# Do you hang out your laundry? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 19, 2007, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539 "2007-01-19T01:47:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/21 "2007-01-19T13:22:33Z")
My washer (and dryer) are in the basement, which although has access to outside, is not easy accessible. (The steps are rickety, the doors are heavy mental, etc.–it’s seriously a safety hazard going up and down the steps.) I typically use the dryer (especially in the winter, although it’s “vented” inside to warm and moisten the basement air–which can be dry because it’s…well, a dry basement). I do have an accordian type hanging rack that I use for items that shouldn’t go into the dryer (bras, stockings, sweaters, my old vintage table cloths, etc.) that I use year-round, especially in the summer. Many eons ago, when the Hallgirls were babies, they wore cloth diapers and I would hang them on the line to dry. I’ll never forget looking outside and seeing a line of diapers hanging on the line, blowing in the breeze. Those diapers got WHITE after an afternoon in the sun, I’ll tell ya’. (Of course, we were too poor then to have a dryer, but that’s beside the point.) ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/22 "2007-01-19T13:22:51Z")
My washer (and dryer) are in the basement, which although has access to outside, is not easy accessible. (The steps are rickety, the doors are heavy metal, etc.–it’s seriously a safety hazard going up and down the steps.) I typically use the dryer (especially in the winter, although it’s “vented” inside to warm and moisten the basement air–which can be dry because it’s…well, a dry basement). I do have an accordian type hanging rack that I use for items that shouldn’t go into the dryer (bras, stockings, sweaters, my old vintage table cloths, etc.) that I use year-round, especially in the summer. Many eons ago, when the Hallgirls were babies, they wore cloth diapers and I would hang them on the line to dry. I’ll never forget looking outside and seeing a line of diapers hanging on the line, blowing in the breeze. Those diapers got WHITE after an afternoon in the sun, I’ll tell ya’. (Of course, we were too poor then to have a dryer, but that’s beside the point.) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/23 "2007-01-19T14:50:45Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] I can’t remember the last time I encountered someone that hung up all of their clothes to dry. … [/QUOTE] IRL, maybe – start with the OP for a contrasting opinion. twicks, who, though white, ain’t white trash. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/24 "2007-01-19T17:43:27Z")
I only hang up (inside, I’m currently in an apartment) my good clothes and bras 'cause they last longer and look nicer if I don’t blast them in the dryer. Everything else (jeans, Ts, sheets, towels), I machine dry. I think one of the problems with line drying is the time it takes. If you work, it’s tough to find a good time to hang up clothes and I’d worry about going off to work and leaving them. And who wants to mess with laundry on the weekend? ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/25 "2007-01-19T18:34:20Z")
No! The crunchiness. The weather issues. The bugs and birds. Blech! I don’t think the clothes smell any fresher either. Plus, I have a lot of hairy animals and I sort of count on the dryer as part of my de-furring process. I have never seen a clothesline in my town in the 8 years I’ve lived here and it’s a small town where I’ve seen all the streets. When my sister and I bought our houses my mother asked us where we were going to put up our clotheslines. Our reply: Nowhere, that’s where. This is a nice suburb, thank you. Why do you think we married up? It’s an emotional issue for me because to be perfectly honest, it’s a bit of a reaction against my poor upbringing. My mom never had a dryer till I was out of the house and, when it was necessary to use a laundromat, she would bring the clothes home to dry anyway. How poor is that! My stepmother had a dryer but never used it because of the money. And, what about all the extra time it takes to hang them, take them down to bring inside and fold and then put away. I fold or hang on hangers right from the dryer, saving a step or two since it cuts down on ironing as well. Clotheslines. Where’s that pukey smile when you need it? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/26 "2007-01-19T19:37:17Z")
Mom did (and does) but that is way too much like work for me. I can barely get enough energy to wash and dry them as it is. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/27 "2007-01-19T19:42:25Z")
Always hang washing out on the line. Gets to be a bit of a gamble in winter, but I manage. Only dryer that was in the house I sold years ago for grocery money when I was unemployed. The thing was way too expensive to run, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![stucco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@stucco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stucco)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/28 "2007-01-19T22:17:00Z")
It’s so damp here, dryers are a necessity. My few non-dryer-friendly tops seem to take days to dry out. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/29 "2007-01-19T22:24:59Z")
Never. I hate the sandpaperlike feel of clothes hung outside, the insects, the dust, the smell ( smog scented clothes, whee ! ), and so on. As well, in my present apartment it’s not allowed. ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/30 "2007-01-19T22:27:48Z")
I have never lined dry clothes. Never, not once. When the heck would I find the time for that? Laundry is done a load a day after work. Into the washing machine, 45 minutes in the dryer. Done. My mother did it for a while when I was a kid. (Before we could afford a dryer). I recall the towels being hard and scratchy. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/31 "2007-01-19T23:18:27Z")
Nope. Small apartment with no laundry facilities and the laundromat a seven minute walk away. If we had a washer nearby I might buy a drying rack, but damned if I’m lugging wet laundry that far. Also, the dryer takes cat hair off beautifully. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/32 "2007-01-20T00:12:59Z")
We had a clothesline in the back yard when I was a kid, and I also hung out clothes when I was a poor grad student. I didn’t mind it. But hanging out clothes kinda presupposes that you’re going to iron them, doesn’t it? Permanent press clothes seem to need the dryer heat to look good. And there is no. way. in. HELL I’m ironing clothes if I don’t absolutely have to. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/33 "2007-01-20T00:37:55Z")
I would love to hang my sheets and T-shirts on a line, but, as several have pointed out above, it’s illegal here in Suburbia. Even when I hung my clothes on the line back home, though, I dried the towels in the dryer. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/34 "2007-01-20T00:58:08Z")
[QUOTE=stucco] It’s so damp here, dryers are a necessity. My few non-dryer-friendly tops seem to take days to dry out. [/QUOTE] I agree with **stucco** about Scotland. It’s great in the summer months drying stuff outside, but most of the year it really ain’t going to work. I just stick jeans and shirts in the cupboard that contains the hot water boiler. Pants (= underwear, colonial types) and socks just go over the radiators. Sheets and other large things just get to evaporate in the spare bedroom. I’ve got a wee place in the country and it runs on propane and wood, and there’s nothing better than drying pants and socks on the hot water pipes, and bigger stuff in front of the fire. Only takes a few minutes per side. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/35 "2007-01-20T01:29:59Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] I’ve done it, but I’ve always hated it. I don’t like the crunchy feeling, the ironing, or tree fallout. Plus, it’s time consuming to actually get it all up there. I’ll take a fluffy towel every time. [/QUOTE] Yep. Everything comes in stiff and scratchy and not very clean smelling (For some reason the “fresh air” doesn’t transfer to cloth very well.) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/36 "2007-01-20T01:54:27Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] Despite all the affirmative answers from Americans here, Americans generally don’t hang their clothes out to dry especially outside. [/QUOTE] Indeed. I will not live in a house without a washer and dryer. I am convinced that the decline of Britain, France and the rest of Europe from their former positions as Queen of the World are based largely on their failure to adapt to emerging dryer technologies :p. Drying your clothes on a line is simply barbaric ;). And horrifyingly _stiff_ and _crunchy_. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/37 "2007-01-20T02:25:46Z")
[QUOTE=Tamerlane] Indeed. I will not live in a house without a washer and dryer. I am convinced that the decline of Britain, France and the rest of Europe from their former positions as Queen of the World are based largely on their failure to adapt to emerging dryer technologies :p. Drying your clothes on a line is simply barbaric ;). And horrifyingly _stiff_ and _crunchy_. - Tamerlane [/QUOTE] Alternatively, it may be the case that if the inhabitants of the United States all strung their gigantic underoos on an outside line, the merest wisp of wind would cause several states to drift off over the seven seas, never to be seen again. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/38 "2007-01-20T03:05:09Z")
No. During the times when the weather is conducive, the neighboring farmers are frequently hauling manure. Nothing like your clothes smelling like poop to make your day. Besides, I have terrible horrible hay fever. If I sleep in line dried sheets, I wake up unable to breathe, with red and scratchy eyes. Not fun. It’s the dryer for me. I don’t know anyone who line dries, except, occasionally, my mother-in-law, who takes fits now and then of showing everyone how virtuous and frugal she is. Be more convincing if they lasted more than a couple of days, but nobody’s perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539/39 "2007-01-20T07:10:38Z")
We always hang our washing. We don’t even have a dryer, though we have in previous houses. In the dry season we hang it on the line outside, in the wet we hang it on a clothes horse inside under a ceiling fan. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hang-out-your-laundry/388539.md?page=1)