Clothes still damp - WHAT am I doing wrong??

[CherryChoc]

Our clothes airer broke and it was a nice day today so I decided to put them out on the line outside, at about 1 o clock.

At about 8.30 I brought them in, but most of them are still damp and the really thick things are really damp.

Things I can think of which might not have helped are:

• Bringing them in after it was dark, and therefore they had been outside in cold and slightly damp air for an hour or 2.

• We ran out of pegs so most things were folded in half over the line in order not to fall off.

• It's one of the umbrella shaped washing lines and I didn't have enough room to skip a line each time.

However the thick things (combat trousers, hoodies) are really damp still and I'm not convinced they would have dried even if I'd had enough pegs or space. What do you do? (If you don't have a tumble drier)

you're not doing anything wrong unless your washing machine isn't spinning properly. It's still too cold to expect stuff to get properly dry imo.

Oh that's a relief, it's not just me then

I sometimes think everyone else "just knows" householdy things and I can't seem to work them out...

i still haven't tried to dry mine outside this year, but i have a broken airer that leans nicely against my bedroom wall and i also got an overdoor airer that is a lifesaver, also have a sock airer which hangs on the shower curtain rail (yes, upstairs does look like a launderette). The overdoor airer was from a lady that lived in a mobile home as apparently they are used a lot as they can be hung out of the windows, i can get 2 loads of washing on mine.

It's coz you left 'em out in the cold damp air. Bring them in before it gets dark. You should now proceed to the airing cupboard with your folded pile of washing. Leave them on the boiler overnight and they will dry and air properly.
I always dry my washing like this even through winter, unless it is raining. Put a wash on in the evening, hang it out first thing in the morning, bring it in before it starts to get dark, put it in the airing cupboard overnight (or on radiators depending) and then put it away the next morning. My mum told me how to do it.

Well...I got 2 full loads out and dried today and my washing has been fully drying on the line for a couple of weeks now so I disagree that it is still too cold but I do hang mine out earlier than that, usually no later than 11(and more often by 9/10).

I also don't fold things over the line and do double space and it does make a difference, dh doesn't so if he ever hangs out the washing it doesn't dry as quickly.

It depends on your garden too though, my last garden didn't really get windy so things always just hung still on the line, here they flap around in the breeze and dry much faster. My line is also in sunshine for most of the day.

Well we live at the top of a hill so it does get quite windy. Also was in direct sunlight (I felt very warm hanging it out) - perhaps I'm just doing that British thing of insisting it's summer when it's only a hint of spring!

Spaceman we haven't got a proper airing cupboard, our house didn't have central heating when our landlord bought it and he ripped out the entire hot water system and replaced it with an on demand boiler in the kitchen which does both heating and hot water. So we haven't got an immersion heater and our (cold) airing cupboard is being used for storage of Things Which Should Be In The Loft like old videos.

I think we need to get some of those radiator airers as I've been told you can fit more on the radiators that way. Our radiators are all really short though, we only have 2 normal sized ones in the house.

I think what you said spaceman about your mum showing you might have been key - my mum never insisted my sister and I helped with the household chores really. I will definitely make sure my children learn these skills, I feel silly asking.

I think it depends on where you live. My washer has a very fast spin speed and I've been hanging out washing all day (ie 8am till 6pm), all this week but nothing apart from t shirts and teatowells is coming in dry.
We are in lancashire and its often damp in the air here even when its sunny. Definitely need to bring stuff in before it goes dusk though.
I bring things in then put them on the airer overnight, we have a combi boiler so no airing cupboard.
I don't use radiator airers as the clothes get too dry and a bit cardboardy.
You can get a new airer for about a tenner...

At this time of year things definitely get damper again after dark.

i put my washing out at 10.30 am

it was all bone dry by 1pm though i didnt get it in until 3pm (including some really thick towels and bath mat and things that always take extra long to dry)

i think you need to get some more pegs and not double things over and bring it all in a good hour before the sunsets or else at this time of year it does and will get damp again

on tuesday i did a load of washing.... hung out at 10pm was out all night and all day and bought it in bone dry at 6pm wednesday!

always hanging washing out me, though generlaly put it out in the mornign and bring it in by 5 or 6 ish. otherwise it does get damp.

Make sure it gets a good spin first.
NEed to get it out before lunch time and in before it starts getting dark.
Mine was still a bit damp when I brought it in so have put it on the airer in my utility room wher it gets warm!

Oh I know flibbertigibbet, it's just it only broke yesterday and I haven't had chance yet. Small baby in the house means can't really put the washing off though!

I don't know how to work out the spin speed of the different programs on my washing machine. It's a rented house and the appliances were provided, and we haven't got a manual for it. It's very simple and just has one dial but you have to guess which program to use based on their names. There isn't an extra spin program though.

I felt like you, many years ago when i first left home. I just didn't really know if i was doing everything right or whether this householdy stuff came naturally and had skipped me!

Anyway, I try and put it out early, before 9am if i can, then i always try and get it in before 5pm, 5.20 at the latest, so that it doesn't get damp again. If it is still a little damp then i either put it over an airer for a little while or just hang it on chairs in the kitchen and it finishes off really quickly.

cheerychoc...

cotton programs usually have the fastest spin

synthetics have a medium spin

wool / handwasg slow spin

if you have the pictures you want that shape 'ummm how to describe?' a bit like a boat .. like __/with no extra lines under...

1 line under = synthetics
2 lines under = wool

also does your dial have a spiral on it... iif so that is wear you move it to fast spin, and a spiral that has gaps is a slow spin

I have dried washing on the line the past 2 weekends

but if you leave it out later than 6 it will get damp again

as for pegs, you can double up on them, using 2 pegs for 1 item, then 3 pegs for 2 , and so on. So 1 peg is fastening 2 ends of 2 items to the line
also, don't fold them over the line, let them hang down, upside down is best
and you can always use hangers too, saves on space

rather randomly, watching washing blowing on the line is one of life's little pleasures. I could watch it all day

I usually put the washing on overnight, then hang out first thing, and leave it until about 4pm. My MIL hangs things to make a tunnel (so only pegs one side of a t-shirt), but I think this makes things lose their shape, and I don't iron, so I just peg them out pegged on both sides. Apart from jeans, which I just peg the back of the waist as they're heavy enough to stand it.

If things aren't quite dry, just fold them, and stack on a chair in front of the radiator if you have it on in the evening. If you're going to iron them anyway slightly damp is fine, but I don't, so I prefer things to be put away completely dry.

Also, if it's not a really warm day, rotate the washing as the sun moves round and bits dry - so perhaps if the top of something has dried, but the bottom hasn't, then turn it round on the line half way through the day.