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??

I take great pleasure in pegging my underwear out on the washing line. Why on earth would you always dry it indoors or in a tumble dryer? What a total waste of electricity!

OP, your DH is talking utter bollocks. I much prefer drying my washing outside as the weather is now allowing and permitting. I see most of my neighbours doing the same.

I do have hay fever as it goes, but i still think line dried sheets are the best.

I'm delighted to be indecent.

Enjoy your pearl clutching.

Why not underwear?

I love drying my washing outside when it's a nice day. I'm in a terrace and have a lot of houses backed onto mine too and most of them hang their washing out too.

Download the laundry timer app - it’s brilliant and very accurate

Why not underwear? 🤔 I peg everything out on the line outside, weather permitting.

I don't have a garden so we share a communal drying green down by the beach. I Iove getting my washing out and having a blether with neighbours and passers-by. Just like the olden days 🙂

I accidently clicked YABU. You are definitely NBU!!

Your DH is weird. Everyone dries their washing outside when it's sunny.

We're in Spain.
It's the joy of my life to get a load out on the roof terrace.
I had to invest in 60 new strong pegs to be able to use 4 per pair of knickers in order to stop them blowing away.
No tumble dryer here or in England.

Even in the winter i dry mine outside. Slightest bit of sunshine works. Why anyone would pay to tumble dry is beyond me. And the smell is superior.

I think there are some properties where drying washing outside is prohibited.
That said, if possible I dry outside, especially large items.
Sometimes it takes too long to hang out the underwear etc.

Of course it’s normal. It’s just a shame you can only do it a few weeks of the year here. It smells way better dried outside.

Where do you live?

I'm in the Midlands and line dry almost all year round. A bit of wind and you're good to go. Even in the snow washing dried on the line.

Whyever not?

No tumble dryer here. I dry mine outside even during winter as long as the humidity is low. Start the the initial drying by getting the main wetness out then bring it in to finish. Always smells fresher.

I’ve just put washing out this morning and I’ve another load to go out once it’s washed. I hate having to dry washing indoors. My rule is if the ground is dry it goes out even in the winter. I only use the tumble drier for bedding and towels if it’s raining all day…too often the case is Scotland.
I do seem to be in the minority round my way there’s only one other house that regularly had their washing out.
you just can’t beat fresh bedding that’s been dried outside it feels and smells so much nicer.

It sounds like line drying might be like many things, something mainly practiced by 'old people' or those who's parents were 'old people'.

But if you don't fall into that category, probably if you were a child in the 1990s or early 2000s when consumerism and people having fewer money worries took off, you had a 'fuck the cost, I'm using the dryer, it saves me a minute and when it ruins these clothes, it gives me an excuse to buy more' upbringing.

So in these times of the CoL crisis and social media, we're probably going to see a newly discovered 'environmentally friendly method of drying laundry, that's good for mindfulness and it's totally free' going viral on Tiktok, ie hanging your laundry to dry in the garden.

Your dh has a weird idea.

Line drying is the best way to dry. I don't even have a tumble dryer, waste of money!

But some people have worse hayfever symptoms than others. Some years my hayfever is worse than it is other years for some reason.

If you're very allergic to something then being pressed up against it all night is not really the best idea. And if my hayfever is bad I wouldn't be able to smell the line dried sheets anyway, I'd just be covering them in snot.

Washing dried outside is one of my favourite things. Smells divine! 😍

Your dh is being weird, of course it’s normal.
I don’t dry much outside because it’s always bloody raining but I did 2 loads yesterday.
I’m also a bit of an anomaly as I don’t love the smell of washing dried outside but I do many loads a week and most of it ends up in the tumble dryer for convenience so when I’m around and it’s dry and sunny I’ll get as much outside as I can. On airers though so I can put them round the side of the house, I don’t want a line I can see in my garden 😂 also easy to bring in the whole airer if it unexpectedly rains.

I would if I could but my apartment building bans drying in my garden so indoors it is

What!?!? Everyone I know dries their washing outside as much as possible, smells better, better for the environment and cheaper. Your husband is very much wrong.

We dry things outside whenever possible. We don't have a tumble dryer, never have had and we are a family of two working parents and three "kids" who are now technically all adults.

Things feel nicer when they come off the line, softer and smoother. They smell SO much better. And drying outside is free...

This is one thing I think our US cousins are a bit unhinged about. "Poverty indicator" needs to be redefined as environmentally friendly indicator, or trying to make my clothes last longer indicator, or prefer the smell indicator.