Hanging up laundry in the apartment is considered a health hazard for many people. Why is that and is it really true?

After washing: Why you shouldn’t hang up laundry in the apartment

Hence the supposed health risk of letting the laundry dry in the apartment. Mold spores are toxic and if inhaled they can cause respiratory problems, allergies or asthma. If the mold has to be removed from the apartment, high costs can also arise.

That’s why it’s best to hang the laundry outside – especially in winter or when it’s freezing. But what to do if you have no other way to dry your laundry? With a few tips, you can prevent mold from forming when you dry your laundry. Basically, the apartment should be aired regularly to avoid excessive humidity. The best thing is to ventilate the room, i.e. open windows and doors completely for about ten minutes. A draft between the open doors and windows is also useful.

The laundry should also be hung up in a suitable room, for example in the bathroom. The bathroom is already designed for humidity, but it can take a little longer here for the laundry to dry, since the humidity is generally higher, for example when you take a shower. Alternatively, a room that has at least one window is also suitable. Bathrooms – especially in smaller apartments – usually have no window, only ventilation. This should be cleaned from time to time and the filter replaced.

Prevent mold: tips for hanging laundry in the apartment

Even when doing the laundry, you can ensure that the humidity in your home does not rise as much. Depending on the type of laundry, you should select the highest possible spin speed. As a result, more water is “spun” out of the laundry and it is less wet when it comes out of the machine.

You should also be careful when hanging them up: If there is more space between the individual items of clothing, the air can circulate better. It can also be useful to hang things directly on hangers. The plus point: the laundry dries faster.

If you want to be on the safe side, you can also measure the humidity before and after hanging up the laundry. So-called hygrometers are available from around ten euros in hardware stores or online.

It is also advisable to ask the landlord for tips, after all it is also in their interest that the apartment is not too damp. There may even be an empty room in the house that could be used as a drying room. And if all the tips don’t help, there are still dehumidifiers to avoid mold growth from drying laundry.