Do you AIR?

[TheProvincialLady]

Following on from the what your mother does thread, I was wondering how many people AIR things these days? I tend to assume that when something is dry from the washing line or tumble dryer that it is, well, dry - and I can't see that there is anything else to do with it except iron and/or wear it.

Am I a misguided slattern or is airing simply not done these days?

I don't air

I have a few friends that air,pointless imo.

Just another task in the endless drudgery that is laundry.

My friend spends ages shifting clothes from drier/line to ironing to airing cupboard to bedroom.
Or did I get the order wrong there??

Think she may even iron pants though.

I would like my washing machine and dryer upstairs to cut out the bringing it all down then carting back up that seems to take me days to do.

My laundry room is upstairs ggirl - in what used to be the guest room walk in wardrobe, which as just being used as dumping ground. It is truly wonderful. In winter I put a load in the machine when kids are in the bath, it washes overnight, I transfer to dryer when kids are getting dressed, take it out and fold it as soon as I come back from school run, and put it away whilst they are in the bath that night - it makes teh whole task so easy

When my Dad and Mum split up 15 years ago I remember my Nan's biggest worry was that he would catch a chill because he hadn't aired his underpants properly.

Still hasn't convinced me to air my pants or indeed any of my laundry though

I will ask again - what if you don't have an airing cupboard????

you hangt behind a door

So airing is meant to take place after the clothes are dry? No then.

We keep our towels/sheets etc in the airing cupboard and anything that is still damp when it comes off the line gets hung up in there/stacked on top of the hot water tank.
Anything still wet after the washing line gets hung on the airer (should I call it a clotheshorse?) until it is dry then it either gets ironed or put away. No airing post drying here!

No. I usually wash something if it needs aired and then dry it on the line outside. blankets are washed once a quarter and dried outside. I wait till there's a two day spell of good weather and go full throttle with washing and pegging out the stuff.

Duvets are washed once a month and then again before they are changed out for the season - I store them in a wooden chest with dried lavender topped up with lavender oil to keep the beasties at bay.

The dryer has become too expensive to run to actually dry things all the way except in the event of an emergency, like a D&V bug.

But I do use put jeans and towels in for about 20 minutes prior to pegging out or drying on the rack and that way they don't go crispy.

So the general consensus is that airing is confined to the obsessive few, or those over 60, or people who have read too many Victorian novels with characters who die of consumption after the insufficient airing of sheets.

I might start a new thread: AIBU to run around making rude gestures and smirking the next time my MIL visits?

Yes but not on purpose.

I tumble everything slightly and then hang it all up to dry on a clothes horse.

Then, when clothes are ironed, they are hung on their hangers on the (same) clothes horse for an hour or two to ensure that any residual dampness has disappeared before being put away.

My Gran "airs" but it consists of hanging something up to air that has just come out of a drawer or cupboard before it is worn it my grandfathers vests and pants, sheets and pillowcases etc - presumably from the days before central heating when stuff in cupboards and drawers could have been very cold and possibly damp?

Also, we had an "airing cupboard" in my house as a shild, my mum used to keep the towels and sheets in there, it was slatted wooden shelves above the hot water tank closet - they were always lovely slightly warm and dry and fresh. I wish I had an airing cupboard for this reason.