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Original poster

Attitudes to line drying clothes in the UK

365 replies

Notcontent · 28/08/2021 23:27

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! Grin

OP posts:
monogoo · 29/08/2021 11:18

I do have a tumble dryer since dc started school as sometimes you need dry stuff asap, same as my parents.

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 29/08/2021 11:18

Some years ago, a friend of mine went to work on the Isle of Lewis - she worked full time, lived on her own, so only really had the weekend on which to hang out laundry for line drying.
Except she was made very aware, very quickly, that she was NOT to hang her washing out on Sundays as that was very frowned upon - strong Presbyterian principles, it seems!

I don't know if that's stil the case though!

I'm sniggering at it being "tacky" to hang out washing though... hahahaha! Grin

HPLikecraft · 29/08/2021 11:24

I'm baffled by the "only a few weeks per year" posters. As others have said, as long as it's dry you can hang out most of the year.

I do recall, though, staying at my granny's as a child and she hung out the washing in winter. She brought in DB's jeans that had frozen solid. This was the funniest thing ever to me at 8YO!

AlwaysLatte · 29/08/2021 11:25

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.
Whaat? Crazy. My husband cuts the grass twice a week so that wouldn't work, and our bins have to be out by 6am while we're all still asleep so they have to go out the night before. Is it a religious compound or something?? Crazy.

TatianaBis · 29/08/2021 11:26

@monogoo

I'm a born & bred Londoner & line drying was normal to me growing up & normal now. Obvs flats sometimes don't allow it.
It clearly depends where in London you live. I’m born Londoner. Not done round here, and I have a large number of friends in different areas - I’ve never seen a line at theirs. Nor can I think of any friends house where you can see lines in other gardens.

Most people have utility rooms with racks.

icedcoffees · 29/08/2021 11:27

@HPLikecraft

I'm baffled by the "only a few weeks per year" posters. As others have said, as long as it's dry you can hang out most of the year.

I do recall, though, staying at my granny's as a child and she hung out the washing in winter. She brought in DB's jeans that had frozen solid. This was the funniest thing ever to me at 8YO!

Surely you can understand that many areas of the UK get considerably more rain than others, though?

When I lived in Suffolk, it was possible to line-dry most days of the year. Now I live in Cumbria and it rains more often than not.

Yes, I could hang clothes out but they'd take several days to dry and in winter, even that wouldn't be enough. I don't want damp clothes sat on the line for days on end - they end up smelling unpleasant.

shinynewapple21 · 29/08/2021 11:35

It's possibly a time thing - it's a lot quicker to shove a load in the tumble than peg them out on the line, and you can guarantee they'll dry then . Also I find that items dried in the tumble dryer don't need ironing whereas line dried they go all hard and creasy .

namesnamesnamesnames · 29/08/2021 11:37

Strange. At my school gates if there has been a warm day but clouds look overhead, many a conversations are about getting home to get the washing in.

daisypond · 29/08/2021 11:39

Most people have utility rooms with racks.

I’ve lived in London for 40 years and I don’t know anyone who has a laundry room at all, even those in houses.

namesnamesnamesnames · 29/08/2021 11:39

@shinynewapple21

It's possibly a time thing - it's a lot quicker to shove a load in the tumble than peg them out on the line, and you can guarantee they'll dry then . Also I find that items dried in the tumble dryer don't need ironing whereas line dried they go all hard and creasy .
I've read similar hear before and really don't get it. I have a lovely big timber dryer now. My clothes will still crease when I use it. On a breezy day creases fall out of my line dried items.
monogoo · 29/08/2021 11:44

@TatianaBis

Most people have utility rooms with racks.

Clearly a different part of London then! I don't think utility rooms even had a name when I was a kid. A vast % of London properties don't have the space for a utility room & even ones that do often use a line ime.

OneWildNightWithJBJ · 29/08/2021 11:45

@ThumbWitchesAbroad

Some years ago, a friend of mine went to work on the Isle of Lewis - she worked full time, lived on her own, so only really had the weekend on which to hang out laundry for line drying. Except she was made very aware, very quickly, that she was NOT to hang her washing out on Sundays as that was very frowned upon - strong Presbyterian principles, it seems!

I don't know if that's stil the case though!

I'm sniggering at it being "tacky" to hang out washing though... hahahaha! Grin

Possibly still the case. We were there a few years ago and children weren't allowed to use the park on a Sunday!
HPLikecraft · 29/08/2021 12:13

Surely you can understand that many areas of the UK get considerably more rain than others, though?

Yes, that's why I said as long as it's dry
I grew up in the west of Scotland, and now live in South Wales so I'm no stranger to rain!

icedcoffees · 29/08/2021 12:17

@HPLikecraft

Surely you can understand that many areas of the UK get considerably more rain than others, though?

Yes, that's why I said as long as it's dry
I grew up in the west of Scotland, and now live in South Wales so I'm no stranger to rain!

The issue here is that the weather is so unpredictable. You can start the day with blue skies and sunshine but 11am, it's clouded over and by lunchtime it's hailing, lol.

I got really fed up of hanging laundry out, coming home to it dripping wet and having to go out, bring it in and put it in the dryer anyway.

PattyPan · 29/08/2021 12:18

@shinynewapple21

It's possibly a time thing - it's a lot quicker to shove a load in the tumble than peg them out on the line, and you can guarantee they'll dry then . Also I find that items dried in the tumble dryer don't need ironing whereas line dried they go all hard and creasy .
My experience was the complete opposite. The tumbling motion creases clothes (this is why non iron settings on washing machines have a lower spin RPM) but if you hang them out properly they dry without creases. I line/airer dry everything and don’t iron anything. It also wasted so much time separating out the things that couldn’t go in the tumble dryer it was barely worth using.
ofwarren · 29/08/2021 12:18

I've no idea about London but it's extremely normal where I live in the North West of England.

PumpkinKlNG · 29/08/2021 12:26

*Most people have utility rooms with racks.

I’ve lived in London for 40 years and I don’t know anyone who has a laundry room at all, even those in houses.*

Glad it’s not just me, I’ve lived in London my entire life and never met anyone with a utility room!

monogoo · 29/08/2021 12:33

My parents had a garage that never housed a car but a lot of shit instead including the washing machine & tumble dryer, extra freezer etc but it wasn't called a utility room & they still hung up most of the washing.

NB I didn't grow up in Chelsea thoughđŸ˜†

monogoo · 29/08/2021 12:34

To grow up in London and only know other children who have utility rooms must be quite a sheltered experience!
I knew plenty with drying racks but these were in bathrooms.

MrsTophamHat · 29/08/2021 12:48

Very common where I live though I must admit to overusing my tumble drier.

I have found the weather forecasts to be much less reliable over the last few years. I used to love hanging a full load of washing out at 7am before work and it being all lovely and fresh by 6pm, but I wouldn't chance it now.

notacooldad · 29/08/2021 12:58

It's possibly a time thing - it's a lot quicker to shove a load in the tumble than peg them out on the line, and you can guarantee they'll dry then
On a reasonable day bedding dries way quicker pegged out than on line.

RampantIvy · 29/08/2021 12:58

Most people have utility rooms with racks.

Some people have utility rooms @TatianaBis. Hardly anyone I know has a drying rack.

I would love a utility room with a drying rack

notacooldad · 29/08/2021 13:00

Most people have utility rooms with racks
Do they heck!!!

LaurieFairyCake · 29/08/2021 13:00

Never dried outside ever in 50 years

Have a heated airer and a (infrequently used) tumble dryer

No utility room either

NeverDropYourMoonCup · 29/08/2021 13:11

My old council flat had a rule that you couldn't dry washing on the balcony. Nowhere else to dry it, the flats were too small to fit a tumble dryer in, the council did a compulsory purchase on the launderette so they could sell the land to a developer, and there was only a gas fire as heating. Unsurprisingly, most people living in the flats smelled vaguely musty and thick black mould was normal.

When I moved out, I bought a condenser tumble dryer within a week on moving into my house and use it with zero guilt throughout autumn and winter, my house isn't riddled with mould and I don't have to worry about smelling bad at work because my clothes were taking over a week to dry anymore.

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