Laundry can take upwards of 24 hours to dry without any help indoors and when the drying process is long, this is when damp musty smells start to form.

To avoid this and speed up the drying process, there is something households can do that won’t cost them as much on their energy bills as using a tumble dryer.

For the hours when households have their heating turned on, a money-saving mum on TikTok Gemma Bird, who also features on ITV’s Lorraine Save Squad, has shared how they can use it to their advantage when drying clothes and bed sheets.

@moneymumofficial captioned her video: “Dry your clothes faster! Tumble dryers are not cheap. Did you know that on average a 2500W tumble dryer costs about 85p to use for an hour? If you use this often, it soon mounts up.”

Instead, Gemma recommended covering your airer that’s full of clothes with a bed sheet and tucking it over a radiator.

She added in the caption: “Use a bed sheet and put it near the radiator. It dries the clothes in half the time.”

In the video, Gemma demonstrated the hack. She started by adding her clothes to the airer and placing it near one of her radiators.

She then placed a bed sheet over the airer and tucked it into the radiator before leaving the clothes and bed sheet to absorb the heat that was being trapped.

Taking to the comments section, fellow TikTok users shared their thoughts on this tip. @lilyac said: “I do this when I have my heating on. It’s genius.”

@sandrahil294 commented: “I had towels and jumpers on my airer with a bed sheet and it was all dried in two hours.”

@natbaps88 said: “Done it for years - even better when you put a heater fan. It did three loads of washing in about an hour and a half.”

For added help, homeowners can also place a dehumidifier near the airer to suck up all the added moisture in the air.

This helps to prevent any extra warm droplets that can eventually lead to mould. However, this step is optional.

Users in the comments section also recommended using a dehumidifier. @sandyoshea36 said: “I do this with a dehumidifier. Great results.”

@lilpookie6 added: “Best buy ever is a dehumidifier with laundry setting, especially for drying woollens in winter.”