AIBU to think drying washing outside is still normal?

[BlueyandBingo]

Just getting a load of washing in and DH has declared that no one dries their washing outside anymore and that it is ‘niche’.

Don’t get me wrong, I use the tumble dryer when I need to but surely it is better (and cheaper) to use the line, especially on a day like to day when we have had sunshine and a breeze??

In that case i’m very niche🤣 My line is always full of laundry when the weather allows. Love the smell of it, zero cost and the fact i can do everyone’s bedding and towels and have them dry by the end of the day. Dryer takes absolute ages.

Also, even if you put your washing out for just half an hour, it smells better than washing dried indoors.

It's been less popular, partly due to women working and having less time to sort it out, more people seemed to do it a couple of generations ago. WFH makes this easier for some people. A lot of people do see it as less hygenic/have got bugs or bird mess on it too many times, plus if you live in flats and don't have a good outdoor area, you get in the habit of using dryers. Apparently Americans think it's really weird, but there are people in the UK who like it, so if you do, then why not?

Your Dh is a massive tit and talking through his arse.

Of course people dry their washing outside. Why wouldn't you when fresh air and sunshine are free?

Oh yes, this 💯

Ive done all my towels this evening ready for the line tomorrow ( 🤞)
As PP says, the bedding dries all smooth and smells divine and the drying is totally free!
I bought new pegs last week, and I’m a happy girl for the next few months on line drying!

I dont have a tumble dryer. LOVE drying outside as long as there is no risk of rain as I hate running out to get it all back when I realise its been pouring for 5 minutes!

The only problem for me at the moment is hayfever. So I cant put any of my things outside as I get horrific hayfever.

He is bonkers. Clothes last longer when dried outside, and smell fresher, and it is a pleasant experience, for me anyway, to hang my laundry outside and then bring it in beatifully fresh and dry.

You're outside in nature, seeing if nothing else the sky. But also trees and flowers and birds and clouds and sometimes butterflies, which lifts the spirits.

You are exercising your arms, lifting them above your head to peg and unpeg, and then carrying the basket of laundry out and back.

I use a dryer on occasion to finish some almost dry things off, or maybe once a year, when the washing has built up and the weather is lengthily wet, to dry a load.

In Australia, not the UK, but never had a tumble dryer, here or there.

Having said that, you have to pick your day here. All my bedlinen is deep dyed cotton or linen and I don't want the sun to fade it, or turn linen into surfboards. The same with good black clothes, turned inside out and pegged out behind less valuable items.

As in the UK, dry and windy is best and makes the clothes smell so clean.

As much as I can see, new builds don't have room for a washing line, having built to the boundary. This is is probably part of the reason why Australia is so high up the emissions hit parade.

The 'I's in your posts make me think that you're the one doing most if not all of the washing.

Is he normally so opinionated and about things that have nothing to do with him? Does he often stand around criticising how you do his household chores for him? Good luck to you.

None of my next door neighbours have washing lines and I find it so bizarre!
Maybe they think I'm mad with clothes drying outside everytime its sunny. Who knows.

I dry all my washing outside even in winter if it's dry. I also air bedding most days out of window to air. My neighbours all dry their washing indoors and only have a washer/driers, so not efficient and never see windows open. I don't think they're that bothered to be honest.

wot??

I've been in the US for 15 years and while I do occasionally see people dry outside, most don't. But if they do want to line dry they also are more likely to have room for an indoor space to do it; I do. My machines are in the basement so there's room for racks.

Right now it's pollen season starting, so I wouldn't dry outdoors. Everything would be covered.

I have a south facing garden been drying clothes all year round, tip I heard if the ground is dry then your washing will dry but if wet or damp it will never dry. Even if takes some wetness out of it then happy with that.

If you put in the tumble dryer for twenty minutes after line drying it takes away any pollen traces

Your DH is wrong.
I've never owned a dryer and nor has my Mum or sibling.
Drying outside is totally normal.
Why pay for what you can do for free?!

I'm with your husband on this one. I hate the faff of drying clothes outside on the line. We live in Scotland and the weather is generally crap. Plus, hanging washing out at 7am before I go to work, only to worry about it starting to rain and it all get wet again before I get home at 6pm....no thanks.
And I think tumble dried clothes smell better, I think the wind blows all the fragrance away!
No need to worry about bird shit, pollen etc either.
:)

For those who say they use their dryers because of pollen, it it's still better to start the drying outside and just finish them off for half an hour in the dryer. That removes any pollen just as well.

I dried my bedding wash out in the warm, fresh air, just today. I peg out all year round. I only dry doors when I really have to do the washing in a period of bad weather. I don’t own a tumble drier, never had one and have no intention of ever getting one. It’s not niche, it’s perfectly normal.

The fact that you prefer not to line dry doesn't make you 'with the husband' though, that's not what he said.

He said nobody does it anymore.

I got rid of my drier as I never used it - line drying always for me. You canot replicate the smell of line dried clothing. It tries even in winter. I am just re-purposing the airing cupboard for when the clothes come in a bit damp. The airiing cupboard by the chimney and hot water tank. The guys designing houses in the 60;s knew their stuff !

They like to make a fire out of money and penguins and dry their laundry over that! Which is effectively what one is doing if using a tumble drier when it’s perfect drying weather outside..

The sun is free and very strong where I live- bedding and towels dry much faster outside than in our tumble dryer. I've trained my toddler to hand me his clothes to hang out so we do it together and it gets done in no time.

Plus the Iran situation has reminded me that we need to use less energy in general.

Drying laundry outside is preferable surely?

I don't have a tumble dryer and I have hayfever. I just hang washing inside with the dehumidifier next to it, it dries very quickly and the dehumidifier is pretty energy efficient. Surely not everyone drying washing inside is using a tumble dryer? I'm surprised by this thread though as it seems like not many people are doing what I'm doing!

I really don't want drying clothes to be a multi step process, if I'm hanging clothes out to dry I don't want to then have to use a dryer too. Sometimes outside of pollen season if it's dry outside I'll take clothes out on the clothes horse, easy to bring back in if it starts raining.

I'm also surprised by how many people notice what their neighbours are doing, whether they have clothes lines or open windows in summer. I couldn't tell you whether my neighbours have clothes lines or open their windows! I'm never thought about how they're drying their clothes!