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!

@Dotoallasyouwouldbedoneby

Life's too short to hang out washing and that is all I have to say on the subject. How many men ever hang out washing?

Both of my male neighbours hang out washing and one of those is an absolute dinosaur, to put it nicely.

@Flakjacketon

I line dry whenever possible. I have a rotary airer and hang my underwear on the inside so my 'Bridget Jones' knickers arn't inflicted on the neighbours. Our first home was a purpose built maisonette where the garden was divided between our flat and the downstairs flat. I would hang out my washing before going to work. If it rained the elderly gentleman downstairs would bring it in - all except my bras and knickers which he wouldn't touch . 😅

Haha. Ahh bless him. Obviously didn't want to be disrespectful by touching your smalls.

We used to have a tumble dryer but it broke about 10 years ago and I didn't replace it. They're really energy-inefficient and bad for the environment. Although I do miss it for nice soft towels.

I hang everything out on the line in the garden in the spring/summer, although if I lived in a flat this wouldn't be an option, obvs.

In winter it's radiators and clothes airers but I'm thinking of investing in one of those radiator-like heated clothes airers from Lakeland to avoid every room looking like a Chinese laundry.

As far as I know everyone with a garden who can be arsed to do it, hangs stuff outside to dry. Why wouldn't you?

So Bagelsandbrie knows that tumble driers, flying, eating meat etc are "not great for the envirionment" but isn't interested in trying to reduce the amount she does this even a little bit.

Wow.

We line dry. Didn't even have a tumble dryer for our first 15 years here, and that's when the children were young.

But we have the room and my husband works a four day week and we've bought 2 x all size bedding, so we have more capacity to time when we do it. When there's a run of good weather we do all the bigger stuff.

We did have one really long miserable winter when we were drying mainly in the conservatory. That's when we gave in and bought a tumble dryer and it is useful at times.

I love line drying even if we can only do for a few months a year. I won’t have a tumble dryer so make the most of it.

I love a line of washing out blowing around !
I hate indoor drying and tumbles are ok for bedding or towels , but tend to shrink clothes if your not careful.

@whatthejiggeries

We never line dry I hate seeing washing in the garden

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.

My OH and sons all hang out washing although their hanging technique leaves a lot to be desired. Bit like their dishwasher loading technique but don't get me started...

we have a line in the attic.
clothes dry fast up there (very drafty) but also I can just leave them up if not up for taking them down.
5 of us here but still we only have 4 or 5 or so loads a week.

We tumble clothes for 10 mins, so they are still damp but the creases fall out, then hang them immediately on the line on clothes hangers. From there, they just get put into wardrobes without ironing. We don’t buy things that look like they would definitely need ironing and we don’t do front creases in trousers.

@tattymacduff

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.

Me too. My neighbours have crisp white sheets and love watching them blowing in the breeze. I find sheets and towels more satisfying to watch

I much prefer line drying. There's nothing better than getting into a bed of freshly line dried bed linen. It smells so lovely and fresh. The only problem I have is with towels which come out much softer and fluffier from the tumble dryer.

I hang washing outside from end of March to mid Oct. I much prefer line drying clothes. You can get several loads dry in a day and it smells and feels so much better. Tumble driers shrink clothes and are expensive and non environmentally friendly.
I have a heated airer for Winter but find it useless. I also have a heat pump drier which is used in extremis. My mother in law tumble dried everything all year round despite having a huge garden. I couldn’t understand it.

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.

Pretty depressing to read all the Hyacinth Buckets who look down on the idea of line drying and think it's tacky.

Their lack of concern for the environment is exasperating.

We don't line dry because the constant tractors going past cover the clothes in dust and dirt. Only our new neighbour does line dry, they haven't learned yet!

Washing out on the line by 8.44! When did you put the wash load on, 6am?
I'd forgotten. It's also the old fashioned competitiveness and the myriad rules of pegging out that put me completely off it. I will not live life that way.

Lovely hot crease free tumbling for me all the way. 35p very well spent, per load.

I hate using my tumble drier unless I really have to. Line dried clothes smell amazing and it feels very wasteful to bung stuff in the drier when they could be outside.

Don't you care about the impact you are having on climate change Crystal?

I use a tumble dryer but there are lots of clothes I don't want to put in there as they might shrink so I use and airer inside which goes outside when it is nice . I also have a garden line but the weather really means I only use it in the summer and hardly at all this August. I like hanging clothes out though, or at least don't mind it compared to say vacuuming ( which I loathe) .

In fact that has given me an idea for a thread - household jobs you dislike the most and ones you don't mind ....

I line dry when the weather allows. I don't have much line space though, and tend to do multiple loads of washing on certain days rather than a bit every day. That means I prioritise certain items. Bedlinen always goes outside. Underwear never does, as it is fiddly and takes up too much room.

I did the same when I lived in London too, except when living in flats.

Only about 55% of households have a tumble dryer.

I hang out during winer months too- clothes will dry quite well on a bright day even with snow underfoot.

Also the sun is great for keeping white clothes bright and UV light will bleach stubborn stains.

I live in SE London and I and all my neighbours line dry.

I expect many of them also have tumble driers but I don’t use one. On bad days I dry on racks indoors.