If I put my laundry out today I would be still frozen to the clothes line, assuming I managed to pull even one item of clothing out of my basket before it froze solid. It is about -10 out there and will be for the foreseeable. I spent 5 minutes scraping ice off the inside of my windshield this morning after preciously dealing with the snow on the outside.
In summer I would have a hard time putting any laundry out as I don't have a clothesline, or a garden. I imagine there are many people around the world whose lives are spent in above ground apartments with no room to string a clothesline outdoors.
I use a communal washing machine and dryer that is provided in the basement of my building. It is not particularly convenient or cheap for me, but I have no choice about lugging my loads of laundry down two flights and then down into the basement, and then all the way back up again. I had three children before moving into my previous home, a house, and lived in apartments with the children and a similar laundry arrangement -- second floor walkup with laundry facilities in the basement, lug baby/toddler/small children and full basket of laundry with you winter and summer alike, or risk leaving baby/toddler/small children upstairs at home while going about your business. Having a dryer at your disposal doesn't mean your laundry isn't time consuming or that it doesn't require effort.
I put items that don't go into the dryer in the bathroom on hangers that I hang on the shower rail. They dry much faster in winter when the air is usually bone dry than in summer when humidity makes it difficult.
Most US laundry detergents are not enzymatic. Most American dryers run on natural gas. It's fairly cheap, and most detergent won't bring you out in boils.
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The reason I mentioned 'derriere' washing was to highlight that it's easy to judge others for their washing habits. You're judging Brits on their (supposedly) poor hygiene and I'm saying that someone else can do the same to you. See, you didn't like being judged - you answered with 'it's none of your business'.
Leelus, if you read my post you will find that there was absolutely no judgement of British washing habits. I responded to your comment that hot weather accounted for daily showering in Australia by pointing out that Americans (who also experience hot weather) also shower daily even though most spend their lives in indoor heat in winter and AC in summer, with very little deviation from a range of 15 to 20 degrees C even though it may be as it is today -10 outdoors here but in summer it can get to 35 C outdoors. I spent the day indoors apart from having to go out all bundled up to scrape and de-ice my car and then drive in it while it was still freezing. I wore trousers and a 3/4 sleeve top at work, and flats. I changed into a down filled coat, snowboots and scarf and I pulled on a sweater over my top for outdoors wear.
Let me refresh your memory:
Q.
Is it a British thing to not bathe every day? I'm in Australia and no one I know would admit to not showering or having a bath every day. I also can't imagine a bath taking an hour. 15 minutes is plenty of time for my kids to have a wash and play.
A. (Leelus)
It's a lot hotter in Oz so the same rules don't apply. I have very sensitive skin, so I bathe every other day. I think it's good to let your skin develop some natural oil. I have a bidet and also wash face, neck, hands as necessary so this isn't an issue. I'm always told I look younger than I am, so don't know if this is a benefit of not bathing daily.
Mathanxiety, referring to sentence in italics:
'Both hot and colder areas of the US, as well as places where summers are hot and winters are frigid, have the same daily washing culture, so outdoor temps really don't have that much to do with it. Plus most people are not out in the extreme heat and have AC in homes and workplaces so summer heat and humidity isn't that much of a factor. Soap is considered a really good thing all over the US.')
I'm in Australia and no one I know would admit to not showering or having a bath every day.
Likewise, Americans would never admit to not taking a bath or shower every day. But there are quite a few Brits (here on MN anyway) who talk of every other day or even less frequent showering/bathing habits. Whether Americans and Australians really wash every day is up for grabs. My own observation suggests that Americans really do -- but the point is that in one culture it is so ingrained that daily showering is necessary and expected that you would not dare to admit to not doing it, whereas in the other this is not the case. I think this is interesting.
'Soap is considered a good thing all over the US' could equally have been read by you as a comment on Americans blindly following accepted wisdom, but heyho.