Is hanging washing on the line not a thing anymore?

[Savvyshopper81]

Interesting conversation with neighbour recently:

Him: ‘I see you like hanging your washing out to dry.’
Me: ‘Er, yeah. Doesn’t everyone?’
Him: ‘Well no, we think it’s a bit common.’

Now this was said tongue in cheek but I’ve come to realise that NONE of my neighbours have washing lines (only us!) and we all have big enough gardens. Plus a local friend recently said that they tumble dry everything because they can’t stand seeing washing hanging around.

Is this no longer a thing? Has the world gone mad?? I live on top of a very windy hill in a sunny part of the UK - unless it’s raining washing usually dries in a couple of hours. I’m baffled as to why people wouldn’t take advantage of that!

Anyone that sneers about anything as being ‘common’ (WTF) is ‘common’ by their own definition themselves. It’s peak judgey narrow mindedness to come out with utter shite like this. Pay it no mind and be happy you don’t have to have wierd ideas like this on your mind like they must do.

Love being able to line dry my washing, it's one of the few household chores I enjoy. Smells so good when it comes in too.
My neighbours all hang theirs out too, naice middle class street 😆

I don't hang my washing out because of the pollen issue.I wish I could though. I tumble dry because I won't dry stuff indoors unless I can't tumble dry it.

I thought it was frowned upon to use a tumble dryer. I always hang mine out and neighbours do too but obviously use dryer reluctantly when it’s pissing down.

I live in a flat but I’m lucky enough to have a south-facing balcony so my clothes are always out there! They go out in the winter, too, because the wind can usually remove a bit of damp and then they come in to finish.

I actually grew up in America for 16 years, though, and I remember absolutely dying with embarrassment when my mum would hang out the clothes in the summer - she would only let us use the tumble dryer in the winter because of the cost and environmental aspect.

Looking back I realise she definitely had the right idea, you just don’t see that at 16! At the time it just felt like yet another thing that made us weird and foreign. But that’s teenagers for you!

our laundry goes on the line when there’s snow on the ground. If the ground is dry it goes out.
If anyone asks, tell them you use solar and wind power to dry your laundry, very modern. 😀

Your neighbours sound very odd.

It’s more traditional values than common.

I suppose if you have spent a bomb on landscaping your garden and want it to look like a magazine shoot at all times… but that’s not classy.

Sames!! It’s the highlight of the day 😁

anybody who tries frowning on me can fuck off.

I have both a washing line I use, and a tumble drier. That way I have the best of both worlds. But I do recall when growing up, and subsequently in certain parts of the UK, there being "washing days" when everyone did their washing and hung it out to dry. It was a mortal sin to hang washing out on another day. My mother told me it was so that people didn't gossip about each others washing, because being poor people hadn't got nice fancy things, but if you were all hanging out your "grubby" washing on the same days then yours was as likley to be commented on as anyone elses, so everyone said nothing. No idea if it is true or not, but the "washing day" thing definitely is - I still heard about that in some places as late as the 1990's.

I wonder if this comes from the covid garden makeover trend where everyone has filled their gardens with fake grass, garden bars hot tubs and offices and have removed all the washing lines. Maybe they will change their mind when they get their electric bill!

We tumble dry all year round and don’t have a washing line. When we moved in, there was a line that stretched about 100 feet down the garden between 2 posts. It was one of the first things we removed.

I have never once seen washing in my neighbours’ gardens either. I can see into their gardens from our bedrooms at the rear. I think I love our tumble dryer as much some people love to peg out washing. I guess you either do or you don’t 🤷‍♀️

nope. My garden is wilded nothing fake, no bar or hot tub. As I said its a pollen in my clothes and bedding issue.

I never understand when people say they “put everything in the tumble dryer” as there are loads of items which can’t be tumble dried as they’d shrink etc. What do these people do with those things?

I do use the line in really good weather but tbh the usual British weather isn’t reliable enough (eg today looks like rain is coming) so it’s easier to leave it on the clothes horse in my back porch. Don’t have to worry about the rain ruining it when I’m out at work.

The horror at people leaving washing out on the line to get darked on.

I hang mine out. As does my neighbour. Have to say when it’s sunny, I wash everything not nailed down! 😂

If it's a good day for drying the washing goes out! We don't have a garden, just a small patio, but I put a line up. We don't own a dryer anyway. It used to be that people would tut round here if they saw laundry drying outdoors on a Sunday but our neighbours are reasonable human beings and don't care.

Washing lines feature in a lot of art, they are aesthetically pleasing things 😍. Mum always says if the ground's dry, the washing will dry - not as poetic as your example but same sentiment.

Love line dried washing - we have long lines and clothes props.

We have a washing line and use it when we can

our direct neighbours also have lines - to the left uses it rarely , to the right uses it regularly . pretty much the pattern around here - everyone has a line and many frequently have washing on.

but perhaps we are common ? Common as in everyone or common as in not posh ?

We also care about out clothes lifespan and the planet

I wish we had the space for an outside line! Instead I like to tease myself by checking the laundry drying guide to see what I'm missing out on 😂

www.netweather.tv/weather-forecasts/uk/drying-guide

in my experience (in the lated 50's to 60's), washing used to be a whole day job. Underwear, stockings and so on might be washed on other days but the heavier stuff was washed all on the same day. Monday was usual because dinner could be cold from the sunday joint so people didn't have to go shopping or spend time cooking dinner. Every drop of hot water had to be boiled on the stove, often in galvanised buckets or a better off working family might have a copper, a huge water container where water could be heated and then just cold added. the washing was done by hand then hand mangled then hung out. With luck the ironing would get done on tuesday or tuesday and wednesday. I don't think it was anything about being gossipped about because of grubby washing.

Peg mine out. Love the smell of clean washing dried outside.

I’ve got a heat exchange pump tumble dryer so it’s cheap to run but I always line dry when possible. I’m planning on getting 3 loads dry today.
Bedding especially on the line as it just dries better.

Weird. Tumble drying is surely more "common" as it wrecks clothes so only good for cheaper replaceable ones.

I lived in a flat in a seaside town & one of the tenancy stipulations was no hanging washing outside.

Mad!