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Life runs on tight schedules, and waiting 45 minutes to an hour for a single dryer cycle can throw off an entire day’s routine. When you’re standing in front of your dryer watching the minutes tick by, it can feel like the most frustrating obstacle between you and the rest of your day. Fortunately, there are several hacks floating around the internet that promise to help speed up the laundry process, such as adding a dry towel to a load in the dryer to reduce drying time. But does putting a dry towel in the dryer help? We spoke with several laundry experts to see if they support or debunk this popular hack.
Experts Say It Works, With Some Caveats
Home appliance pros agree that this trick can improve your laundry experience. “Adding a clean, dry towel to the dryer can help wet clothes dry faster, as the towel absorbs moisture and helps separate items as they tumble,” says Morgan LaLonde, senior brand manager at Whirlpool Laundry based in Chicago, Illinois. As the towel absorbs more moisture, less heat is required by the dryer, which means it can run more efficiently and quickly.
The towel also helps distribute the heat more evenly across the items in the load, ensuring they all dry at a similar rate. Finally, the towel helps separate the clothing items so they don’t clump together. This allows hot air to circulate more freely and evenly, improving overall efficiency.
However, it is recommended to remove the newly damp towel partway through the cycle, at about 5 to 10 minutes for small loads or 15 to 20 minutes for large loads, says LaLonde. “This is because the dryer will use extra energy to dry the towel itself, and the potential energy savings comes from reducing the overall drying time needed for the entire load of laundry,” she says.
“If you forget to remove the towel that got damp, you only slow down the drying process, because now the dryer needs to dry the towel, too—and that defeats the purpose,” adds Megan Doser, owner and CEO at Doctor Fix It Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electric in Denver, Colorado.
“Using the dry-towel method correctly, you can shorten your 60-minute drying cycle by about 5 to 10 minutes.”
– Megan Doser, Doctor Fix It Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electric
Save Time, Energy, and Money
A typical dry cycle takes about 45 minutes, but this time can vary depending on the cycle, heat setting, and size of your load, says LaLonde. Adding a dry towel can help to speed up the drying process, allowing you to optimize your laundry schedule and prioritize other activities. “The towel also helps prevent tangling of larger items, like sheets, helping these items separate as they tumble, leading to more efficient drying and less clumping.”
While there isn’t any significant industry data on how much drying time you can actually save, appliance repair expert Brooke Stafford, senior services manager at appliance protection company Domestic & General, estimates that you’ll trim your laundry chore by a few minutes. “But the precise amount of time saved depends on how large the load is, what’s being dried, and how efficient the dryer is at venting air,” notes Stafford.
In Doser’s experience, a dry towel can reduce drying time by about 10 to 15 percent if you are drying heavy items like jeans, coats, big terry towels, or hoodies. “Using the dry-towel method correctly, you can shorten your 60-minute drying cycle by about 5 to 10 minutes,” she says. “If you dry heavy items every day, using the dry-towel method can reduce the energy use from about 3 to 5 kWh to roughly 2.5 to 4.5 kWh per load, and it can reduce your energy bills by around $1 to $3 per month,” says Doser.
Follow These Tips for the Best Results
You’ll want to keep the following suggestions in mind to maximize your savings with the dry towel trick:
- Clean the lint trap before every load so your dryer runs as efficiently as possible.
- Use a basic cotton towel in the dryer with your wet laundry. “No need to use fancy or expensive towels for this trick,” says LaLonde. You run the risk of ruining expensive luxury towels, as the fibers can turn rough during the drying process.
- If you’re drying a full load, make sure your dryer isn’t too packed. “The towel needs space to move around and absorb moisture effectively, so it works best with medium-sized loads,” explains LaLonde.
- Avoid using this hack for small loads of laundry. “The dry-towel method does not make any difference if you use it with small loads of lightweight clothing like T-shirts, underwear, or thin workout clothes,” warns Doser.
- Don’t throw a dry towel in with delicate items like silk, lace, or specialty athletic materials. “Adding a towel to those loads would create more friction than needed and could actually damage those items,” says Stafford. “Additionally, these delicate pieces can get caught in the towel, preventing it from drying fully.”
