Does anybody hang their laundry to dry in the sun?

[Anonymous]

Some thoughts:

1) I don't like the smell of outdoor-dried laundry either, FWIW.

2) This is a nasty, buggy, humid climate. In just a few weeks, OP, you'll know exactly what I mean. There's nothing wholesome about the outdoor environment around here between June and late September.

3) Many of us in the District don't have outdoor space. I remember from my years in Central London, where outdoor space is even less common, that hanging washing outdoors is hardly universal in the UK.

4) You might have anticipated that anti-American scorn would be received rather badly here.

[Anonymous]

UK lover here! Locals are a little (ahem) defensive (they don't call it that), obviously. On a good day. This will get flamed. Sometimes observations are just observations. I hope locals don't ruin it for you and you find some nice people, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
UK lover here! Locals are a little (ahem) defensive (they don't call it that), obviously. On a good day. This will get flamed. Sometimes observations are just observations. I hope locals don't ruin it for you and you find some nice people, OP.

PP here. Look, I'm a pretty big UK lover myself, but having spent years in London, I recognize the kind of presumptive remark about American habits as one that would have inspired appreciative snickers there, but is clearly out of line here.

There's no shortage of nice people in either country, but in that one, sneering at American laziness, wastefulness, etc. is perfectly socially acceptable (if not encouraged, as it is in some circles). Here, not so much, except among a few of our provincials too dazzled by contact with real-live Europeans to remember themselves.

[Anonymous]

23:07 Point 4 taken (although perhaps extreme to describe my comment as 'anti-American' scorn) but it's nice to see most people who have responded have simply pointed out the impracticalities of hanging out laundry and don't seem to have taken it to heart.

Bit confused by this smell issue though and will have to do a sniff test on sun-dried and machine-dried laundry.

23:08 You're dead right that sometimes 'observations are just observations' and so far I have met lots of friendly people. For the record, I should add that I'm actually an Aussie and we like to call a spade a spade.

[Anonymous]

Growing up in Chicago where it is far more humid than DC we always hung our clothes out to dry and they smelled great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Growing up in Chicago where it is far more humid than DC we always hung our clothes out to dry and they smelled great!

I find the humidity here to be much worse and opressive. Better than Georgia though where you can hang laundry out all day and it just won't dry.

[Anonymous]

Too humid to line dry is bunk. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand where it's much hotter and more humid than here and everything was line dried. It was even harder there because everything was handwashed/hand wrung and machines here (especially front loaders) can spin more water out than can be handwrung and drying is faster here (towels and sheets were the worst). But, having established my bona fides, I only hang my clothes to dry in the basement even though I like the smell of line dried laundry and don't mind the stiffness. In the warmer months, there's too much pollen. I've got significant allergies and whatever dries outside gets coated with pollen. We've rigged clotheslines in the basement and have a drying rack for the more delicate items. Fading is an issue whether you line dry or use a dryer. Whatever you do, you should turn your clothes inside out before washing/drying. Using a liquid fabric softener will also help prevent fading. If you've got whites that have faded, drying in the bright sun can help restore them to brillance, especially if you soak them in some lemon juice first.

[Anonymous]

Reiterating a point made by 9:10: Pollen is a huge issue. Our allergies are terrible, and the allergist recommends against line-drying outside. Personally, I love the smell of line-dried sheets, but I would be a miserable mess if I slept on them. We do avoid using the AC unless temps are in the 90s, so accept that some pollen will come in through the windows. Still, we can't wear the pollen on our clothes, it's too much.

Also, regarding trees and bird poop. It's a definite concern in our yard. Making it worse, we have mulberry trees. The birds eat the mulberries, then drop their purple mulberry poop. It would stain the clothes.

[Anonymous]

Agreeing with PPs: Pollen... yuck! I have horrible allergies and it would not be a good idea to line dry stuff. OP: didn't you see the junk flying around in the air a month/two months ago? Do you want that on your clothes and on your body?

Don't get me wrong, I love the IDEA of line-dried clothes, but it's just not feasible.

[Anonymous]

I have a drying rack, though I mostly use it in the basement for delicate items. The primary reason I don't line dry is that both my DH and I work full-time, which means all the laundry must be done at night. If you line dry and work, how exactly do you manage the logistics? Do you wake up two hours early to run the wash and then hang it up outside before you leave for work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a drying rack, though I mostly use it in the basement for delicate items. The primary reason I don't line dry is that both my DH and I work full-time, which means all the laundry must be done at night. If you line dry and work, how exactly do you manage the logistics? Do you wake up two hours early to run the wash and then hang it up outside before you leave for work?

Two hours? How long does your washer cycle take? I either start a load right before I go to bed, or get it ready so all I have to do is add the detergent and start it as soon as I get up. It's done well before we have to leave, then I put it up really quickly before leaving for work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a drying rack, though I mostly use it in the basement for delicate items. The primary reason I don't line dry is that both my DH and I work full-time, which means all the laundry must be done at night. If you line dry and work, how exactly do you manage the logistics? Do you wake up two hours early to run the wash and then hang it up outside before you leave for work?

How often do you wash? Do you have so few clothes? I'm not a clothes horse by any means but undewear is cheap, I've got lots of it and it's very rare that I have to do laundry because I don't have anything to wear to work. I also do laundry on the weekends and waiting for it to dry isn't an issue.

[Anonymous]

The wash cycle on many front loaders is quite long.

[Anonymous]

you women need to learn how to do your laundry!
stiff clothes after being dried outside? use a good liquid softener before your rinsing cycle.
stinky clothes dried outside? you used too much detergent or you didn't rinse it properly or you put it away before it was dried properly.
polen? LOL so people in 3rd world countries have no allergies or maybe they just die after wearing their line dried clothes... I'm very very allergic and grew up in a place that only very rich ppl had driers. whoever was in charge of colecting the clothes from the line had to shake them very well before folding it.
too humid? another LOL here. i wonder how my mom got our clothes dried being dryerless in a tropical country by the beach. humidity is an excuse for laziness since it's not easy to exercise (hanging the clothes) under the sun.
to the ladies that do laundry at night, if you hang them as soon as the cycle is done chances are the clothes will be dried by the time you wake up in the morning.
now, about the bird poop issue... who's the smart pants that put the clothes line under the tree? I've never heard of birds pooping on anybodys laundry in my life LOL what an excuse!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you women need to learn how to do your laundry!
stiff clothes after being dried outside? use a good liquid softener before your rinsing cycle.
stinky clothes dried outside? you used too much detergent or you didn't rinse it properly or you put it away before it was dried properly.
polen? LOL so people in 3rd world countries have no allergies or maybe they just die after wearing their line dried clothes... I'm very very allergic and grew up in a place that only very rich ppl had driers. whoever was in charge of colecting the clothes from the line had to shake them very well before folding it.
too humid? another LOL here. i wonder how my mom got our clothes dried being dryerless in a tropical country by the beach. humidity is an excuse for laziness since it's not easy to exercise (hanging the clothes) under the sun.
to the ladies that do laundry at night, if you hang them as soon as the cycle is done chances are the clothes will be dried by the time you wake up in the morning.
now, about the bird poop issue... who's the smart pants that put the clothes line under the tree? I've never heard of birds pooping on anybodys laundry in my life LOL what an excuse!

Gimme a break. I'm managing my laundry just fine in my first world country without your advice.