Washing rained on

[breatheinskipthegym]

Hung out 4 loads. Weather forecast said it would be glorious - it wasn’t and it rained! Now glorious again and it’s dried. AIBU to not re-wash and just put it away? I reckon it’s fine, but also have a weird niggling feeling about it.

I really like think smell when it's been rained on a bonus if its been darker on too it smells really nice .

My washing gets rained on and darked on but I never rewash it.

However I do believe I've read somewhere that rain water is often dirty as it brings down all the dust, pollen and pollution with it as it falls.

Oh my days!

There’s a proper scientific name for it (which I can’t remember right now), it’s to do with the release of bacteria in soil.

My washing stays outside. Especially now I'm not using the tumble dryer for anything.

I just hang a cheap shower curtain over the washing. It's been a game changer 🙂

@Damnautocorrect It's petrichor

It's petrichor

Bless you!

It’s just water……straight from the sky…..you literally could not get fresher, cleaner water than that! On another note how on earth do you manage to hang 4 loads of washing out all at once. How many lines do you have?

I can get 4 loads (8 kg machine) on my 50m Brabantia rotary line as long as they consist of mostly clothing and not very big items like bedding.

Totally fine not to rewash.

I love the smell of washing that's been rained on!

I worry about dirt from atmospheric pollution raining on my clean clothes

Where do you think the water in your taps comes from?

Tap water is treated to have dirt and pollutants removed. It’s not just rainwater from a pipe.

I'm inordinately happy to read this thread and have it confirmed that I'm not some kind of weirdo for leaving my washing to dry after it has been rained on (every other effing day in this part of our land). DP always protests, then quickly shuts his face when I ask him if HE would like to bring it in and re wash it and hang it back out. Then he shuffles off mumbling something about damp smells and musty clothes.

Just let it dry now and put it away as normal.

Also, there's nothing wrong with leaving them outdoors overnight to dry.

I only ever rewashed after rain once, when the Chernobyl disaster was announced, and my washing line was full of childrens clothes and nappies.

What's 'darked' on mean?

Soap destroys bacteria and viruses. When this has happened to me, I've gone out with hot water, soap and cloths and spot cleaned on the line before leaving to dry again. I do chuck the clothes in the machine after though 🤔.

Mumsnet bingo, spider Willie's on your washing 🙃

If there are a lot of showers over a couple of days the washing stays out until it's dry (or until I remember to bring it in when it's dry). Can't be arsed to do more stuff. My mother in law would disown me if she found out (not her son who also does the washing and doesn't care if it's rained on)

@LavenderfortheBees I'm confused... you'd just spot clean a duvet cover with soap and a cloth when it had several massive splodges of bird shit on it?

I just got it off the line, bundled it up and stuck it back in the washing machine. I'm assuming that laundry liquid plus hot water does just as good a job as soap at removing excrement...

Yes I am capable of spot cleaning very well when the dirt is localised like that will be. Wipe it first with a paper towel to remove the bulk of the bird poo then clean with soap (or a bit of detergent if you prefer) and hot water.

Much easier and more energy efficient to spot clean than rewash in the machine.

I feel your pain on that one. A passing heron once did a poo the entire width of our king-sized duvet cover just as I was about to bring it in. Very impressive aim.

Fair enough! Each to their own. I can't say I regret washing it again though. :-)

@spiderlight oh no! I guess this is the risk we take when drying outside. :-)