To put washing on the line in January?

[OriginalGreenGiant]

We've fallen so behind with the washing this past fortnight and I've just washed a monster load of towels that had built up. I have about 12 large towels that need drying, and my house is already full of laundry hanging up (radiators and tops of doorways have already been put to use!)

So I've just shoved them all on the (very long, very high) line. It's about 8 degrees here, breezy, blue sky. No direct sunlight on the line but will probably get a couple of hours this afternoon.

My mum is here, chuckling at me, saying what a waste of effort and they won't dry.

I know they probably won't dry completely but surely in those conditions it will do something^ to the towels, meaning I only have to tumble them for a few minutes this evening.

It's not that weird, surely?

[Behooven]

Even getting them aired will help although they won't dry until you bring them in. Why not, they'll smell nice anyway.

[cricketpitch]

Not weird. I love the freshness of line-dried stuff. They'll tumble dry quicker after a spell on the line as long as it isn't too damp and in the meantime they are not draped round the house.

I put towels on the line in the last week and they froze overnight as I forgot about them. Lovely and fresh when they thawed and dried!

[HoggleHoggle]

My Grandma does this and the woman is always right. So go ahead I'd say!

[LapsedTwentysomething]

Mine is on the line too. I don't expect it to dry much but what a waste of energy to put it straight in the dryer.

[ShatnersBassoon]

I've pegged out today. It's a bright blowy day, I can't resist.

[Dumbledoresgirl]

Your mum is wrong and should be ashamed of herself for not being wiser than her dd.

You are right: even if the towels don't dry completely, with dry, sunny weather you can definitely get your towels to the point where they will only need a hour or so hanging indoors to finish drying. Plus, you are not adding moisture and that horrid damp smell to your house.

It is a fantastic day here. I'm off to put bedding on the line.

[usualsuspect333]

I've put some washing out today.It's sunny and blowy here.

I use my line all winter if we get bright blowy days.

[StillStayingClassySanDiego]

I'm planning on getting my stuff out, it's sunny and blowy here too.

[Salmotrutta]

It's bleeding snowing here so I won't be doing it

[Salmotrutta]

Oh, and I forgot the bit about it also blowing a gale slight exaggeration

[livegoldrings]

I read somewhere that if the ground is dry it is worth putting washing out as it will at least partly dry, if the ground stays damp dont bother.

[usualsuspect333]

Is it Salmo?

[BobsTaintedLeftLeg]

Mines out too.

Even if it gets part dry, I can either bung it in the drier or in the airing cupboard to finish off.
More likely the airing cupboard.

[Salmotrutta]

Yes, great big bleeding flakes of the stuff.

Not lying yet... but it might eventually

[OriginalGreenGiant]

Ok so I'm not that weird then!

I'll bring it in about 4.30 (pending no rain clouds appearing of course) and see what difference it's made.

[Salmotrutta]

In fact, it's a bit blizzard like - well half-blizzard anyway.

[piggychops]

Our washing goes on the line all year round. Even if it only gets 50% dry it's less moisture to bring into the house. We don't have a tumble drier.

[Salmotrutta]

Ooh.

These snowflakes are some of the biggest I've seen in many a year

[CrazyOldBagLady]

Mine's out right now, sunny and windy here at the moment, so I thought I would make the most of it. I'm sure a few of the heavier items won't dry out thoroughly but they should be ok after a night on the maiden indoors.

[yongnian]

Mines out too, similarly bright and blowy though cold, so whilst they won't dry completely they'll still dry more than if indoors and therefore dry quicker when I bring them in.
If there's nothing actually falling from the sky, I try to get it washing out no matter what.

[usualsuspect333]

Big snowflakes

[slightlyglitterstained]

Last week was similarly bright, and less windy - I did at least one wash each day to catch up and all of them went on the line first. Even a couple of hours is a few pints of water not going into your home.

We don't have a tumble dryer so unless it's raining, laundry always goes on the line. When it's blowy, that gets rid of quite a lot of water pretty fast. It dries faster if it's hot, but basic physics says it'll still lose water if the humidity level outside is low enough, and a bit of wind accelerates this.

[Salmotrutta]

If there's a decent blowy wind and no dampness in the air it's always worth doing.

Nothing quite like the freshness of line-dried clothes!

[unlucky83]

I stick mine out all year (even overnight...as I admitted on another thread) unless it is damp it will take a lot out- quicker to dry in tumble/inside.
I had a duvet cover on a rotary airer last year (pegged on more than one line so it dried quicker) really cold and it hailed ...went out to bring it in but found it was almost dry - just had hailstones collected in the middle - just tipped them out and left it ....

[coolaschmoola]

I got towels dry yesterday. They were very cold when I brought them in but dry.