To think people are getting scruffier?

I think having the windows open makes it dry quicker. If the windows are shut then the air gets more and more saturated with water, not only does that mean the water in the clothes evaporates more slowly but your house gets damper. Having the window open means that the damp air goes out and is replaced by fresh air which can absorb more water. That's my theory anyway and it seems to work because the clothes dry overnight. I also hang each item over 2 rails so there's a good space in between, if you hang them over one there are 4 layers of fabric very close to each other which is bound to dry more slowly.

Some people have no basic personal hygiene. I'm the type of person that has to shower twice a day and do the laundry once to twice a day and tidy up every single day. We do have a cleaner to do the big jobs. I couldn't live in chaos and bad smells make me want to vom.
I find it absolutely disgusting when people don't wash...

We have a security light out there.

@NoWordForFluffy do you hang up your washing in the dark then? Or do you have an outside light? Just trying to imagine how it works as some of the year it’s dark by the time I finish at 5, so I’d be out in a cold dark garden trying to get it hung up.

Poverty

A couple of things which might be part of it.

Not putting the heating on as much as people used to, means that houses can often smell damp these days. I live in an old property and notice the damp smell when the heating hasn’t been on as much. I do try to keep it clean and use products to make it smell nice but they do cost. I’ve also noticed that if I hang my washing up in the house to dry without putting the radiator on then it dries with an awful smell. In fact hanging it on a radiator airer and not on the radiator itself sometimes means it smells odd. Looking forward to the nicer weather to hang out. I don’t have a drier.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that people are going away from anti-perspirant to more environmentally friendly deodorant. I tried some (Wild) and although it smells gorgeous in its container, after a while of using it I actually smelled awful. I’ve had to go back to my proper antiperspirant that contains aluminium chloride. But the cost of such things has gone up too.

I only find it surprising as our washing doesn't dry overnight and our airer is kept on the second floor (up two flights of stairs) and our windows are shut. So yeah, I do find it surprising. Not saying it doesn't happen, but it's surprising.

Well he does.

He’s a white man, in his fifties. It’s not a racist comment (which is I assume what your comment was about…which says a LOT about you). Not that his race matters. Stinking is stinking. I’d say the same of someone who smelt like fish. Or shit. Or vomit.

And he stinks.

yuck - can’t believe we have a “stinks like curry” one in 2024. Thought that nonsense was in the past - where it belongs.

If you were that bright, you'd have googled it yourself. #potcallingkettle

Honestly some of you are nuts. I did not ask anyone to Google anything, let alone demand it.

There are some bright people on MN (obviously not you!) who I knew would be able to answer my question - but instead I got a bunch of posters who were incapable of even understanding the question.

If you are all products of this wonderful British education system I keep reading about on here, then I will give thanks every day I was eductated elsewhere.

I will leave you to your ridiculously high energy costs, and not waste an ounce of sympathy on you for them.

Exactly this. It's perfectly possible to get most washing dry outside, it just requires more vigilance and constant looking at the weather forecast and planning when you'll do it.

I'm on the NW coast and we dry washing outside all year. We watch the forecast like hawks, and put washing out overnight if it's dry / windy, where the days around it are forecast wet.

Not now she's in her eighties! But she did work full time for 35 years till she was 70 and had children living at home for some of that. And always lived in Wales where it rains a lot. She just kept her eye firmly on the weather forecast and didn't do washing on rainy days. I always thought it made extra stress so got a tumble dryer as soon as I had my own place, tried to persuade her to get one but she just doesn't want to, cost not an issue at all. Before tumble dryers were invented people hung out as much as possible.

Because some of them will be caring for you when you're in your dotage (or their taxes will be covering the costs of your carers)

And other people's taxes paid for your education and healthcare.

I just don’t think people have got scruffier or smellier or messier in their homes due to energy costs. Maybe some, but I’m not buying that.

i think it’s only a small percentage that is in this situation In the first place ie dirty homes or smelly themselves , and I think these people have always existed. As a pp said, we can all boil a kettle.

yes for some it is a struggle and they are in abject poverty,but in the main I think there is just a number of people who live dirty or just don’t clean themselves enough and they have always existed.

Have not noticed extra smelly people. Have noticed people going out in slippers or very scruffy but that been happening for quite a few years. Depends where you are obviously.

I can't dry clothes outside so have to dry inside
There is no way mine dry overnight though, it's usually 2 days and that's with a heated airer and dehumidifier!

@GetWhatYouWant like you I do leave windows or at least trickle vents open, and also use a heated dryer.

@GetWhatYouWant does your mum work ft? Just wondering as even working from home there’s a very limited number of days I can get the washing outside to dry. It’s rare in many parts of the country to get a totally rain free day apart from maybe 2-3 months a year. And if I was having to drop the kids off at school and then get to a separate workplace, there would be no time at all to run a wash and get it out on the line before leaving for work.

I think it's the energy costs. Having a bath Vs heating a room.

Yes that's right. Is it so surprising, been doing it for decades. All my upstairs rooms have the window open all the time, obviously in winter I don't open them wide, my windows have a small window part so that's open all year round. I have a tumble dryer but there are some clothes that can't go in it and I dry them on an airer in the spare bedroom. I'm just about to put a wash on of clothes that can't be tumbled, they'll go on the airer and will be dry in the morning. The heating will go off about 11.30 tonight but there will be residual heat in the room.

As someone who lives outside the UK now, when I visit there is a noticeable increase in obesity, overweight people and a very casual attitude to clothing and appearance among a lot more people. I grew up in a working-class household in a working-class area - it was rare for people not to be house proud and take care of their appearance. In fact, it was the middle class at school and work who seemed to be much more relaxed and "scruffy". I know people are financially struggling now but also the lack of social cohesion within families and neighborhoods is very obvious. People were poor in the past, but many had support and encouragement from extended family and those around them. Now I see people in my old neighborhood accepting much lower standards of dress, cleanliness and behaviour. I do think people are overwhelmed, and demoralized.
There is a lack of hope for the future and general malaise everywhere. The closing down of so many high sts and community resources (hospitals, libraries, banks etc.) in many areas adds to the impression of a struggling society.

I've definitely become scruffier and couldn't care less if I'm wearing makeup since Covid. That being said. We sold our house last year and the place was spotless for viewings. We had some professional cleaners do a deep clean before photos and then kept on top of it before viewings. It was the most miserable time of my life and after 2 failed sales, we took a low ball offer as soon as it came in because we couldn't face another month of cleaning for viewings.

You dry clothes inside with multiple windows open in the winter? I'm struggling to see how they dry overnight.