I’ve heard many times that adding a dry towel to a wet load in the dryer make your clothes dry faster. The idea is that the towel absorbs the moisture from the wet clothes reducing the drying time and energy usage.

Our friends at Household Hacker have tested this trick and found out that placing a dry towel in the dryer definitely reduces the moisture in the dryer and save several minutes from the drying time. However, this stops working after 15-20 minutes when the towel starts contributing to the moisture and even extending the drying time. You can see the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5QXi_ZdE3c

If you want to save time and energy and don’t have a clothesline (we don’t have much sun either!), try the following tips to make your dryer work more efficiently.

– Don’t overload the dryer. Smaller loads have more room to tumble freely, drying items quicker and preventing wrinkles. But don’t put only 2 -3 items, that will save you time drying but not energy!

– If you have many clothes to dry, put several loads in the dryer consecutively; the dryer will be already warmed up and will save energy.

– Separate large items from lightweight fabrics for faster and more efficient drying. Help to save energy by letting them air dry for a few hours before placing them in the dryer.

– Clean the fluff filter after each load to make the dryer work more efficiently.

I hope these tips are helpful! If you have any questions or know another tricks, please leave us a comment. And of course, if you want to save the chore of doing your laundry at home, we would be more than happy to wash, dry and fold it for you!