Clothes Lines

[watervole]

I used to love my tumble dryer, used nothing else for a couple of decades.  I acutally owned a dryer before I owned my own washing machine.

When Richard was made redundant, one of the many ways in which we started to save money was to go back to using a washing line.  Then I also became aware of the CO2 savings that a washing line was good for.

After cutting my usage down to about one load a year for the last two years, I made the decision to give away my tumble dryer.  It went to an old lady via Freegle. Her arthritis was so bad that she could no longer manage to use clothes pegs.  (I met her when her husband brought her to collect it.  A lovely women, trapped inside a body that no longer allowed her to do the things that made her feel worthwhile. She made me aware just how lucky I am.)

I see from the news that I'm not alone in abandoning my dryer.  There's a movement in the States to try and lift neighbourhood restrictions that prevent people from using washing lines even if they wish to.  (I was amazed when I first heard of these restrictions - they sound really strange to British ears.  It does seem odd that America allows restrictions of such  a simple individual liberty as hanging out your laundry, but I guess you never really know a country unless you live there.)

Comments

[rpdom]

I used to have a washer/dryer, but rarely used the dryer function - partly because I was worried about the amount of power it used (although anyone who has seen my house would be surprised at that, given the number of computers I have running). Instead I dry clothes on a rack indoors. We don't have a lot of laundry to do, so this is acceptable.

I do have an outdoor line, but don't use it as we get a lot of birds in our garden and they have a habit of perching on the line and "decorating" the clean clothes.

I'm only slightly surprised to hear about the problems with using a line in the US, after hearing about people who have been fined for not watering their front lawns during a water shortage.

I believe there is even a by-law where I live, saying that washing lines must not be visible from the roads, or higher than boundary fences. That doesn't seem to apply for the communal washing lines for the flats opposite us.

[watervole]

Like you, I use an inside rack in the bathroom when it's too wet outside. Normally, I chance the birds. I've had the occasional bird mess, but only about once a year, so I guess I'm lucky there.

[drplokta]

Lots of flats in the UK have leases prohibiting hanging laundry out to dry on the balcony.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Odd really. I used to assume the balconies existed precisely to allow line drying.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

Yes. I do use the drier sometimes and I am aware it's not something I should be doing regularly. It's an emergency measure generally.

I was boggled to hear that people are prevented from using washing lines. Doonesbury had quite a funny series of cartoons on this issue, about two years ago. One of the characters - a lady about our age - undertook a protest campaign, by washing and drying lines full of revealing leopard-print underwear. I think it was her son who was recoiling in horror 'Aargh, my eyes!'

[watervole.livejournal.com]

As an emergency measure, it has its uses. The last time I used one was when guest had got wet in the rain.

You score Brownie points for not using it on a regular basis.

[darth-tigger.livejournal.com]

I've never had a tumble drier, and wouldn't know how to use one.

I'm staggered to hear about the restrictions on washing lines!

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Conflicting freedoms -- freedom to dry your washing how you like, vs freedom of neighbours not to have the image of their neighbourhood dragged down by visible washing.

I think this may be bigger in the US because there's a stronger cultural association between washing-lines and extreme poverty, cf this sort of image (http://www.shorpy.com/node/4397).

[Edited: gah! I'll get that link right eventually.]

[watervole.livejournal.com]

THey must have had some kind of pulley system to reel the line in to get stuff on and off it.

[artw.livejournal.com]

They did and still do - we had a pulley washing line in a flat in an old building in Zagreb. I found it a bit unnerving - if anything had fallen off it would have fallen a long way - but it worked fine.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I also wondered how they fastened the pulleys up in the first place...

[jon-a-five.livejournal.com]

My estate of flats forbids hanging washing out, although I've seen people do it. I have an A-frame which I put over my bath to dry my laundry, although sometimes I set the dryer cycle of my washing machine to get the majority of the water out as my bathroom has no window for ventilation.

[wingedkami.livejournal.com]

My schedule doesn't always allow for line drying (I need both time and appropriate weather, which don't always coincide) but I'll hang stuff outside if I can because it always smells nicer (and saves money). My husband loves line-dried clothes as well, but doesn't seem to have quite made the connection between action and consequence yet. I'm working on that. :)

Getting rid of the dryer isn't an option, sadly, as we simply don't have enough space to dry things indoors if the weather's bad. I used to hang things on radiators but this house hasn't got any. My non-tumble dryable stuff fills up all the available drying space. I grew up in a house without a dryer, but that was a much bigger house with radiators and room for airers.

The idea of not being allowed a washing line seems utterly bizarre to me.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I'm lucky in that my house has an airing cupboard. That does make it easier when the weather is bad. I've also got some racks that I can put in the bathroom and a reasonable size bathroom to put them in.

I know what you mean about enjoyiing the smell of line-dried clothes.

[vicarage.livejournal.com]

I never use a drier, just a clothes horse in the corner of the bedroom. Lines in gardens always seem a lot of faff and worrying about the weather, which I do enough about at work!

[watervole.livejournal.com]

LOL!

I quite enjoy hanging stuff out - it's nice to be in the garden. But you're quite right about the rain!

(Interesting oddity of English. Two different meanings of 'quite' in one paragraph - yet I bet you know instantly which is which)

[winterbadger]

If most UK dryers are like the washer-dryer soccer_fox and I tried to use in our Edinburgh flat, I would understand people giving up one them. We tried to wash and dry one pair of jeans, and after nearly 24 hours of trying to get them dry, they were still soaking wet. Engineering fail.

My parents never had a dryer; my mum always line-dried our clothes, sheets, etc. But she was a stay-at-home mom most of her life. I wouldn't rent an apartment (here in the US) that didn't have a dryer, either in the apartment itself or in the building. It's simply not practical for me to hang out clothes.

Also, in half the places I've lived there simply was no place to hang them outside, and in the other half, I would expect them to be stolen or ruined by someone (i.e. local teenagers), just for "fun". The only times I've tried drying clothes inside, anything but quick-dry fabrics took forever and cluttered the place impossibly.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I find that a good spin-dryer makes it much easier to dry stuff properly on a line or clothes-horse. Denims are about the worst things to dry (though as I don't like wearing them, this isn't a problem for me.)

Washer-dryers tend to be poor at both jobs (or so I'm told). My tumble dryer worked just fine, but used a lot of electricity.

A lot does depend on whether you have a safe place for a line. My back garden isn't easy for other people to reach - though this is a low-crime area in any case.

[raspberryfool.livejournal.com]

I have an indoor drying line on the kitchen, of the olde-fashioned type, which is great in the winter or when it's raining. Most of the year I use the outdoor line, as I have a large garden. I use the spin-dryer so I don't have wet clothes dripping everywhere. I also live (mostly) in a different century! :-)

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

I have never had a tumble dryer...but it is not important. I just couldn´t believe my eyes reading that is it possible to prohibit washing lines!
It sounds like a joke!
Of all the silliest ideas, this one is really absurd. And in the States that keep talking about democracy...Well, I am so surprised, and shaking my head over it.

Washing lines

[sweetheartwhale.livejournal.com]

Going back to washing line is a great idea,and I have seriously considered it as I have garden space, but unfortunately it fails big style if you have work uniform which has to be sparkling every day, and the elements of which- white shirts,striped pastel-ish aprons and black trousers- all have to be washed separately. I can save them up to wash shirts together,or trousers together but then but I haven't got time to rely on the weather, especially in winter, to dry my stuff as I'm working 5 days over 7, sometimes finishing at 10pm and starting again at 6am. I generally find I'm having to do two short(30 mins) washes a day on low temperature, plus one 40 min dryer run just to keep up.

[sigh}

I am trying to make a contribution by limiting use of the washer dryer for non work stuff to once a week though...

Tempting to think perhaps the environmental lobby should put pressure on companies who do have staff in uniform to rationalise it so it is a uniform(pardon pun) color and wash type...

Re: Washing lines

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Do the trousers really have to be washed every day? I wouldn't expect the black to show dirt. I often find hanging stuff overnight makes creases drop out (depending on the fabric).

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

I gave up on tumbledriers a few years ago, and was horrified that some of the flats I considered moving to had no drying green and restrictions on what could be hung outside otherwise.