"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?

• 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?*

Apparently (according to my mum who is an Airer) there is water from the iron steam left in the clothes after ironing.

Slattern here. Stuff is turfed from washer to dryer to chair in utility room. When we run it of stuff to wear I round it up and put it away. I guess it gets some impromptu airing while I'm not putting it away...

(My dryer stopped drying today and I had to drape two loads of laundry around the house. It did make me appreciate the dryer when it's working! There are socks on every radiator, none of which are on! No drying rack and no line (not allowed where I live).)

I thought an airing cupboard was just where you stored towels and other bathroom stuff. I don't think it has more air than anywhere else in the house.

I have neither an airing cupboard or a tumble drier. Neither has my brother. Perhaps that is the cause of all our woes & ills?

Stuff dried on the line or in the dryer I put straight away if properly dried. Things I iron get aired on a clothes horse for a few hours afterwards as they are slightly damp from the steam.

My mum has an obsession with "airing" things after they've been dried (whether dried outside or in tumble dryer). It's too make sure it's really dry. Nothing can get out away until it's spent the obligatory time "airing". Madness.

Why would something that has been dried outside in the warm sunshine be less dry than something in a cupboard inside a house? Or less 'aired'?

I clicked on this thread to find out what 'airing' meant so I guess that says it all

As soon as they're dry they go in drawers/hung in wardrobe, most of our clothes don't even need ironing if you hang them nicely (except for DP's shirts)

I feel a domestic dinosaur.

I dry on the line or on a clothes rack inside. When dry they go into the laundry basket folded and are out away.

If the clothes still feel a bit damp when I bring them indoors, then I will put them in the airing cupboard, otherwise they just get put back into drawers and wardrobe or, in the case of bedding, straight back onto the bed. I never iron anything!

Isn't line drying also airing???? If I had a tumble drier, I'd be more inclined to 'air' my clothes in the fresh air, AFTER the hot fetid unnatural tumble drier....
But I actually just dry on clothes horse outdoors in good weather, or radiators in winter, iron virtually everything- including socks... and put away. What is 'airing' for?

I don't have an airing cupboard and I don't have a dryer either. It either gets line dried or on the radiator and then put away - unless you count sitting on the dining room table for days as airing!

You Iron socks?!

I have a cousin who irons her husbands Y fronts. Her toddlers knickers. Face cloths. Then complains she's worn out ironing! 😂😂😂

I have a steam generator iron, it great for ironing work shirts etc (I do the bare minimum of ironing). Very lightweight and easy to use but it produces a LOT of steam.
The ironed stuff definitely needs aired before hanging in the wardrobe so I have a rack a bit like a coat stand for putting ironed clothes on, on hangers, and they go in the wardrobe next day.

All the stuff I don’t iron goes straight from the line/tumble dryer into drawers - because they are dry.

Well... this is something that I do, but I have literally never met anyone else who does the same, and clearly I am in the minority on here too (which I fully expect!). I do it to get rid of any bugs or pollen etc. But I know I am the odd one, not you OP!

I'm like lettuce, air clothes that have been steam ironed. We have a Sheila Maid thing that's next to the boiler. Tumbled or line dried clothes, that are absolutely dry, get put away.

I only ever 'air' something if it's come off the line and is not dry enough. I also dry clothes that can't be tumbled in the airing cupboard. We used to keep a small ladder in there and it was a brilliant drying rack.

The people who built our house called it a 'cylinder cupboard' though and there were no shelves in there until recently

To me airing something is when you hang it up
Indoors for a bit after In comes in from the line slightly damp.
We live on a south facing hill and can line dry all year round if it’s not actively raining.
No one has died yet.

Surely that will just shrink things, YANBU.

I don't have an ourdoor space to hang washing or a tumble drier or an airing cupboard. Everything dries on the clothes horse or when we have the heating on i use the raidiators. Spring and autumn are the worse times. Not cold enough to have the heating on but washing can take ages and ages to dry. Towels are the worse. Even after two days they can still feel 'damp'. They aren't actually damp but just cold. If i had an airing cupboard I suppose it would make them feel a bit nicer. I can see the theory behind airing.

@BookMum08 Can you invest in a dehumidifier? Makes a world of difference.

You need one of those Lakeland heated airers people are always banging on about here. Apparently if you hang a big sheet over the top like a tent it traps the heat inside and becomes nothing short of a religious experience.

I use an airing cupboard for washing that has been outside or indoor airer which isn't quite dry enough to put away. Like a slightly damp jeans waistband or whatever.

Also it is a handy place to bung a pile of washing that you can't be bothered to go upstairs and put away

I bring clothes in from the line and put them on the clothes horse overnight, then put away or put them in the ironing pile. I only use the dryer if we have rain for a few days straight. When I use it I put the dryer on for just 40 mins so not 100% dry, then again I will hang the clothes on the clothes horse overnight. I don't like the feel of stuff when they come out of the dryer, I like clothes to feel a bit crisp iykwim. I just think they feel and smell better if they are aired.

This relates back to a time before tumble driers and central heating. Washing was pegged on the line, invariably brought in semi dry, ironed ( no stream generated irons to ease this process, so damp laundry was the way to go ) Washing was still pretty damp, and was unlikely to dry inside the cold, damp house so was placed somewhere warm to dry properly/ aka 'aired'. None of us need to do this anymore. However I do like to stick my very dry laundry in the tumble drier to soften up a little if it has been dried outside