Attitudes to line drying clothes in the UK

[Notcontent]

But of a boring topic but…. I have been thinking about this because I grew up in a country where everyone line dries their clothes whenever possible. The climate makes it easier to do this than in the UK but I think there is more to it than that. Where I live in London very few people seem to dry their clothes outside even on hot days. I almost feel like maybe it’s seen as being inappropriate and unsightly…

Is it a London thing? A class thing? In any case, I have decided to put my clothes drying racks outside whenever it’s not raining even if it offends my neighbours’ eyes!

Not allowed any clothes on view in my garden so I have to use an airer indoors

I’m such an old saddo that when I wake up and it’s a nice day, my first thought is not “Yay, I’ll get out for a lovely walk today” or even just how nice it is when it’s sunny. No. It’s “I’ll get so much washing out today!”

I love line dried clothes... so fresh and clean and aired. Tumble driers turn things into fuzzy, shrunk crumpled heaps. I only put towels and basic things in mine.

I line dry from March till October when weather allows (scotland). I don’t have a dryer do everything gets dried on a clothes horse in the winter and doesn’t take long to dry either. If I take the clothes straight off the line and fold as I go along most of it doesn’t need ironed either and my pants never feel stiff or crunchy 🤷‍♀️

Me too. If it's almost dry I'll bring it in & put it on the airer/hangers, but otherwise it can stay out to get re-rinsed (aka rained on), darked on and the spiders can do what they like with their willies

Our house has damp problems so drying inside is something I try and avoid at all costs - when we had a broken drier a couple of winters ago, it took 2-3 days for stuff to dry indoors and the damp was horrific.

Letting stuff get rained on is also fine if you don't need it again the next day :) And if you live somewhere where it can easily rain for a month straight, you soon get fed up with hanging washing out only for it to take days to dry on the line as it's constantly getting drizzled on, lol.

Line dry all year round - love line dried washing. DB/SIL live in a gated community in Florida where they're 'not allowed' to hand washing outside. It can be 32 degrees and sunny and they put the washing in the tumble dryer .

Nolongersurprised we lived in Australias for a while and I remember a day when I hung a load of towels out and by the time I'd pegged the last towel out, the first one was dry (it was over 40 degrees at the time).

I love the fresh smell of line dried clothing and bedding, a few of my neighbous use lines a lot of them still have the old fashioned pulleys in the kitchen or hall for rainy days( Victorian and Edwardian build round here) but often its easier to use the tumble dryer or radiator airers. Im lucky in that the old scullery is now a utility "room" and have open shelving in front of window where clothes can be hung to dry with window slighlty open( it has restainer so cant be opened from outside )
I do like fluffy towels so chuck them in still damp for a quick blast in dryer
My friend recently moved, lovely garden, decking, summer house, seating, no drying facilities. I helped her put in a whirlygig ( rotary airer for non Scots)
Lots of flats are built these days with parking space but no drying facilities ,my niece lives in a place like that there is a clause in her lease which forbids drying laundry on her balcony.
My daughter lived in a flat with a communal drying room way up on the top floor.
I noticed in Japan nearly everyone hung washing on balconies but my friend living in Texas was not allowed to hang washing out to dry, by Home Owners Association

I've not noticed any attitude, but then with fences and plants where I've lived (and possibly my height), I've not been able to see who has their washing.

I've both a normal line and a horizontal drying rack outdoors for things to dry flat/stained things that need more sun bleaching, but with the weather as it has been these last few weeks, I'm drying most things inside (our sunroom/lean-to is a bit warmer than the rest of the house and has the door open most days, so have an over the door dryer and a short line in there that fits a load).

Our dryer was killed in the move 4 months back, not yet replaced it. Likely will for the winter, been looking for a small one for some of the towels, joggers, and similar that take a lot longer to dry indoors when it's chilly rather than for doing all of our clothes.

I've never had a tumble dryer so put the washing on the line. If it's raining or looks like it will rain imminently, then they go on the radiators or on the clothes horse. Most people I know dry clothes outside.

I line dry all year round and in south of England. My Grandmother said that as long as the atmosphere is dry and there's a wind your clothes will dry. So I've followed her mantra all my life. I only use a tumble dryer on really bad days and the washing is piling up.
Why use the power and pay for extra electricity when free solar and wind power does the job for you.

I live just outside Greater London and line drying is the norm here. Lots of my neighbours do it. I know people who use a tumble dryer for convenience but not come across anyone who frowns on line drying.
I often hang washing the night before for convenience, which might be less the norm but I like waking up and seeing it flapping away in the sun. One of my neighbours leaves it overnight too

@KobaniDaughters

You should try living where I do - 330 days of sunshine a year and I’m the only person I know who line dries. British attitudes towards line drying are positive as far as I’ve ever experienced - here it’s insane that everyone uses dryers

@KobaniDaughters

Sounds great! Where do you live?

I lived in Valencia for a while snd LOVED the climate! I go to (well pre Covid) to Southern France a lot, I love it there, but I do miss the climate & beach parade, festivals & markets/cooked sweet corn ears in Valencia

I also have proper clothes poles, no whirly gigs for me.

Dont have a tumble and dont want one.Everything line dried, or on airer indoors

I would love a high up line pully , but not practical in my tiny garden.
The rotary line is ok , not as good though

I dry outside as much as possible but do prefer a tumble dried towel.

I have a whirligig and love it. Washing goes out side in all weathers. Even when it's raining. I've bought a cover for the whirligig. The stuff on the outside stays wet, but everything inside dries or dries enough that I just need to finish it off inside.

If the ground is dry, washing goes out! I live in Scotland and I dry from Feb to Nov outside.

I have washing outside now.

Don't own a tumble dryer. When I checked the labels of our clothes, hardly anything can be tumble dried.

I used to go to the laundrette to tumble dry my bed linen and towels during winter months, but doing so has really aged them. So I bought a couple of gadgets from Amazon and now I can dry them at home so much easier.

I bought these! Absolutely brilliant.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/JoomUr-Blanket-Hangers-Sun-dried-MattressWashing/dp/B0822LYJP2?pdrddw=ks36a&pfrddp=72bd67d1-fcfe-4eb1-b188-74959eded5f8&pfrddr=5WSDA06HDSKH3EQY3KJG&pdrddr=5ddd05d4-7d39-4108-9c9c-1fdf84c6ad55&pdrddwg=TVUEs&pdrddi=B0822LYJP2&psc=1&ref=pddbapmmrp222_sc

I love seeing a line of washing flapping in the breeze. It gives me a strange feeling almost of hiraeth but with more of a happy tinge. Very difficult to explain

@tattymacduff

Me too! I'm a very 'orderly'person (years ago I would have said 'a bit OCD' but I now understand how offensive that is to many people, I wish there was a word for people like me though) and I truly love getting the washing out on the line. Pegs need to match (so I caved & bought loads in one colour! And the washing in an order. It gives me great pleasure. But I love seeing other peoples, no matter what state it's pegged out in! Especially baby clothes. It's so homely & 'cosy' 💁🏻‍♀️

@icedcoffees

Me too. If it's almost dry I'll bring it in & put it on the airer/hangers, but otherwise it can stay out to get re-rinsed (aka rained on), darked on and the spiders can do what they like with their willies

Our house has damp problems so drying inside is something I try and avoid at all costs - when we had a broken drier a couple of winters ago, it took 2-3 days for stuff to dry indoors and the damp was horrific.

Letting stuff get rained on is also fine if you don't need it again the next day :) And if you live somewhere where it can easily rain for a month straight, you soon get fed up with hanging washing out only for it to take days to dry on the line as it's constantly getting drizzled on, lol.

Surprised you didn't invest ina dehumidifier if your suffering from damp and it doubles up to dry your clothes indoors within hours.

@Itstheprinciple

If the weather is okay, the washing gets pegged on the line, except for towels which I do put in the dryer for softness. Neighbours both sides put their washing on the line too.

I prefer a slight 'crunch' to my towel - soft towels feel lovely when you pick them up off the rail, but I personally don't find they dry me very well?

Could you not line dry your towels, then just give them a short burst in the drier to make them soft? Wouldn't that work!

@Runforthehillocks

People do prefer to line dry, it's just that as a PP said, they can't so much nowadays because of working - you can't always trust the weather enough to peg it out before heading off to work because you're not there if it starts to rain later. So you hang indoors instead sadly.

I just look at it as another rinse cycle!

I line dry whenever the weather allows. But this is Britain so that's not all the time, so I have a tumble dryer as well.
I used to get a lot of pleasure from seeing a lovely row of baby whites blowing in the breeze.

Surprised you didn't invest ina dehumidifier if your suffering from damp and it doubles up to dry your clothes indoors within hours.

We do have a dehumidifier, but it's not cheap to run - it's easier (and probably comparable in terms of price/electricity use) to just use the dryer in the first place.

@NotMyCat

Not allowed any clothes on view in my garden so I have to use an airer indoors

Where do you live? Did you know that before you moved in?

My Ex inlaws moved into an estate where there were so many rules it was mad - cars cleaned & lawns mowed only on Saturdays, wheelie bins out on the collection day and back in that night (so no putting the out the evening before) loads more about length of lawn & what you could plant in the front garden, NOTHING DIY/gardening/cleaning etc on Sundays.

Newsletter weekly with 'transgressions' in it and doors knocked of repeat offenders.

They didn't mind as 'it kept the place nice' there's NO WAY I'd have coped with it. I'm
all for being considerate of your neighbours and I hate wheelie bins being left on the pavement for days on end.. but 🤦🏻‍♀️

I'm a born & bred Londoner & line drying was normal to me growing up & normal now. Obvs flats sometimes don't allow it.