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!

I have one of these on the back wall of my house and I use it several times a week, all year round because I don't have a tumble dryer. I can get 2 full wash loads loads on it, including my super king-size bedding.

Just hung mine out, including pants and a bra!

With the hot weather we've been having it makes perfect sense, it dries in mega quick time and because of that you can get a ton of washing done...

We hang ours outside. So do all our neighbours. Pretty middle class area so definitely not a snobby thing. I do own a tumble drier and sometimes I do think it would be easier to use (especially when hanging out 47 thousand pieces of toddler clothes takes 20 minutes!) but I only use it sparingly in the winter (we also dry clothes on an airer in the kitchen)

Not everyone has a utility room.

Hang mine out. Nicer smell and better for the environment. Washing folded and put away as soon as brought inside though.

I dread the coming autumn because I know I'll be spending more on electricity on account of having to tumbledry nearly everything. (House is tiny and I don't want clotheshorse stuck in the living room every day). Your neighbours clearly have money to burn, plus their sense of smell can't be up to much.

Me too, fortunately so do neighbours! 😂

As long as the patio is dry I hang my washing out on long lines down the back garden. I must be common.
My friend and neighbour who lives in the house by the entrance to the cul de sac must be very common. She has a line in her front garden! (She has barely any back garden).

Two loads out already (optimal whirligig planning & use here)
Contemplating a third load of towels, as it’s a Good Drying Day. Obviously the third load will be pegged out on the periphery when the internal lines are at least partly dry.
(Plus it doesn’t use electricity, which imo is irresponsible.)

My washing is out all year round as much as I can! I have a tumble drier but only use it when absolutely necessary. One of my neighbours has a washing line and one doesn’t.

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!

If we lived somewhere like that my husband would be constantly hunting for washing to do! He loves a good sunny and breezy drying day.

All our neighbours put their washing on the line here too. We must all be very common.

In a CoL crisis, an energy cost crisis and an environmental crisis why on EARTH would anyone use a tumble dryer when sun and wind will do the job quicker?

It’s common people who only use the tumble dryer

My sister, who’s lived across the pond for decades, says that hanging washing out is seen as a sign of either poverty or madness. Though to be entirely fair, where she’s mostly lived (Massachusetts) the very long, very cold winters probably mean that your washing would very often freeze.

But as for the UK neighbour saying it’s ‘common’, I can almost hear my long-gone DM snorting that that would be a sign of what she called ‘lower middle class prudery’, along with net curtains.

It is considered common especially if you do it in your front garden - I will occasionally put if the weather is reasonable.

Same here, my tumble dryer is begrudgingly used in the Winter months and then I only use it when clothes hanging around for a day or so stubbornly refuse to dry....

I do find that my clothes don't smell as fresh when I hang them outside.

I don't understand this at all. Why would you pay extortionate amounts to use a tumble dryer when fresh air is free?

Always use the line here unless it's raining/damp. We live in quite a cramped flat with no space for a dryer. We have a dehumidifier which we use when drying inside in the winter.
If you have outside space, I can't understand why people would use a dryer.

You should have said “I think destroying the planet is common.”

I don’t have a garden. If I did I would hang out. I put my airer outside when I can.

Same 😁

I hang mine out and every time I thibk of my.mum who did it too.

Also have a folding pull out airer on utility wall, and 2 clothes racks.

Tumble dryer is for emergencies only, or sometimes a final go around in winter.

I know, it's madness...

I'm surprised you are surprised

1. Not everyone has a utility room - I don't
2. Line driying outside on a dry day is much quicker than drying inside because I can dry bedding without having to fold it
3. Outside line drying on a sunny day bleaches whites naturally
4. I only dry inside in damp weather, which in my case is usually most of the year. When it is damp I do this with the aid of a dehumidifier