Hello Dear Reader.
I own, as you can see, three different laundry drying racks and a whirly-gig round about washing line which you can’t see. On a bright sunny day (what’s one of those?) I hang it on the whirly-gig. On dodgy days (like the ones we seem to have had since the 80’s) I hang it on racks which I can lift and bring indoors if it rains.
Now I don’t own a tumble drier, but when I did, I owned a huge American Whirlpool drier (similar to the Kenmores you can still buy) which matched my huge American Whirlpool washing machine (I sold them both to buy an eco-responsible washing machine that doesn’t use much water or energy). I could strip three beds and wash and dry all the washing in about an hour and have it all back on the beds again. Convenience costs. It costs the planet the most as my purse will recover.
I now consider a 48 hour turn around quite OK. I washed this laundry in the photo above yesterday afternoon and it’s ready to be folded and put away. Last night’s laundry is getting some breeze under a grey sky. It will be drier when I bring it in than when I put it out. If it’s chilly tonight, I’ll light the wood stove and finish drying it there. When I had no wood stove, just leaving it in the house for a few days eventually got it dry.
There are things to remember with indoor drying. Keep your kitchen door and dining room door closed or the smell of food will permeate not only the drying clothes but soft furnishing. Dry your clothes in a draught if possible and try to get them outside. The outdoor air will make your clothes smell better. I lived in the middle of a city for a while and used to dry my washing on roof terrace and being above car level meant that it didn’t smell of traffic fumes.
How long does it take your washing to dry? Is 48 hours acceptable to you?
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs
I dry on a whirly line if fine day but dry on clothes airer like you, but in conservatory, if dodgy. It's not easy bringing in and out a washing rack as the door is difficult to open fully.
I'm quite happy to wait for my washing to dry! I'm thinking of getting an old fashioned rack for my landing, so I can use free heat which comes up from my living room to the open gallery above.
I do have a tumble dryer but when I replaced my 30 year old one, found this took so much longer I vowed to only use in emergency. I've probably used it three or four times in 3 years.
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For me it dries in ten minutes and in 'winter' maybe a couple of hours if its not sunny or breezy. I don't have a dryer either.xx.
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We are a family of five and we do not have a tumble drier.We manage perfectly well with two airers.Like you we have a wood burner and it is such a help in winter.We can turn around a load of washing in about a day(live in a old victorian drafty palace,oops sorry meant place lol.
If the washing takes too long to dry indoors I find it has a funny smell so I try to clear the washing when its dry outside.x
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We are having an unbearably hot weather right now in France and I have been washing and drying (even the pillows) like a woman possessed. I used to own a drier when I lived in England and didn't need it as I had a large laundry-room. Nowadays, I live in a flat and, like you, try to think of the costs and the planet, so no drier. I do hate it though when clothes smell musty, especially when I realize it once at work ; it's disgusting and I hate to have to wash clean clothes again just because they haven't dried properly !
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I think 48 hrs is pretty good considering how awful our weather is. I too use 'clothes horses' and due to our damp Scottish weather this is probably normal for me. I need to get some outdoor drying done but mostly it has rained here all summer. Keep up the inspiring posts, you tips are being put to good use.
Blessings
Carol x
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I have a tumble drier, its ten years old but I dont use it any more. Far to much hassle and the fluff gets everywhere. I use airers and a washing line like you.
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48 hours is very acceptable and I usually find that this is how long it takes in Winter indoors.
I try and wash whenever the weather is okayish. But you always end up with some to dry indoors sometimes even in Summer.
I have just one airer, and no room for anymore really, so I tend to do a load of clothes at a time and let them dry before doing another.
I aim for one towel wash a week, one bedding wash and one each of light and dark clothes. So usually I manage to get four loads washed and dried every week no matter what the weather.
The washer that came with this house is also a dryer but I have only used it once in an emergency, I HATE to see the electricity meter whizzing round unnecessarily and as it's in full view in the kitchen so I know when it is, now that is a deterrent from using too much power!!
Sue xx
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Well, I DO have a tumble dryer and I'm not afraid to use it - but only to 'fluff' the towels and finish off things like socks etc. I only ever use it on the lower heat and never for more than 40 minutes.
Of course, when the weather's fine my kitchen can resemble a Chinese laundry as I wash everything in sight! I have a rotary line and use an airer outside the back door if the weather's 'iffy' - ready to run it back in as soon as the rain starts (and the conservatory roof is an excellent early-warning system as even the very lightest rain makes enough noise to alert me that I might need to gather in the washing!)
I hate having it on airers indoors in the winter/wet weather though - I try to do a wash in the evening and then leave it on airers near the radiators overnight - it's usually dry enough to finish off in the tumble-dryer the next morning, if needed quickly!
I used to dry a lot of stuff directly on the radiators - word of warning: DON'T! It's the easiest way to wreck your rads - I ended up with two that rusted through underneath, where the dampness had collected un-noticed over time! Believe me, watching the bottom of a rad give out and deposit the entire heating system water and gunk all over the lounge carpet is not a pretty sight!
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I am spoilt as I live in Queensland. Our hot weather is my main complaint. Our washing dries fast except in wet, humid weather. Then it can takes days and things smell before they dry….sometimes they mould too. So at times in the middle of an Australian summer we resort to our drier. The drier is used so rarely. We have a hoist in the yard and lines under cover for the very hot weather. I can sunburn before I have hung one load. To keep costs down I am always trying to stretch the length of times between washes but in summer we wash a lot.
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I live in Australia and loathe driers unless it's unseasonably damp. I dry on portable line thing on my front balcony. Put it after work, take it off the next day after work. So easy. Simple. Eco Friendly.
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I hang all my stuff outside all the time, except when it rains.
I love how the clothes all smell fresh with sunshine. Can't bottle it if you try.
I only run my washer on sunny days because I don't own a dryer.
My turnaround laundry time is about 6 hours.
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Our washing takes 48 hours. We don't have a dryer (even if I wanted one, we can't afford it and don't have space for it) and we don't have a suitable outdoor space so everything goes on a clothes-horse thingy by the living room window.
It's not entirely ideal, and occasionally we get a foosty smelling load if it's particularly humid or cold, but it's fine. We can live with it 🙂
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I hang mine out on dry days - in the conservatory if rain threatens.
In the winter I have 2 clothes horses in the kitchen (the warmest room) and stuff drys there pretty quickly - with 48 hours for the thickest jeans/hoodies.
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I had two big pulleys in our bathroom when we lived in Scotland and had high ceilings. Now we have a verandah so the washing can be hung out even if it is raining. In winter, I also put airers near the woodburner, but I am conscious of condensation in modern houses, so I try to have a window open somewhere at the same time. These days we all have so many clothes it seems, that it is fine to take a day or two to dry the laundry, added to the fact that some of us wash more often than our mothers did - my mum had a twin tub and only washed once a week, so she had a LOT of laundry to get dry each time she washed for the family.
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Never owned a drier here - 48 hours seems ok, I have a dolly on a pulley which lives in the kitchen - we can dry most stuff on that if we have to. That and a heated towel rail and the woodburner keep stuff drying ok if it is too wet outside.
I have been known to use the barn and the polytunnel, if desparate - but then the washing gets bird/mouse droppings on it which is not so nice.
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No problem drying clothes in this part of Australia. They are dry within a couple of hours after being hung out. That is unless it rains. Winter time I put the clothes outside until almost dry then bring them in and place in front of the fire to finish off.
My washing is usually washed, dried and put away the same day 🙂 Other parts of Australia are different though, where we live the weather is very dry…
x
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In Brisbane Australia I can dry the sheets in about one hour!
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In brisbane Australia, the first load of washing is dry by the time the second load finishes!
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I know it's really not fair to say but these days my washing is drying within a couple of hours even in the winter. In the same town I have taken a couple of days to get anywhere. I just loving hanging the clothes out now and then bringing them in smelling of sunshine instead of dead dryer smell. It just goes to show, at least here in Oz that the initial siting of the line makes a huge difference to whether the available sunshine and wind can be fully utilised. Cherrie
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two days by the fire which heats our house, sometimes less. Posted a picture of how our washing looks recently. It's messy but it works. Two racks and lots of coat hangers.
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I am about 70% line drying this time of year. Winter is about 80% but not much for environmental reasons. I just don't like how hard the electric dryer is on our clothes so I hang a lot of it.
I also cope by minimizing laundry as much as possible. We have high water rates where I live so we make sure the children wear things more than once unless there is visable dirt. I have their towels color coded and they are washed once a week and sheets are washed every other week.
We also have low flow faucets, low flow toilets and we use a rain barrel to water outside. My dh teases that our little ones have to roll around the tub to get wet and our water bill is STILL $150 to $175 a month but in the city a few miles over, they pay a fraction of that. It drives me crazy.
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Takes me about the same time. I have no through draft these days so it can get a bit damp a nd smelly if I can't get it out to dry at all or am in to leave doors open. I leave towels untill I think I can hang them out or they take an age.
I have stopped ironing. I only iron on demand. Was silly doing it twice. You wash, iron adn put away then have to re iron when you take things out. Ok longer items that are hung up are ok but even a pain of trousers can get creased in an overfilled ardrobe. Save energy iron only when needed!!!
Never had a tumble drier and never will. its a luxury if you ask me. My mum never had one only either a twin tub or a top loading washing machine when we were small and only towling nappies and bed blankets lol. I can remember washing blankets and other heavy items in the bath. She woudl plonk me in and get me to walk up and down the offending item till was clean enough then came rinsing and then mangling or the two of us wringing it out between us.
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I do like to dry outside or in the cellar (next to the oil furnace). Even when the woodstoves are going upstairs it dries quickly down there in the winter! I do have a tumble dryer but don't use it much..I DO have a top load washing machine I will NOT give up! You see, I like to knit and then felt things and with the new front loading machines you can't open and close them to check on how the felting process is going…many of my friends have the same thoughts…also the front loaders here seem to get an awful odor and have to be run through a cycle (empty) to clean them…
Our house tends to be dry, so drying the washing indoors also is gret for adding humidity in the winter!
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i dont mind as long as it dries fast enough not to smell. i find putting it through an extra spin helps get out more water and it dries quicker.
i have loads of racks, peg hanging things and radiator racks i hang over doors to dry sheets in the winter. it all dries fast-ish. i just cant stand that dreaded dam smell
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I also have a tumble drier but use it only once a week for the towels. Rest of the time everything is line dried when possible. If not, they go into the conservatory in summer or front room at night in winter to finish off with the wood burner. We wash on average 3-4 times a week.
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I have never owned a tumble dryer and have coped through two sets of real nappies, and a son who needed new bedding nearly every night for years. I usually bank on a 48 hour change around time during normal English weather. When the sun comes out, so does the laundry! The only down side is the amount of condensation in the room with the airers can cause mould, but that is soon bleached away.
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I never owned a dryer so I don't know much about their use…
I have a umbrella style drying rack in the yard, that I use as much as possible, yes even in winter, unless there is heavy rain of course… When the weather is too damp I hang it in the utility room, where my husband put 2 ceiling drying racks years ago.
We are a family of 5, but we don't change clothes until they are dirty or smelly (of course the undies/socks/T-shirts get change daily !) so the laundry is very manageable.
From March to November I need half a day to dry a load, in winter, it's more a whole day. 48 hours seems a lot too me, in my area I would get that bad musty smell in such a time…
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I quit using my dryer last year, I have one long line outside and a place upstairs, sort of an attic annex off the bathroom that we use in bad weather. I don't care how long it takes to dry.
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Good to have you back blogging Froogs 🙂 I have a smashing old fashioned maiden in my back room/dining room/workroom that I can hoist up out of the way.Erm, I suspect it was put up as a decorative item but I love to use it for its proper purpose! If I can't dry outside then I usually leave stuff up there for 2 days. If you need to use radiators get some of the plastic clip on racks. The washing is held away from the radiator so no rusting but still dries. Of course you have to really wring out the washing, stuff that's dripping will cause problems with damp, rust and rot. Not to mention black mould, which is incredibly bad for your health. Ventilation, our grannies knew all about it, if you are cold put a jumper on but if you are drying stuff inside you have to let the air circulate.
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I find clothes take 48 hours to dry inside although if they have even a short time outside and are still damp that time is reduced. The other thing that seems to help is to only half use each airer and leave an empty row between each set of clothes. Not good if there is a lot to dry.
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I have a tumble dryer but only use it when i really have to, we managed without one until DD2 was born but she was a nightmare with reflux and could sometimes end up with a dozen changes a day plus 3-4 sheets/blankets, umpteen bibs and all my tops were alway sicky on the shoulders lol. I was glad to have it as then the washing was one less thing to worry about keeping up with but now she's a lot better (and we live in a bigger house so room for 2 airers) i dry either outside, on the airers or radiator racks. DH's shirts get washed and hung up along the door frame in our bedroom.
K xx
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I do have a drier but try not to use it. Which equates to using it only during the dead of winter when it is extermly cold. I don't have a lot of luck inside at that time because I have the regular heat down. The rest of the year it takes anywhere from an hour to dry outside on my line to 8 hours. I wash 1-2 loads a day. I also have a stand dryer that I dry underwear, towels and shirts on. I hang shirts on hangers and hang them on the pole in the shower.
Thanks
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Winter can easily run seven months here. So I have three clothes lines in the furnace room and two drying racks. I hang dresses, shirts on hangers in the upstairs bathroom because of the rising heat.
It's very dry here in the winter to it's an easy way to humidify the house.
Unfortunately with two military members in the house, it's terrible trying to keep up with their Cadpad everyday gear.
The drier is used for towel and the Cadpad when there is just too much of it to dry quickly.
Right now the whirly line out back is full and should take about three hours to dry.
Yup, it's either 30C or -30C.
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Have never owned a dryer-far far too expensive and also non environmentally friendly. I use clothes airers and everything dries in 48 hours maximum. I only have the heating on in one room in the winter so any visitors have to put up with looking at my smalls 🙂
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It takes about 2 hours in summer and maybe 4 in winter!
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Never use a tumble dryer, the washer leaves them just a bit damp, if the weather's no good for hanging outside, they get hung about the living room, some on hangers and smalls on a drying frame.
48 hours is OK
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I only line or rack dry my laundry. It can take 2 days in the winter and that's fine with me. To speed up the thicker things, I will flip them over when they're on a rack - to expose the wetter underneath side to air.
We only wash clothes when they are good and dirty!
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2 or so hours in the dry season and longer in the wet season.
Sometimes the clothes get a mouldy smell in the wet season. I also had clothes drying the the pre-cyclone winds last year which ended up getting mold.
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I have 3 airers and two in door retractible lines. With a family of four (OH needs clean uniform every day due to his job) we manage ok without a dryer. I live in a victorian terrace so high ceiling help.
Our dryer died last January and we are coping.You have to be organised and complete a load every night. The electric bill has dramatically reduced 🙂
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I have 3 airers and two in door retractible lines. With a family of four (OH needs clean uniform every day due to his job) we manage ok without a dryer. I live in a victorian terrace so high ceiling help.
Our dryer died last January and we are coping.You have to be organised and complete a load every night. The electric bill has dramatically reduced 🙂
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hello Froogs, I hang everything that would normally be hung on a hanger by the window, which is slightly open. It dries really quickly and then also, bonus, bonus, doesnt need ironing!
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I dry on airers in our spare bedroom. Our tiny city garden is too small to have a rotary airer or washing line, and anyway London air is not the cleanest. I have the window next to the airers wide open in good weather and a bit open in bad weather, and make sure I turn the washing a couple of times if I think it will take more than a day to dry. That way, you can usually avoid the musty smell setting in. I find it also helps if I don't try to put too much on the airer, and avoid having stuff on the inside or bottom rails overlapped by other stuff.
Jane
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48 hours is what we usually take to dry a load too. I have an american sister in law who lives in Florida and apparently THEY use dryers! I tried to have a rant at her about this but she just wants to convenience. What a waste of that beautiful sunshine! Pah!
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I live in Texas. I would love to get rid of my dryer to use the space in my small laundry room for a good rack. My husband wants me to keep the dryer for 'emergency' use. Well, I can not think of an emergency that will require a dryer. I have 5 nice racks for indoor use. I also have a huge line outside. It is beautiful. I love it. I don't use it much, because the sun tends to fade our clothes so much. I dry them indoors to save sun fade. I do dry jeans outside. I keep them out just a while.
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I have stopped using my dryer (it broke and I can't afford to replace it). The summer has been so wet I admit stuggling to get everything dry on the airers. My OH came up with a wonderful idea of having the fans blowing in the laundry room, along with the dehumidifyer it worked a treat for speeding drying time up. OK it's using some electricity but not like a dryer.
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Not sure that 48 hours is “acceptable” but without a dryer is what I'm stuck with 😦
Great tips!
Would love for you to link this post up at my new Empty Your Archive link party which is a chance to dust off great posts from your archive - there is a focus this week on laundry - would really love to see you there, Alice @ Mums Make Lists x
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