To be appalled at the length of time my neighbour leaves her washing on the line

[Perriwinkle]

A whole lineful will appear and then it'll be out for up to two weeks at a time. It can dry, get wet and dry again several times over and be slapped against a concrete wall in the wind. Items only seems to get picked in as and when they're needed and by the end of it's time out there it'll be hanging on by one peg, with longer items dragging on the grass or hitched up against the fence/wall.

There's no real reason I should care - it's not my family's washing after all - but I just can't bear to see washing (something which by definition is supposed to be clean!) being treated like that.

What are some people like?

Look at myprofile - I even started a blog about my neighbours washing. Feel a bit guilty as poor lady was murdered. (not by me, I wasnt that bothered!)

Well i've never hung out washing. Probably for the best because I'd most likely forget about it.

Op-stop being such a curtain-twitcher.

This is the most quintessentially British thread I've ever read on here.

Are you sure you're not my mum? In my twice weekly phone call to her, she spends half the time complaining about how long the neighbours leave their clothes on the line.

She has come to the conclusion that the reason is because they rent their house and don't own it.

People who own their own homes JUST WOULD NOT leave their clothes on the line for so long.

I'm with you OP.
Two weeks on the line = crusty dirty washing.
Why bother washing it at all if you're going to leave it out for bird crap etc.
YANBU to think it's dirty.

It's not going to be clean after 2 weeks worth of wind, rain, wall slapping, bird shit, spiders and bugs is it so what's the point of washing it in the first place?

I can't leave mine overnight for fear of something taking up residence in it!

Everlong - JanSuePat is our neighbour. We can never remember her name, it's either Jan, Sue or Pat

I own my own home and often leave washing out that long . Sometimes longer.

Everyone that's slated OP obviously wears dirty clothes that stink! Dirty bastards [hwink]

My neighbours dry their clothes on the grass. The wind then blows it everywhere and they walk all over it when picking then up. Never seen anything like it. We have a huge problem with ants so god knows what the washing is like when they take it in

It's not dirty, I re-wash it if it is, then the cycle begins all over again.

My neighbours never ever hang the washing out. They tumble dry EVERYTHING - all year round. I feel like asking them how they afford it and do they really not give a shit about how much energy they are essentially wasting.

Barmy... at drying clothes on the grass. Does it not get mucky from all the little worm casts?

I love the extrapolation on this thread! Washing on line overnight = old sofa on the front lawn = skanky = murderer = no right to be on God's earth. I don't know why I don't kill myself right now!

I think the op is having a laugh but for all the people who have agreed, words fail me. I don't give a toss whether you have nothing to do but bring your washing in the minute it's dry, so please don't give a toss about me.

We are not talking about washing over night though and as you are an adult it can be your choice as to whether you go out smelling, but if you have children you do have a duty to keep them clean and you should have a strategy to do this, which includes laundry.

I see families who don't keep their children clean, so they are taught about washing, very often they then leave the damp clothes in a pile or out in all weathers, the result is that their children still smell and never experience what it feels like to have clean clothes or bedding, these threads don't surprise me because i witness these sort of things in my daily work.

No one is that busy that they cannot maintain a level of cleanliness, ask SS for the help (if they are a carer) or pay someone else to do it.

my washing sometimes gets left out overnight and gets rained on, i leave it till its dries again, i think there are a pair of ds4's pants that blew off the line and they are now laying on the patio, they 'may' have been there a while i still manage to keep my house fairly clean and tidy, leaving you washing out doesnt necessarily equal skanky house and i have never used dettol ever.

I don't re-wash washing if it gets rained on. It will only smell musty if it's not allowed to dry properly (and that is true whether it's rained on or not).

To the op who compared it to washing hair with just water - you could only make that comparison if people were pegging stuff out that hadn't been through the wash. Freshly washed hair that is rinsed again won't smell. Neither does freshly washed washing that gets rained on. You do realise that your washing isn't sterile don't you?

Birds I maintain a very high level of cleanliness for all of my children and for myself too :) I happen to quite like the smell of rained on washing but I live by the sea, so the rain is clean too. I re-wash only if things fall onto the flowerbeds nearby. It just isn't a priority for me to fetch in washing each day, it really doesn't bother me at all. Today it's been up for a week, one of the boys has just gone and collected a hoody, smells fine. Not a big deal.

I love a good judgey thread like this!

OP - these people are obviously lowering the tone of the street.

I'd get the resident's association onto them. Shocking behaviour.

Or call the Police - they'd want to know about this.

I think you are quite bonkers to let it even bother you.

My pegs live on the line too and at the moment they're full of spiders webs.

I am loving this thread. Makes my washing habits appear quite ocd in comparisson.
(rushes to the back window to check recently hung out washing is not being rained on/shat on/trailing along the ground.)

I don't think it's "bonkers" to want clothes that I have just washed to be clean. Still agree with you OP :o

sorry if someone has already said this, but would you not go and bring it in if you see it raining?

or is that just a country thing?

where i used to live we used to bring each others washing in all the time

[i secretly loved it as neighbour had a tumble drier and used to give everything a whizz before bringing it over when we got home :)]

Hilarious thread, especially the idea that people walk around wearing clothes with bits of foliage hanging off them.

At one place I rented, the landlord warned me about the nosy neighbour, who he said used to complain in writing to him and the letting agent, whenever the previous tenants left pegs on the line, even if it was just for an afternoon. She really was a nosy old biddy. She used to come knocking on the door if we left the curtains closed for longer than the permitted time. We used to take delight in winding her up [immature emoticon]. OP is this you?

my lawyer neighbour has a line hanging so low it trails on the floor and she leaves it a few days (criminal) and it only goes in as the dog they have tears it off the line as a game i shit you not - anyway im no better and am probably a tiny bit jealous i dont have a dog that brings in my washing for me . My whirly gig is still loaded with stuff thats didnt dry and its dark now so am i fook bringing it in!