When do you give up line drying for the year?

[wishIwasonholiday10]

How do you decide when to give up line drying for the year? I managed to dry about 90% of this weeks laundry but had to put the rest in the dryer to finish off. I had been hoping for a bit of sun but it never really came out. Looks even worse over the next few weeks so should probably give up but we have a small house and no space to dry stuff indoors without tripping over it. I would put everything in the dryer over winter but have quite a bit of stuff that says not to and obviously woollens etc.

As others have said, if the ground is dry the washing goes out. It doesn't have to be warm.

It can also depend on the activities of the household. I have two teenage sons, both of whom play muddy sports several times a week. No way am I letting wet, sweaty, muddy sports kit fester in the laundry basket until Saturday if they used it the previous Sunday. Plus they only have one set of match kit, but need it twice a week at the moment. I also workout most mornings and we have two dogs, so the laundry pile grows!

@Hanschristiananderson laziness really. I guess my electric bill is quite high. Environment wise, I don't fly anywhere etc and rarely wash my sheets (not every second day like lots on mn), so could rationalise it that way. Maybe if my electric bills were lower I could afford holidays though 🤔 I'm in Aus.

Last week as I had washing out from early morning and it wasn't properly dry at the end of the day so may as well hang indoors than have to hang up twice

I'm just impressed they can fit an entire family of four's worth of washing, bedding and towelling and extras like coats, scarves, sofa blankets/cushion covers, tea towels, wash cloths etc into only 8 loads a month!

This business of if the path's dry the washing will dry is nonsense, if there's no breeze or sunshine and temperatures below about 15C it won't. It will partially dry but still need to be finished off indoors or in the dryer. Sometimes I CBA and chuck it straight in the dryer.

When it is too cold to go in outside and hang it up.

See this is my experience too. I live high up and it’s very exposed and blustery. But even with all the wind we get, my washing simply doesn’t dry in cooler temperatures. My whirly is plonked at the side of the house and gets no shelter whatsoever, so it’s basically in a wind tunnel. And still my bloody laundry is damp when I bring it in.

I don’t bother from about October to March as everything ends up being finished in the dryer anyway so it just creates extra work and tbh I have better things to be doing than drying washing twice.

Unless it's damp or below 5c, I always put mine out, as it does dry to some extent and better than having it hanging around the house. If there's any sun or a slight breeze that goes a great way towards drying.

That doesnt sound right-mine assesses each load and dries accordingly
If its damp from the,airer it's usually around 15 mins
Barely noticeable a change in my bill which has never been £200, let alone £200 extra, even in the depths of winter
We have gas CH, I feel the cold so we don't restrict it either

I hang clothes out to dry year round, if the paths dry and the forecast is saying it'll be dry or goes out. Some heavier things I'll finish in the tumble dryer on low for 20mins or so (after putting a damp jumper away for the summer and it was mouldy). I use an airer inside too with a dehumidifier.

I work hybrid so washing is done when I wfh, first load is normally finished and
hang up before I log on, second at lunchtime.
That's at least 4-5 loads per week plus whatever is done at the weekend.

DH works from home permanently but is so into his world, he wouldn't realise it's raining when water would come through his window.

Usually around the 1st October. I find it's damp/misty after than and in winter we get a lot of frost. The hours of daylight are much shorter. Clothes would only be marginally drier coming in than they were going out (if they dried at all). Unless it's a mild, breezy day. Plus, on the days I go into the office, it's dark when I leave the house in the morning and dark when I come home.

I line dry all year long, on all but actively rainy days.
I don't ever leave laundry out at night, but I get it out by 0700 in summer, and by 10:00 the rest of the year.
I'm fortunate to have an indoor line, as well as a drying rack.
I put laundry out on even on the coldest days, when within minutes the items freeze into contorted shapes that sway like boards in the winter winds and come in 3/4s dry to finish off indoors overnight.
I have a dryer, but v seldom use it, there's no scent like the one that laundry takes on when dried outside year-round.

If it is dry and breezy it goes out even just some of the water to drip off. I don't mind finishing it in the garage as the boiler is also in there and that speeds up the drying process. I have a tumble dryer but rarely if ever use it.

If its dripping double spin -takes half the time to dry

When it’s been out all day and is still wet. No telling when this will be since this month has been fairly mild and sunny so far. I suspect by the end of this month though, line drying will be over. No clue how people do it during winter, mine never dries even when out from dawn till dusk.

The rotary clothes line has gone into hibernation until March!

I did two loads a week as student. Now with 3 teenagers, even with a 11kg machine I'm amazed you can do just two loads. For us that would be 4 sets of sheets, 5 bath and hand towels and 2 bathmats and multiple teatowels and 15 school shirts plus assorted smalls to all fit in a single whites load? Sounds like the MN chicken.

I do a load a day (alternating darks and lights) because it's easier to spread out the work (and drying) across the week rather than spend all day Saturday doing washing and having teenagers asking why I haven't yet washed their favourite top yet three days after it was last worn.

I haven’t for a few weeks. People say it dries when it’s dry but cold; I don’t find it does. And those who bring it in to finish off somewhere else seems like it’s creating 2 jobs I haven’t got the energy for. Towards the end of the summer I would put it out on a clothes airer rather than the line and then I could just lift that in on an evening. But if I tried to do that now, it would be as wet now as it was when I hung it out this morning.

I have a dehumidifier that I have in a room with the airer. Currently it goes in my daughter’s room as she’s at uni, but previously it went on the landing.

I don’t wash ALL bedding Each week. I wash a set a week…and yes that’s three weeks but we shower daily. No it’s not smelly and if it gets dirty quicker I would wash it sooner.
several towels a week, dds shirts and jumper for school, she is 12 , she wears a fresh shirt each day and the same jumper all week. It doesn’t get dirty or smelly. Ds10 wears a fresh polo most days. Jumper lasts 2 days, trousers 3 wears at best. Sports wear for training doesn’t get muddy just sweaty so it can wait. I don’t wash jeans etc after one wear, that’s wasteful. I can wash about 7 towels each week. I don’t really know what else to say to be honest 🤣

I think you're probably overloading your washing machine, tbh. We've had a 10-11kg washer for a while and we'd spilt the amount you likely wash into 4 washes, probably (at least).

I really don’t, I still have a nice gap in there. I actually don’t like to overload at all because I feel they wouldn’t wash well then.

It's not just the gap, it's the weight when wet.