The invention discloses a clothes treating method and device. The method comprises the steps that after a clothes washing task is finished, whether clothes placed in a washing tub is taken out or not is determined; when it is determined that the washed clothes is not taken out and the placement time of the washed clothes exceeds a preset time duration, preset clothes drying operation is executed. According to the clothes treating method and device, after the clothes washing task is finished, whether the clothes is taken out of the washing tub or not is determined; when it is determined that the washed clothes is not taken out and the placement time of the washed clothes is too long, a washing machine automatically executes drying operation to dry the clothes, and therefore the defect that clothes is smelly after being placed for a long time in the related technologies is overcome. By means of the clothes treating method and device, the intelligent level of the washing machine can be improved, and the clothes treating process is more intelligent.