Home
Weather London
WeatherRadar
RainfallRadar
TemperatureRadar
WindRadar
LightningRadar
Weather News
Editor's Pick
Discover the app
Weather widget
Contact us
Apps
Career
    Home / Editor's Pick /

    Washing can dry even when it's freezing

13:00
23 January 2022

Winter laundry tip
Washing can dry even when it's freezing

clothesline

While many of us wait for a warm, sunny day to hang laundry, did you know that you can actually dry your washing when it is freezing outside?

If you want to do something good for yourself and the environment, you can make use of a special property of water to dry your laundry in winter. Even when it's freezing cold!

The prerequisite for this is that it is frosty outside and the air is relatively dry. Once the laundry is frozen, the water skips an aggregate state - namely the liquid state.

This effect is called sublimation. The frozen water evaporates directly. The conditions for this are particularly good when, in addition to temperatures below zero, the sun is shining. A combination we have seen regularly across the UK and Ireland recently.

In ideal conditions, the laundry dries in a day in the frosty air. For this, the sun should be shining and a light wind blowing.

But this is not a must, because very cold air often also brings low humidity. Therefore, it can absorb the moisture of the laundry very well. Another advantage of this is that the laundry smells particularly fresh, ideally it even smells like winter clear air.

The effect of sublimation can also be observed with snow. If it snows at first and then the weather turns dry and cold, the snow cover will become smaller and smaller over time, despite the constant frost, because the white snow simply dissolves into thin air.

More on the topic
Cheshire Gap produces shower funnel. Local phenomenon. . . Wednesday, 9 September 2026
Weather map showing showers moving southeast from Liverpool toward Birmingham, driven by Cheshire Gap convergence across central England.
Wednesday, 9 September 2026

Local phenomenon

Cheshire Gap produces shower funnel
A snowy winter in the Andes. Avalanches and storms. . . Tuesday, 15 September 2026
Tuesday, 15 September 2026

Avalanches and storms

A snowy winter in the Andes
Severe weather hits Mallorca and Italy. Severe thunderstorms. . . Thursday, 10 September 2026
Numerous thunderstorms are sweeping across La Palma. The many lightning symbols on the radar and lightning map show that there is heavy lightning activity across large parts of the island. The thunderstorms are striking particularly in the island’s interior and in the south. On the right, you can see the aftermath: a large fallen tree has buried a car beneath it. Emergency services are clearing up the damage. So, along with the thunderstorms, not only heavy rain but also gusts of wind can become a problem.
Thursday, 10 September 2026

Severe thunderstorms

Severe weather hits Mallorca and Italy
All weather news
This might also interest you
A frozen start to the weekend. Icy conditions. . . Friday, 13 February 2026
UK temperature map dated 14.02 showing widespread subzero values in blue shading, with readings such as −4 in Glasgow, −3 in Dublin, and −2 in London, alongside a blue thermometer icon.
Friday, 13 February 2026

Icy conditions

A frozen start to the weekend
Long-term trends need a pinch of salt. 40 °C in July?. . . Tuesday, 30 June 2026
Temperature radar of 2022 heatwave where the all-time temperature record in the UK was set. Warning symbol overlain.
Tuesday, 30 June 2026

40 °C in July?

Long-term trends need a pinch of salt
Flooding, gales, and heavy snow. Storm Chandra. . . Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Split image showing aerial flooding in a town with muddy water covering roads on the left, and a rural road on the right blocked by heavy snowfall with vans stopped and a person walking in snow.
Tuesday, 27 January 2026

Storm Chandra

Flooding, gales, and heavy snow
All articles
Weather & Radar

Weather & Radar is also available on

Google Play StoreApp Store

Company

Contact us Privacy Policy Legal info Accessibility statement

Services

Uploader

Socials

facebooktwittertikToklinkList