Bengaluru gets rain from June right through to October, and September and October are usually the wettest months. Washing isn't the hard part in that season; drying is. Clothes that hang damp for a day or two pick up the sour, musty smell that no amount of perfume in the detergent seems to fix.
The good news is that the smell is preventable. It comes down to getting clothes dry faster, and that depends more on moving air than on heat.
Why clothes smell when they dry slowly
That musty smell is caused by bacteria and mildew that grow on fabric while it stays damp. The longer a garment sits wet, whether in the machine, in a laundry basket or on a crowded rack, the more they grow. Thick, absorbent fabrics like towels, jeans and sweatshirts hold the most water and dry the slowest, which is why they're usually the first to smell.
So every tip below does one of three things: gets more water out before you hang the clothes, helps the rest evaporate faster, or keeps damp clothes from sitting still.
Get more water out in the machine
- Use the highest spin your fabric allows. A faster final spin leaves much less water in the clothes, which can cut drying time noticeably. Keep delicates, silks and anything with embellishment on a gentle spin.
- Add an extra spin for towels and jeans. Most machines have a spin-only setting. A second spin on heavy items is worth the few extra minutes.
- Wash smaller loads. An overloaded drum spins less efficiently and leaves clothes wetter and more creased.
- Hang clothes as soon as the cycle ends. Wet clothes left sitting in a closed drum are where the smell starts. If a load has been left overnight, it's better to rewash it than to hang it up.
Hang for airflow, not just space
How you hang clothes matters as much as where.
| Item | How to hang it |
|---|---|
| Shirts and kurtas | On hangers, buttons undone, spaced apart |
| T-shirts | On hangers or folded over a rail, not bunched on a clip |
| Jeans and trousers | Inside out, pockets pulled out, hung by the waistband |
| Towels | Opened out across two rails, not folded in half |
| Bedsheets | Folded in half over two or three rails, shifted halfway through |
| Socks and innerwear | Spread on a clip hanger with gaps between them |
Leave a hand's width between items so air can move around each one. Clothes touching each other dry like one thick layer.
Keep the air moving
- A fan does more than you'd expect. A ceiling fan over the rack, or a pedestal fan pointed at it, speeds up drying far more than simply leaving clothes in a warm room.
- Pick the room with the best cross-ventilation. Open two windows on opposite sides when it isn't raining in. Avoid the bathroom, which is usually the dampest room in the house.
- Don't dry clothes in a closed bedroom. All that water goes into the air and ends up on walls and inside wardrobes, which is how mould gets started.
- Use a dehumidifier if you have one. Running it in the drying room helps a lot during long spells of rain.
- Catch the sunny breaks. When a dry afternoon is forecast, save the jeans, towels and bedsheets for that wash.
Check it's properly dry before you store it
The seams, collars, waistbands, pockets and the thick hems of jeans dry last. Feel those spots before you fold anything. A shirt that's dry on the outside but damp at the collar will smell within a day in a closed wardrobe.
Ironing cotton shirts and kurtas while they're very slightly damp works well in this season: the iron drives out the last of the moisture and gives a better finish.
Keep wardrobes from turning damp
- Don't pack clothes in tightly; leave some room for air
- Put a few moisture-absorbing packs or silica gel sachets in each wardrobe and replace them when they're full
- Open wardrobe doors for a while on dry days
- Store rarely worn clothes and blankets only when they're completely dry, in breathable cotton bags rather than sealed plastic
If clothes already smell
- Rewash them. Don't just re-dry them, because drying on its own won't remove the smell.
- Use the normal amount of detergent, not extra. Leftover detergent in the fabric can hold on to smells.
- Add half a cup of white vinegar to the rinse, or a couple of spoons of baking soda to the wash. Use one or the other, and never mix vinegar with bleach.
- Dry them fast, using everything above. The smell comes back if they sit damp again.
Towels that still smell after this usually have a build-up of detergent or softener. Skip fabric softener for towels altogether, since it coats the fibres and makes them hold water.
When to hand it over
In the wettest weeks, the problem is often simply running out of drying space. Handing over the bulky, slow-drying items frees your rack for daily wear. Our wash & fold service returns clothes washed, dried and folded: a T-shirt is ₹26, a shirt ₹29, a bath towel ₹36 and a double bedsheet ₹56. For office wear, wash & iron returns shirts pressed and ready. For blankets and quilts, which are the hardest things to dry at home in the rain, home-care cleaning starts from ₹285. Standard delivery is about 4–5 days.
Frequently asked questions
Why do my clothes smell after drying indoors?
They took too long to dry. Bacteria and mildew grow on fabric that stays damp for many hours, and they cause the musty smell. Faster drying, with a higher spin, more space between items and a fan, prevents it.
How long can wet clothes stay in the washing machine?
As briefly as possible. Hang them as soon as the cycle ends. If a load has been left in the drum for many hours or overnight, rewash it before drying.
Does fabric softener stop the monsoon smell?
No. Softener can mask the smell for a while, but it doesn't fix the cause, and on towels it reduces absorbency. Getting clothes dry quickly is what stops the smell.
Is it okay to dry clothes indoors?
Yes, as long as the room is ventilated. Drying in a closed room raises the humidity, which can lead to damp walls and mould in wardrobes, so keep a window open or a fan running.