundry.
A dehumidifier with a top-mounted air outlet blows the drier air upwards, towards the hanging laundry. This helps to create air circulation around the clothes and remove the damp air closest to the fabrics. Wood’s LD series has been developed with laundry drying in mind and combines high dehumidification capacity with high airflow and top-outlet airflow. This makes the models particularly suitable for utility rooms and other spaces where large amounts of laundry are regularly hung out to dry.
If your laundry smells musty even though it’s freshly washed, it may be because it’s drying too slowly. When humidity is high, it takes longer for the water in the clothes to evaporate, which increases the risk of unpleasant odours. At the same time, wet laundry releases large amounts of moisture into the air, which can contribute to condensation, musty odours and other damp-related problems in the home. The solution is to remove the moisture – both from the clothes and from the air. With good air circulation, adequate ventilation and a dehumidifier designed for drying laundry, you can help your clothes dry faster, reduce the risk of a sour smell and keep humidity under control.
If laundry smells sour or musty after drying, it is often because it has dried too slowly in a room with high humidity. When clothes are damp for a long time, bacteria can start to grow in the fabric, creating the sour smell. Using a dehumidifier in the laundry room or the room where the laundry is hanging reduces the humidity and the clothes dry faster.
If the laundry smells clean when taken out of the machine but starts to smell later, the problem is usually because it’s drying too slowly.
Yes. When the air contains a lot of moisture, it becomes harder for clothes to dry, which increases the risk of bacterial growth and unpleasant odours.
No, but when large amounts of moisture are released into the home, it needs to be ventilated out. Otherwise, the humidity can rise and cause problems with condensation, mould and unpleasant odours.
Common signs include a musty smell, condensation on windows, mould, laundry taking a long time to dry, and the air feeling heavy or stuffy. With a hygrometer, you can easily measure the relative humidity and check whether it is at a healthy level.
The optimal indoor humidity level is usually between 45–55%. Within this range, your skin, mucous membranes, airways, plants and furniture will thrive, while the risk of mould is minimised.
