I dry my laundry in my garden and my neighbour is really unhappy about it

I have very elderly neighbours down and across a bit from me. I don’t actually know them since nothing joins up and their house faces on to a completely different street. But I keep an eye open , I know they are still Ok when I see his lineful of spotlessly white y fronts ( honestly, they should be in a detergent advert, they gleam!) hoisted high on a Monday. I actually envy them the height of their washing line, things really blow whereas my line is a bit low and stuff just flaps a bit. They do their sheets and towels on a Tuesday!

That's funny because I would have thought that if their house is falling to bits and they're doing illegal building work, hanging out the laundry would be the last thing you'd be worried about.

What country are you in where it's such a faux pas?

It is. We have a new dryer with sensors and at least 20 programs. It dries in one direction only and it’s shit. Our old one had one setting and was brilliant. Our US one is a Maytag and it’s fabulous. Massive for a UK utility room though.

I dont hang my undies out because I would be too embarrassed myself, Bridget Jones knickers 😊

But everything else gets hung out.

OP YADNBU

Your neighbour is an antisocial idiot, and the passive-aggressive birthday card was bonkers!

I'm assuming you are being tongue in cheek. If not you are on the far side of deluded unreasonable to expect anything like this.

Any charity shops near ypu OP?

See if they have some awful skimpy underwear.
Hang it out and leave it out there full-time.

I would be unimpressed with her interference.
Time to blank her completely.

Politeness is lost, wasted, and viewed as a weakness by her type.

Time to locate your inner bitch, most cathartic!

Yes, they are being ridiculous. People have been drying their laundry including their underwear, outside for millenia.

I can only imagine your neighbour is the type to drape chastity covers over the ankles of her tables and put those knitted crinolines over her loo rolls. 😁

Hyacinth Bucket is her style guru. Ignore her.

Ignore her, OP. I’d be inclined to ask her whether she doesn’t realise how much more eco friendly line drying is than tumble driers, but TBH I’d guess she’d probably be too thick to understand why.

I’ve only ever heard of this sort of complaint before, from some evidently very prudish elderly neighbours of FiL, when he moved to a new house after Mil died. And that was 20 odd years ago!

He was also told that it was ‘compulsory’ to hang net curtains in your front windows, or it ‘wasn’t nice’.

He would never have actually told them to fuck off with their bonkers Victorian prudery, but he made his opinion plain enough.

I mean I don’t think it’s snooty @Crackanut to be respectful of others when you live close together. I think there is a general consensus among the row of terraces and the street either side of the row, and the local council, that we are improving the area as a community. I don’t live in the UK btw so perhaps this is a key difference as local investment is big where I live and since we have moved in and over the last ten years the area has really changed and there are a lot of new people and facilities. My neighbour has lived here much longer than this and I don’t think they can see actually how much disrepair there is in their property. They are also about to be in trouble for some dodgy building work that was completed without planning permission and has damaged part of the pavement. Maybe all these things affect my judgement but no one else in the row hangs their washing out either and everyone is very considerate and discreet we have found.

Who the fuck voted YABU?!

YANBU op, I'd hang more washing out to deliberately annoy her, maybe get one of those tacky shower curtains people use in their gardens and a few wind chimes.

12 pages worth of her being bonkers, I suggest you link her this thread then get a new MN acc.

What did they do before tumble driers?
Especially with sheets? 🤔

I'd better get my washing before it walks to the ironing basket (not that I do any ironing).

Your neighbour is nuts. I was going to say i’d be heading out to buy the skimpiest pants i could fine just to hang them on the line.

having said that i don’t actually hang any under wear outside as i don’t like that people could see it. clothes yes, they go out whenever they can

honestly I would say it’s ok in the week and things like bedding, towels, jumpers, jeans ok. I would assume people would be using their gardens in more at the weekends and I’d try to be considerate to that I suppose. I wouldn’t hang my underwear out! which my neighbour does and I always think it’s a bit manky tbh! I only hang out bedding in the sun occasionally but it’s still not visible really for our neighbours or from the street.

What's the point of wasting money on dryer in the nice weather. People have been hanging washing out for a long time.

I'd ask them how do they dry their washing then?

Keeping up good standards would mean to me not having a tumble dryer on unnecessarily when there is an outdoor natural dryer available.

Buy some gloves 🤷🏻‍♀️

What offends you about a washing line?

I’m with the neighbour. I hate to see washing on a line. Tumble everything but I have solar panels and lots of batteries.

My neighbour complained about my underwear and bra (post partum knickers and maternity sports bras )😁😁😁She said she's ashamed to have any guests!
I bought huge bundle from Vinted with reaaaallyyyy sexy, fetish stuff and left everything hanging for 3 weeks.

Is she a transplant from somewhere else? Laundry etiquette is cultural. Where I live we get fined for drying our laundry outside. The most I ever put out is a couple of towels after a trip to the pool and I bring them inside quickly.

your culture is to hang laundry outside so just ignore. Just curious if she might not be local.

Fuck her and dry your laundry in YOUR garden.