A Pool Noodle Will Revolutionize The Way You Hang-Dry Your Laundry

Doing laundry can be a daunting task from start to finish, and keeping wrinkles at bay once you finally do have fresh, clean clothes is often a frustrating challenge — especially when hang-drying them. Whether you're using a drying rack or a clothesline to air-dry your laundry, you're bound to find yourself dealing with unwanted, hard-to-remove creases where the clothing was draped over your instrument of choice. Thankfully, you don't have to say goodbye to the benefits of air-drying (like extending the life of your clothes and saving money on electricity), but you can say goodbye to the unnecessary time you spend ironing your clothes afterward.

The solution is as simple as a pool noodle. That's right, those colorful, buoyant toys from your childhood could help you with "adulting" in the laundry room. While they may seem like an unlikely tool at first, pool noodles are the perfect way to keep your clothes smooth while air-drying (and add color to your laundry room at the same time). Plus, they generally only cost a few bucks, keeping this hack as affordable as it is simple.

Transforming this uncommon item into a laundry room must-have is actually quite straightforward: By cutting the pool noodle lengthwise, you can gently slip it over the poles of your drying rack to create a padded, rounded surface that will prevent your clothes from creasing or wrinkling as they dry. Just cut the ends of the noodle to perfectly fit whatever size rack you're working with. You probably want to avoid using this trick with heated or electric drying racks, though, to prevent any potential fire hazards.

But the pool noodle's versatility doesn't stop there. What if you prefer to dry your clothes outside on a clothesline for that fresh, airy scent fancy candles are always trying to imitate? Pool noodles can be fitted over clotheslines as well, and in fact, due to the length of the average clothesline, you probably won't even need to trim the ends for this application. The clothesline method is pretty much identical to the drying rack idea: Simply cut the noodle "hot-dog style" (we suggest carefully using a box cutter) and slide it over the line. This is great for larger items like coats and comforters that might not fit on your drying rack.

Once your clothes have dried, you can keep them wrinkle-free when you hang them in the closet with a variation on this same trick. On TikTok, @jmg8tor offers a live demo (as part of a whole playlist of pool noodle hacks ranging from laundry to cleaning to protecting electrical cords): By cutting the pool noodles into even shorter segments, you can fit them right over the bottoms of triangular hangers.

This version of the hack works especially well for pants if you don't have a hanger with clips. Though it will take up more space in your closet, it's all worth it when you can take your outfits right out of the closet and put them on without stopping to iron or steam them. Whether you're trying to keep your clothes wrinkle-free while they're hanging to dry or after they're put away, surprisingly versatile pool noodles will be your new go-to accessory for laundry day and beyond.