It’s the dead of winter and there’s a vampire in your house. It’s sucking the moisture out of your body as sure as Dracula got good blood out of young women in gauzey gowns.
If you think your house is as dry as the Sahara Desert, you’re wrong. It’s drier. The Sahara has an average relative humidity of 25 percent. If the temperature outside is 0, and your thermostat is set at 70 degrees, the relative humidity in your home is 4 percent. That’s not even close to the ideal of 20 to 60 percent.
When the air inside is too dry, skin itches and cracks, hair flies from static electricity, and wood furniture contracts and deteriorates. Too much humidity, and your home grows mold and mildew, metal corrodes and wood decays. So it’s important to keep a balance.
You probably know when the air in your home is uncomfortably dry. It just feels awful. But if you live in or near the southern states, and you’re unsure of the humidity in your home, here’s a simple test.
Place three ice cubes in a glass, add water and stir. Wait three minutes. If moisture does not form on the outside of the glass, your home is too dry. Since air seeks it’s own balance of moisture, humidity will be taken where it lies, and that includes house plants, wood furniture, and you. Your body becomes a walking humidifier in the dry air. Ouch.
Keep the moisture vampire away with these free sources of humidity.
First, whenever you have the heat on in your home, don’t use a fan in the bathroom as you shower. It will be a little foggy for a moment, but as soon as you are dressed, open the door and vent the humidity into the rest of your home.
Second, save money by line-drying some or all of your clothes. Electric dryers are basically dehumidifiers. We pay to send the humidity out of the house. That’s a great idea in the summer, but why do it in the winter? If you hang your wet clothing, you’ll save money on electricity, you’ll dry your clothes for free, and you’ll humidify your home as the moisture evaporates.
And lastly, if you have a dishwasher with an optional “heat dry” feature, make sure you run your load without activating that option. When your dishes are clean, simply open the machine door, pull out the two racks of wet dishes, and see how quickly they dry by themselves. Again, you’ll add moisture to your room, and you’ll save money on electricity by not drying dishes which will dry on their own anyway.
And after all that housework, give your hands a break. After you wash them, don’t dry them with a towel. Just shake them off and apply moisturizer to your damp skin. Your house will be clean and your hands will say thank you.
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