Doing the laundry is one of those mundane household tasks that everyone has to do but doesn’t enjoy because it’s laborious and seemingly never-ending.

The actual washing part itself isn’t so bad - simply toss the dirty clothes in the washing machine, add some washing powder, press the button and you’re good to go. The frustrating part is often the drying aspect, as it can take a long time - particularly if you’re trying to dry clothes indoors. Now that the weather is warming up many households will be taking advantage of the sunshine and drying clothes outdoors.

But with hay fever season in full swing, hanging clothes to dry outside isn’t necessarily the best option. Pollen is sticky and can cling to your clothes when left outdoors, so if you leave your washing to dry outside for several hours you can end up bringing pollen back into your home, which can make your symptoms worse indoors.

Experts advise against drying clothes outdoors during the pollen season for this reason, which means for allergy sufferers, the only other options available are hanging washing up to dry inside, or using a tumble dryer.

Not all households have a tumble dryer, likely because they’re very expensive to run, so using a clothes airer is the next best option. While this option is much cheaper, it can also take a long time for clothes to dry, but there is a nifty way to speed up the process that won’t cost you a penny.

Laundry experts say you should wrap your wet clothing inside a dry towel to help soak up some of the excess water and this will help to get your clothes dry much faster.

Lifestyle Clotheslines explains: “If you want to quickly dry your clothes without a dryer, try the towel roll method. This technique involves wrapping wet clothing in one or multiple dry towels to absorb water then adding paper towels on top for extra moisture extraction. Doing this technique can help speed up the drying process significantly while saving time and effort along the way.

“Start by taking each piece of clothing from its damp state and rolling it tightly inside one single dry towel, when using multiple garments at once make sure to separate clean linens if possible.

"Once that's done, twist both ends of the towel - ensuring that it’s tightly twisted to guarantee that it successfully squeezes excess water. Insert some sheets of paper towels into the creases that were created during folding-in so any additional drops get soaked away too.

“Finally, inspect how effective this has been. If not, you may have squeezed too many items at once. Remove some items then repeat the steps until you achieve the desired results.”

Martin Seeley, sleep expert and CEO of MattressNextDay, says this technique is also effective for drying bed sheets, particularly if you’re avoiding using washing lines during the pollen season.

He said: “I always recommend drying your bedding indoors or using a tumble dryer to keep it pollen-free. If you’re worried about your bed sheets taking a while to dry, I’d recommend washing them first thing in the morning so you can take advantage of warmer temperatures and natural airflow throughout the day. 

“Before hanging them up, give your sheets a really good shake helps separate the fibres and speeds up drying. Another trick I use is the towel technique: lay your damp sheet flat on a dry towel, roll them up tightly together, and press down to absorb excess moisture before hanging the sheet to finish drying.”

“These simple hacks can dramatically reduce drying times indoors, making it much easier to keep your bedding fresh and pollen-free during high pollen seasons.”