ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Drying Laundry Outside

Updated on December 27, 2016

Washing Line in Iceland

Washing line in Iceland
Washing line in Iceland | Source

I grew up in an area where drying your clothes outside was an everyday practice. If you were lucky enough to own a tumble dryer it was only used when there was no other option, when it was raining and you had to get the laundry done. Traditionally, before most households had washing machines laundry was a time consuming task often designated to one day a week. The role was usually performed by the women of the house who prided themselves on having crisp clean laundry drying on the washing line. In fact there is Victorian English rhyme which begins with

They that wash on Monday
Have all the week to dry;
They that wash on Tuesday
Are not so much awry;

. . . . . . . ..

Several times a year all of the household linen would be soaked in lye and dried outside on the washing line to be bleached by the sun.

In terrace communities communal washing lines were strung from house to house across the street with a series of pulleys to enable the lines to be lowered for hanging and lifted to dry in the wind. Modern washing lines come in a variety of styles such as a rotary one which takes up less space but can hold several lines of laundry and can be folded up and even removed when not in use.

Moving to the US I discovered that very few people in the community put laundry outside to dry and of those that did, not all of them had a permanent washing line in their back yard. What is this move away from outside drying?


Tumble Dryer

Source

As dryers became more affordable and consumers had yet to become concerned about the effects of energy use on the environment their use became more common place and the sight of sheets and clothing drying on the washing line became a symbol of less affluent times.

Concerns about washing lines obstructing the view and being unsightly have lead some community associations and developers to ban clothes lines in their communities all together. These bans are often part of a list of rules for the communitiees such as satelite size restrictions and no parking of commercial vehicles. Home buyers would be required to sign a contract agreeing to these rules when purchasing or renting property.

Washing Hung Outside in Malta

Source

The Right to Dry Outside.

In recent years there has been a backlash against these bans on washing lines. Consumers are becoming more aware of the rising cost of electricity and the impact of using appliances on the environment. It is thought that electric driers use as much energy as a refrigerator. There has been some attempts to make dryers more efficient by including sensors which switches off the dryer when it senses the clothes dry. The movemement to make it everyone's right to be able to dry their clothing outside has caused many states to outlaw clothesline bans And tough it has met with strong opposition in some areas from property developers, who state that the consumers buying propertiew want the ban for aesthetic reasons.

Pros and Cons of Outtdoor Laundry Drying

Pros
Cons
Saves money - no energy is used
Weather can be unpredictable
Less likely that clothes will shrink
Time consuming both to hang out and take down and the lenght of time it takes to dry
Clothes smell fresh
Environmental allergies - pollen etc attaching to clothing
No need for space in the home for a dryer
Wasting line takes up place on the backyard
Low cost maintainance for washing line
Privacy/ aesthetically not pleasing
Less fabric wear and tear that clothing that is tumble dried
 

Rotary Washing Line

Source

So what is the answer? There is a place for both. There is no doubt that the electric tumble dryer offers convenience and speed compared with the unpredicability of weather that is suitable for drying. In the winter months it offers flexibility to dry laundry quickly when you need it removing reliance of sunny/windy weather.

On the other hand when the weather allows, drying laundry outside is economical, environmentally friendly and offers less wear and tear on materials. To have the choice and convenience of both drying options would provide choices for consumers.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)