to hate line drying my washing

[PopcornFrenzy]

my mother was here yesterday and my washing had just finished so I popped it all in my tumble.

She said I was being silly and not using the lovely weather, she used to line dry everything when I was a child.

I replied I do 1 load of washing a week and she can mind her own business.

I hate the feeling of line dryed towels and clothes next to my skin am I weird??

I can't understand why anyone wouldn't like line drying? It doesn't shrink on the line, it doesn't crease on the line, it's more environmentally friendly on the line and most of all it's free! Tumbling uses a ridiculous amount of electricity, but if you don't mind for it I suppose it's your choice.

I can't understand all these posters writing about liking the smell of fabric conditioner! It's really chemically! Natural fresh air has to be nicer, surely? My MiL uses loads of fabric conditioner and a) her towels don't actually dry you as they are no longer absorbent and b) the bedding gives me a headache.
I don't always dry stuff outside, but I don't have a tumble dryer so always dry by hanging. I don't use any fabric conditioner for anything, especially towels, and I don't iron anything.

Cardi - I agree!
At home, I use eco products which have barely any smell - when I go to stay at my Dad's I use Lenor spring fresh or whatever (the blue one) as it's about the only one I can stand the smell of that he will also use. My sister buys him some utterly foul pink-bottled comfort that makes me want to vomit.

Whenever I unpack my suitcase after coming home from Dad's, it's a real smack in the nose of fabric conditioner! I've got used to clothes barely smelling of anything, so it's quite overwhelming and really quite unpleasant!

cardi I'm with you on fabric conditioner and washing powder perfumes, I hate them. Why would you want to smell of cheap, chemically perfume? I wear nice perfume, I don't want it overpowered by my fabric conditioner.

Dd's pyjamas feel a bit stiff tbh off the line, but after a bashing they're softer.
But there's a wonderful, heady scent from line dried bed linen

Fabric conditioner retains its air of glamour for me. Mum never used it when we were kids and its one other thing that the cool kids had at school that I did not

Irian - I'd never had a tumble dryer in my own home (my Mum did though) until 3 years ago when I moved out to this country where nothing ever dries in winter when hung indoors and there are no airing cupboards. I had to get one just for the winter months! Barely use it in summer, except for towels and nappies (DS2 has got used to the fluffier feel, he wouldn't wear non-tumbled ones now, he's got a delicate little skin! Doesn't even like non-velvet towels for being dried in )

Can a suggest you may be being a little unreasonable from an environmental point of view? I do get what you mean about towels though. If our tumble dryer had not broken, I would put towels and nappies in there, and the rest on the line.
I actually like line drying as it's a chore that gets me and 2 DC's outside yet I still feel like I'm doing something useful, and I like the smell of clothes dried outside.

No-one line dries where I live. It's not the done thing. Never seen a rotary washing line in the 8 yrs I've lived here.

Probably because for 6 months of the year you'd have frozen sheets

My aim is always to line dry clothes until almost dry then stick them in the tumble dryer for 5 minutes. This obviates the need for ironing and uses less electricity.

Our iron has a similar power rating to our tumble dryer, so ironing a load is almost as costly / environmentally unfriendly as tumble drying from wet if the time taken is the same .

Towels get tumbled for 5 minutes, then pegged out, then tumbled for 5 minutes again.

I love bedding that's been line dried. It smells amazing and I think it stays fresher for longer.

I love line drying things - they smell amazing and I have never noticed clothes or towels being particularly stiff afterwards. Plus you can get the creases out by careful hanging so you never need to iron.

But then I've never had a tumble dryer of my own so I can't really compare. My mum did get one when I was 17 but it was guarded and only rarely used due to the cost of the electricity.

Line drying white clothes in strong sunshine makes them yellow.

bruins I dry white clothes in the sun all the time. They have never gone yellow.

I don't care for line drying, but needs must. It keeps the bill down.

Not weird,but its daft to spend money tumble drying when you can line dry
Alternatively use clothes horse,thatll dry quickly
I dont see need for tumble drying,does anyone need clothes that immediately?

I love line drying, everything smells so fresh and clean compared to tumble drying. Plus it's free.

We don't have a washing line.

We do about 4 loads of washing per week, about 2/3 will be tumbled dried and the rest will go on an airier that occasionally makes its way into the garden. Not arsed about the electricity bill being a few quid higher. I used that energy calculator thing someone posted on here a while ago and each tumble cycle for my machine is less than £1.

When we did have a washing line it used to properly piss me off when I'd hang washing out before work and when I got home 10 hours later it'd still be soaking wet because we live in Britain and a gloriously sunny morning can switch to torrential rain in the blink if an eye.

I do reuse carrier bags and have an environmentally friendly(ish) car though.

Agreed Scottishmummy. I don't have a tumble dryer. If the weather is good, it goes outside, and if it's raining it goes on an airer and over the banister.
But then, I don't even see the point of using different programmes on the washing machine (some them take hours!) or separating stuff into different colours. I chuck everything in together on the quick wash, and yet nothing catastrophic has happened.
Also, crunchy line dried towels dry your body far better than soft fluffy ones do. Soft towels just redistribute the water around instead of drying it off.

I do reuse carrier bags and have an environmentally friendly(ish) car though

Because carrier bags have everything to do with excessive domestic energy use

HesterShaw
I do reuse carrier bags and have an environmentally friendly(ish) car though

Because carrier bags have everything to do with excessive domestic energy use

Woah sorry I forgot the smiley face thing at the end to indicate a bit of humour. Worth it though to give someone the opportunity to be po faced over my excessive domestic energy use though.

I dont have a tumble dryer

Ah that old chestnut. Someone who says something even vaguely critical of someone else re their environmental footprint is "po faced", or judgemental, or poking their nose in, or humourless or blah blah blah same old same old.

Well you are?

Hester has a point. Climate change is a real and very scary issue and however light-heartedly it was mean, attitudes like "well I use reusable carrier bags so that's ok" dramatically miss the point. I'm surprised the whole issue hasn't been raised more in this thread.