"Airing" clothes - necessary or just extra work?

[ElspethFlashman]

This applies less to the tumble driers amongst us as the line and clothes horse driers.

I've been thinking about this lately as I seem to be doing laundry 5 out of 7 days at the moment. My MIL is aghast at the idea I take clothes off my ceiling airer and straight into drawers. She puts them in the tumble drier for 5 mins first.

I was at work saying this seemed redundant and unnecessary and lo and behold, it seems every bloody colleague I have was horrified at the idea I put DRY clothes straight into drawers!

AIBU?

We have been spoilt this year with the long hot dry spell, it's been really good to just fetch it in and put it away without worrying about dampness

I have never heard of this. The airing cupboard is for storing towels and sheets and for drying stuff in winter. If it's been line dried it gets put away!

I guess if I took stuff in not quite dry I might stick it in the airing cupboard for a bit, just to get it properly dry. But I doubt five minutes would make much difference?

I don't have an airing cupboard or a tumble drier shock horror

Never heard that before
I have a washer dryer not as good as regular dryer I hardly ever use it to dry . I peg mine out then put it away .

My mother has always put dry washing in the airing cupboard for a few days before ironing and putting it away. I still have no idea what purpose this is supposed to have! I just dry stuff and put it in the wardrobes/drawers - nothing terrible has happened as a consequence.

My clothes actually get dried in the airing cupboard. I don’t have a tumble drier so if it’s wet outside they get hung in the hot press (airing cupboard) with the dehumidifier switched on and they dry overnight. Towels and sheets get hung on the banister in the landing.

She dries the already dry clothes? What else does she do? Does she use a toothbrush to clean the skirting and rearrange her kitchen cupboards weekly? Does she change her bedsheets daily? Is she bored?

The idea is that even after drying all day on the line, there may still be a bit of the weave, deep deep deep inside that may still be damp.

And you would put it on or sleep in it and get a chill like someone out of a Victorian novel.

But now I've noticed that people who Air, claim to have a 6th sense for when something is Not Aired. Not as fluffy, I imagine. Hence all the "I couldn't sleep in sheets that hadn't been aired"

So maybe it's transmogrified into a comfort thing? I dunno.

But I grew up in a house where everything was exhaustively Aired for fear of Catching Your Death, and I can't tell the difference.

I don't like tumble dryers and we don't have one. I hang clothes up to dry, fold them and put them in the ironing bag, then when ironed I put them away.

People saying they put stuff in the airing cupboard now, wasn't the point of those that they had those old boiler/hot water tank thingies so they would usually be quite warm? Is there any point in putting them in there now if you have a modern system?

We have a airing cupboard which doesn’t air, I just use it for towel and spare bedding storage, it used to have a hot water tank in there but now it’s just the combi boiler, it’s in the box room

It's old fashioned and you don't need to. My mum says it all the time.

I have a hot water tank in my hot press. New build house.

How old fashioned!

We have a massive 'airing' cupboard (not sure why we call it that) but it's full of towels and bedding and, inexplicably, wet suits.

Yeah we have a modern house with a massive hot water tank in it. I suspect it still comes as standard. In our old house we used it as a drying cupboard in the winter - put those white lines for net curtains from one side to the other as mini clotheslines. Worked a treat!

But drying them elsewhere and then transferring them to finish them off? Why?

Never heard of using the tumble dryer AFTER drying stuff.

I dry on the line or in the tumble dryer and then iron what needs to be ironed, fold everything, and put it in my airing cupboard (the cupboard the hot water tank lives in).

It stays there for 24 hours or longer if there's no more washing chasing it and then goes to the right bedroom.

I love airing cupboards. One day I will have a massive one with loads of shelves.

But why put in airing cupboard after ironing? Surely after you iron something it's as dry as dry can be?

Why not go from ironing board to appropriate drawer?

We have a walk-in airing cupboard so towels, sheets and some clothes get stored in there anyway. Otherwise stuff just dries on the line.

My aunt used to turn all her washing round on the line after a couple of hours so it would air properly on both sides. She was aghast when she discovered I didn't do the same. Slovenly and unhealthy apparently.

This is a classic! 😂😂😂😂😂😂

I always air clothes that have come in off the washing line. Something my mum did. She used to air everything in the airing cupboard. We have a combination boiler so no airing cupboard, so I use the next best thing - the dryer.

My mum is obsessed with putting things in the dryer after bringing them in. They are bone dry but apparently "it's better to put them in for 5/10 mins". No idea why and if ever we put some things through to wash whilst staying I have to bring it on before she can do this and ruin another top.

If it's dry I put it away. If it's not I put it on the airier to dry. My MIL airs everything but all that happens is it gathers the smells of whatever's cooking!
And towels should never be tumble dried. They must stand up on their own before they can dry effectively.

I use my airing cupboard to dry a couple of pieces of clothing when the heating is on and also to prove bread.

Bringing clothes in from being line dried in the fresh air and when dry shoved in a warm cupboard is not airing them.

then