Martin Lewis reveals his favourite appliance for drying laundry quickly and saving money

Drying clothes quickly in winter is always a challenge without the aid of a tumble dryer. However, according to Martin Lewis, there is one key appliance that is worth investing in to tackle laundry day quickly while saving money.

Presenter and Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis is urging people to use one of the best dehumidifiers on the market to help with drying your clothes quickly, without succumbing to the dizzying cost of running a tumble dryer.

In the winter we've found that if you want to avoid the tumble dryer, but also make sure your clothes don't smell damp when drying indoors then you might want to tune into Martin's words of advice.

Martin Lewis dehumidifier tip

The MoneySavingExpert founder shared this hack on his podcast. ‘You’re going to pay roughly 7p per hour to run a dehumidifier at 200W, assuming it uses full power the whole time,’ he explains. ‘Which is generally far, far cheaper than putting the heating on.'

'If a dehumidifier does work for you, it will definitely have lower electricity bills, but, of course, you do have the initial capital outlay of buying a dehumidifier and seeing how that works for you.’

On Ideal Home, we have worked out if a dehumidifier versus a tumble dryer is a viable debate, and the answer is not only yes, a dehumidifier can dry clothes, but we also found that they're a brilliant money-saving alternative to a tumble dryer. 

If you don’t already own a dehumidifier, then there is the initial investment to consider, but we think it can be one that pays off in the long run.

'The Ideal Home team has put a whole host of dehumidifiers through their paces, and we agree with Martin that a good one can definitely speed up indoor drying times for wet washing,' explains Amy Lockwood, Ideal Home Ecommerce Editor and resident dehumidifier expert, 'However, you do need to make sure you opt for one with a good extraction rate'.

Petya Holevich, house cleaning and laundry expert at Fantastic Services, agrees that the effectiveness of this hack depends largely on the right choice of a dehumidifier. ‘Keep in mind that the effectiveness will depend on the capacity of the dehumidifier, the size of the room, and the level of humidity in the air so a higher capacity dehumidifier in a moderately sized room with reasonable humidity levels will generally provide better results.’

But she is still a fan of this method for multiple reasons, ‘Dehumidifiers offer a versatile solution for drying clothes, especially when outdoor drying is not a practical option because of weather conditions or lack of space.'

'One of their key advantages is the ability to control indoor humidity levels by removing excess moisture from the air. This creates a more favourable environment for the efficient drying of clothes. These devices can also help mitigate musty odours and mould growth issues by keeping the air dry and preventing the conditions that foster them.’ 

‘Compared to traditional clothes dryers, dehumidifiers are often more energy-efficient,' continues Petya. 'They consume less electricity, making them a cost-effective option for people trying to reduce their energy bills while still achieving effective drying.’ 

If you're wondering how the drying powers of a dehumidifier size up compared to the best-heated clothes airers a dehumidifier will get the job done a little quicker, and tackle the issue of the excess moisture from the laundry. However, the heated airer and dehumidifier together are the ultimate dream team for drying clothes in record time if you can stretch to invest in both, or you could check if any of them have landed in Martin Lewis Black Friday deals round-up. 

There's an option to suit every space and help you dry your laundry more quickly without speedily running up those bills.