How to Dry Clothes Fast: Easy Tips & Tricks

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The best hacks to get your wet clothes dry ASAP

Co-authored by Ayad Mirjan and Raven Minyard, BA

Last Updated: September 16, 2025 Fact Checked

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You’ve done a load of laundry, but now there’s a problem: all your clothes are wet, and you need them dry, stat. If you don’t want to wait around for a dryer cycle or for your garments to air dry, you’re not alone—many people are searching for hacks to get their clothes to dry faster. Fortunately for you, we’ve gathered them all in one place in this helpful article. Keep reading to learn how to quickly dry your clothes in the dryer or without one, with helpful tips from dry cleaner and laundry specialist Ayad Mirjan.

Quick Ways to Dry Your Clothes

Dry cleaner and laundry specialist Ayad Mirjan says the best way to quickly dry your clothes without a dryer is to hang them up, preferably outside. Alternatively, place them on a clothes rack beneath a ceiling fan. Other options include rolling them in a dry towel or drying them with a hair dryer.

Section 1 of 2:

Drying Your Clothes in the Dryer

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Do an extra spin cycle in the washer. If you’re using a washing machine, use a high spin setting to remove as much water as possible from your clothes before you even take them out of the wash. Although this might take an extra 15 minutes, removing the excess water will help your garments dry much faster. Even if you don’t have time for an extra cycle, Mirjan says, “Be sure that the clothing goes through a complete spin cycle so the excess water can spin out.”^{[1]
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Ayad Mirjan
Dry Cleaner & Laundry Specialist

Expert Interview}
- It’s always a good idea to do a spin cycle on your clothes, even if you don’t need to dry them particularly fast. Drying wet clothes takes much longer and wastes a lot of energy.
Meet the wikiHow Experts

Ayad Mirjan is a dry cleaner, laundry specialist, and the founder of OrangeBag, a toxin-free, sustainable laundry and dry cleaning delivery service based in Los Angeles. He has over 4 years of experience in the industry.
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Clean out the lint screen. Take the lint screen out of your dryer and remove as much lint as possible by hand. If you’ve never fully cleaned your lint screen before, use soap and water to scrub the screen, then rinse it out well. Let the screen dry before putting it back into the dryer.^{[2]
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- Not sure if you need to clean your lint screen? Try running water through it. If the water pools up and doesn’t go through, it’s time for a scrub.
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Clean out the dryer vents. Look behind your dryer and find the vents connected to it, which usually lead outside or into a wall. Unhook the vent from the back of your dryer, then use a vacuum or an air compressor to clean out the lint. Finally, hook the vent back up to your dryer before using it again.^{[3]
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- Try to clean out your dryer vents at least once a year. A buildup of lint in the vents not only slows down drying time, but it can be a fire hazard, too.
Overloading your dryer will make the clothes dry more slowly, leading to a longer dry time. If you have a lot of clothes to dry, split them into 2 loads. This will help the dryer work better, and it will dry your clothes more quickly.^{[4]
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Add a few clean, dry towels to the load. Towels help absorb moisture to speed up dry times. Before starting your dryer, put in 1 or 2 clean towels, then start the cycle. After 15 minutes, open the dryer door and remove the towels, then restart the cycle.^{[5]
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- Be sure to remove the towels after 15 to 20 minutes. Leaving the towels in too long could actually make your drying time longer, as you’ll be adding a now-damp towel to your load.
- This method is especially effective for drying pants fast.
- Don’t have any clean towels? Try using dryer balls instead. Reusable dryer balls help separate garments in the dryer, leading to a faster dry time. Plus, they replace the need for dryer sheets, so they’re great for the environment, too.
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Pick the hottest setting that your clothes can withstand. A small load on the hottest dryer setting will only take 15 to 20 minutes to dry completely. Check the label on your clothing and make sure it can handle the heat, then crank that knob to the highest setting before starting your dryer.
- Delicate items, like bras, underwear, and anything made of silk, won’t do well with high heat.

Section 2 of 2:

Drying Your Clothes Without a Dryer

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Hold a garment firmly in both hands. Squeeze, twist, and knead the fabric to wrench out as much water as possible. Be careful not to pull too hard, or you might stretch the fabric. If you're inside, wring the water into a sink or tub; if you're outside, wring the water directly onto the ground.
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Roll the clothing into a towel to absorb the water. Lay a large, fluffy towel on a flat surface, then place the wet garment on top. Tightly roll up the towel with the clothing inside, twisting the bundle as you go. This will squeeze the excess water out of your clothes and into the towel.^{[6]
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- If this trick doesn't remove all of the water the first time around, use another dry towel to repeat the twist.
- Another option is to step on the towel, as your body weight will help press out the water.
- If your clothes are wrinkled after rolling them in the towel, remember to iron them. If you don’t have an iron, Mirjan recommends placing the garment under your mattress overnight to remove any visible wrinkles.^{[7]
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Use an iron and a towel. Lay your wet garment flat on an ironing board and place a thin towel on top of it. Turn your iron on high and iron the towel firmly. Make sure to turn the garment over so that you press both sides. This will allow some warmth to seep into the fabric, and the towel will absorb some of the moisture.^{[8]
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- Do not put a hot iron directly onto a wet piece of clothing. This may stretch and damage the fabric. If you use an iron on wet clothing, always use a towel for protection.
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Dry individual garments with a hair dryer. Wring out your clothing and either lay it flat or hang it on a hanger. Place your hair dryer on low to medium heat. Hold it near the clothing, quickly moving it back and forth so that it never lingers in one spot too long. Work your way slowly around the entire surface of the garment, front and back, inside and out, until the whole thing is dry.^{[9]
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- Rotate the garment frequently to dry any pockets, sleeves, and collars. Dry them from the inside and the outside to ensure that you do a thorough job.
- Using a high setting may shrink your clothing.
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Hang your clothing on a clothesline or drying rack. Mirjan says one of the best ways to dry your clothes without a dryer is to hang them up, preferably on a clothesline outdoors. If you can’t hang them outside, he says, “Hang your clothes on a clothes rack in a well-ventilated room. If you have a ceiling fan, place your clothes immediately underneath the fan, ensuring the clothes are separate and not layered on top of each other.”^{[10]
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Ayad Mirjan
Dry Cleaner & Laundry Specialist

Expert Interview}
- Mirjan adds, “A floor fan can also work if you rotate the clothes rack to ensure every garment gets its share of the blowing air.”^{[11]
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- Try setting up your line or clothing rack near a heat source. Hang your clothing a few feet away from a fireplace, radiator, boiler, or furnace.
- If you use a drying rack with individual bars, try hanging must-dry items over two bars rather than just one. The more surface area you expose to the airflow, the more quickly a garment will dry.
- If you plan on air drying your clothes, it’s okay to leave them in the washer overnight. This won’t be long enough to cause them to stink, and it’ll help remove excess water.
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Try salad spinning your clothes. Grab your wet clothing and throw it into a salad spinner, 1 to 2 small garments at a time. Rotate the salad spinner to spin the excess water out and to decrease drying time.^{[12]
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- A salad spinner basically imitates the spin cycle in a washer. Just be sure to rinse it out well before using it on your greens!
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Dry small items in a pre-heated oven. If you need to dry small garments like socks and underwear, preheat your oven to 100°F (37.7° C). Lay your items flat on a baking sheet, then turn the oven off once it’s preheated. Stick the baking sheet inside and let the heat dry the garments. If they aren’t sopping wet, they should be dry in about an hour.^{[13]
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- Warning: Do not set your oven to a higher temperature, and only put your garments in once it’s turned off. Otherwise, you may start a fire. This method may also damage your oven as the humidity can build up inside it and reduce its performance.

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Is it better to air dry or machine dry jeans?

Rani Gorgis
Laundry & Cleaning Specialist
Rani Gorgis is a Laundry and Cleaning Specialist and the Owner of Park Blvd Laundry & Dry Cleaners in San Diego, California. With several years of experience in the laundry and cleaning industry, Rani specializes in dry cleaning, wash-n-fold, shirt laundry, and servicing smoke-damaged clothes. He holds a BS in Accounting and a CPA certification.

Rani Gorgis

Laundry & Cleaning Specialist

Expert Answer

You can either air-dry your jeans or use the lowest heat setting on the dryer.

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Can you put clothes in the oven to dry?

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You can, but it is typically limited in effectiveness and can easily damage your clothes beyond repair. If you do try this for some reason, preheat your oven to the lowest possible temperature for about 10 minutes and then turn it off and put the clothes in on a clean baking or other type of tray, being careful not to let the clothes touch the rack or sides of the oven. Never put clothes in the oven while it is on! Dry as few clothes as possible to speed drying. The problem with using an oven is that most of the water vapor remains trapped inside the oven, which means clothes can take a while to dry, but if you open the oven door to vent some of the vapor, then the oven will quickly lose heat. Only use an oven to dry clothes if it's really your only option, you're only trying to dry one or two items that aren't very absorbent and you're ok with possibly losing the clothes!

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How long does it take to air dry clothes?

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It would usually take somewhere between 2-4 hours, though it could take much longer or shorter depending on the temperature, wind, humidity, the type of fabric and how thick it is.

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