The combination of a cold and wet winter, coupled with soaring energy costs, means that drying laundry is set to become a challenging task for many.
The quick use of a tumble dryer or heating will not be an option for many this year as they strive to keep their bills low.
Without these drying aids, how are people expected to dry their laundry without it being left with an unpleasant odour? No one wants to wear clothes that have a lingering damp smell.
Fortunately, TikTok cleaning hack queen Ann Russell has a practical solution that most people can afford.
Her pragmatic, down-to-earth advice has earned her millions of fans, including one who felt the need to contact Ann for advice on a specific smelly issue.
”Anne help!” one follower exclaimed. “My clothes stink from washing and won’t dry. Have the window and a fan on.”
So, Ann did what she does best and demonstrated in her video how she prevents her clothes from smelling. In the clip, she neatly folds her laundry onto a clotheshorse to dry and positions a fan to blow air at it.
“Ok poppet,” she begins affectionately. “This is roughly how I hang my stuff.” She shows how she hangs her washed clothing on a standard clotheshorse, ensuring there isn’t too much and that it is spaced out. She adds: “I try and make sure that everything is folded and not too thick.”
Ann also has a solution if your clothes are already smelling damp. She explains in the clip: “Now what you are going to have to do is rewash your stuff. If the smell doesn’t come out put it all in the thing, rewash some of it, halve the amount, rewash and have a sniff. If it doesn’t smell good, wash again, high spin, and then just don’t dry too much stuff at a time.”
Ann also explains why everything needs to be folded “neatly” and “not too thick”, with a fan blowing on the clotheshorse. She says: “Everything is folded neatly and the reason is when the fan goes up, the air goes through, it needs to be able to move, evaporate the water off. If it’s too thick or clumpy it won’t get rid of the water and then it will smell.”
The laundry guru has quickly become an internet sensation, with her original video amassing nearly 250,000 views and countless grateful responses.
Commenting on the video, one follower shared their own handy tip: “What I find helps is turning them over after a few hours so the air can circulate to areas it may not reach! Another user added: “Putting stuff on hangers seems to help and spacing them out hanging them on door frames.”
For those struggling with drying bulkier items, a third user said: “I’ve found with towels I just hang them over the doors to dry and then within a day or so they are dry and I have a second airer that I use to space out.”
