There’s more to doing laundry correctly than just choosing the right wash cycle or incorporating the right laundry hacks. After clothes come out of the washer, you then must choose how to dry them. Air drying certain items (either by laying them flat or hanging them up to dry on the best drying rack) is crucial to maintaining their longevity. These include obvious articles of clothing like those made of delicate material—think silk blouses or lace pantyhose.
But what are some other pieces of clothing that should also be air dried? To find out, we chatted with a laundry pro about which items people should always air dry. Here, we cover the reasons why and the benefits of air drying these more delicate clothing items.
Meet the Expert
- Ocean Van is owner the of Coco Laundry and has extensive experience washing and air-drying clothes and garments for residential and commercial customers (especially hospitality).
Bras and Delicate Undergarments
Items like bras, pantyhose, stretch wear, and delicate undergarments like silk underwear should always be air dried. According to Ocean Van, owner of Coco Laundry, these items contain elastic and spandex, which can degrade in the heat of a dryer.
“The heat can cause these materials to lose their stretch and shape, making them uncomfortable and less supportive over time,” he says.
Hence it is important to know how to wash and care for lingerie. And air drying these delicate articles of clothing preserves their elasticity and fit, which can ensure you can enjoy wearing them for years to come.
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Clothing With Beading or Sequins
Items with any of these embellishments should stay out of the dryer. The glue that holds these decorative pieces in place will likely melt in the dryer. And even if you leave the heat on low—choosing to use the tumble dry low feature—all the bouncing around in the dryer is likely to dislodge some sequins or beads anyway. The best option is air drying such articles of clothing, or perhaps even considering a professional dry-cleaning service or even a home dry cleaning kit.
Swimwear
Have you ever made the mistake of throwing a pair of swim trunks in the dryer? And it came out super staticky, right? This happened due to the materials like lycra and neoprene typically used in swimwear. But machine drying these items can also impact these materials in other ways, Van says. In fact, the heat from the dryer can distort them by weakening the materials and fading the clothing’s colors.
Lace Dresses
Lace attached to any piece of clothing should probably air dry—even if it only has a trim or small fragment of lace attached. Why take the risk of damaging the lace? But this is especially true for clothing like dresses that make use of the material all over their designs. Dresses themselves can be on the heavier side, and so their added weight plus the tumbling motion involved in a machine dryer can fray or destroy the lace of the dress. So, it is best to leave this item to air dry outside the dryer.
Wool and Cashmere Knits
Like anything made from silk, items that contain wool or cashmere should also be air dried.
“Wool and cashmere are susceptible to shrinking and losing their shape in the dryer due to the heat and agitation,” Van says.
But if you air dry these fabrics and lay them flat to dry, you can avoid stretching the materials. This also helps them retain their softness and appearance, Van explains. What’s more, these items—especially cashmere—tend to cost more than your average cotton sweater, so taking the time to properly care for these delicate clothes will provide the additional cost savings of not needing to replace them later.
Faux Fur
Just like real or faux leather or anything with suede on it, you don’t want to put any faux fur in the dryer. Oftentimes, faux fur is added to clothing via fabric glue, and so the heat of the machine dryer can dissolve this glue, and thereby remove the faux fur from the article of clothing.
Moreover, faux fur can get staticky even on a tumble dry low setting or delicate cycle of drying, so this is a piece of clothing that should stay out of the dryer if you don’t want it to lose its warm and cozy feel. Even items that just have a faux fur trim or faux fur lining should thus be air dried.
