Washing lines

Do young people bother about being common ? Who these days does bother about being common? Obviously some grans do however grans are mostly older women who for the most part come from those social classes where class markers mattered.
My own mother was concerned not to be common. She hailed from extreme poverty and had to work to get to be lower middle class.

GabriellaG54 I'm curious, why do you think it is common?

The sun on them ought to make them whiter, Elizabeth1

Is DH doing the washing now? Does he do them on a good hot wash? and is he using a different detergent to before? I find the towels are whiter when I put a bit of Vanish or similar in with the detergent, and do them at 60 at least. (It is just an optical whitener, they are not really any cleaner, but they do look better)

They can be flatter off the line if it isn't windy and blowing them around. G has the muscle-power - get him to give them a good shake before hanging them up to make them fluffier.

I really want my drier repaired in order to have soft towels my dh prefers harsh towels and i prefer soft fluffy ones the dryer also helps to keep my towels nice and white drying them outside causes the whiteness to turn grey I can see the difference. I’m ready to buy new ones from groupon at half the price. I’ll just have to bide my time but patience I really don’t have. Wish I did.

I choose not to have a tumble-dryer because it's better for the environment to dry outside! It smells so lovely and fresh too. If weather is bad I have a huge drying rack I bought very cheaply on ebay and it takes a whole large washing load, sheets and all and it dries overnight in the spare room...

We're off grid so look at ways to conserve the amount of power we have in the bank of batteries. Don't possess a tumble drier.

The lines out today. Goes from the water tank/outside loo tower to a near by ash tree. I use my polytunnel on rainy days - just leave the doors open.

Love the freshness of air dried washing.

Absolutely not!!! What is nicer than to bring in a bundle of freshly air dried washing? Plus no utilisation of a tumble drier - so you are contributing to a greener planet!!! Also stubborn stains will often come out when exposed to sunlight!!!

Then I must be as common as muck as if possible I ALWAYS hang my washing out to dry, summer or winter as long as it's dry it goes on the line. Can't beat the smell of fresh air on clothes, sheets & towels (which get 1/2 hour final drying time n the tumble dryer to fluff them up) #happytobecommon

I can't see why I would need to hide my underwear on the inner lines. After all, we all wear knickers and bras...don't we?

If it's common then you're in good company.
What I find unacceptable is leaving the pegs on the line. I get that from my mother who not only took in the pegs but the line also.

How ridiculous to say it is common to hang washing out. Years ago I was working full time and the only time I could do an invalid lady’s washing for her was on a Sunday, when if the weather was fine I hung it out in our quite secluded back garden. It was reported to me that a member of my church said that I couldn’t be a Christian as I hung washing out on a Sunday. I should have liked to ask her,”What would Jesus have thought.”

Not at all, i love seeing the washing blowing on the line the only thing I won't put out is underware

Moved to West Country , have a lovely old line the length of the garden . Dries so much faster then a round drier . Not so much money down here so washing outside . I do remember as a child a neighbours laundry being in a brown parcel !! Never questioned until now all these years later . Got fingers stuck in mangol . Have never questioned to dry or not to dry inside . Lol

Enjoy the smell of the freshness of your washing when you bring it inside. And it saves your electricity consumption. Let nature do her work.

As for underwear, hang them on the inner lines of your whirlygig and the larger things on the outer lines so that your underwear is surrounded.

Nothing like line dried washing. I would do it all the more to annoy the snobs?

Well common I am and also irreverent as it’s Sunday and I’m about to let it all hang out?.
They don’t ring the Angelus in these parts so I think it’s OK.
Thanks for all your input.
It’s been really interesting.

I have always hung washing out. It is environmentally better than using a tumble dryer and I could not care less what the neighbours think!

Love drying my washing outdoors and I don't mind being called common - definitely one of "the common people"

Sussexborn I used to love my twin tub, and it was much ‘greener’ too. I could wash the lightly soiled items first, then the dirtier ones in the same water. While one lot was washing I could rinse and spin the previous load, which speeded up the job considerably.

As for rescuing neighbours’ washing from the rain, that was normal years ago. Everyone had low fences, and we could see, at once, who had left their washing out. Now everyone has high fences and hedges, and locks on their gates. Times have changed, and not for the better.

I am always pegging washing out, love to dry it outdoors in the sun and the wind. I only use a tumble dryer if absolutely necessary. We live in the countryside but my nearest neighbour never pegs hers out, it is dried in the conservatory! Never have understood this.

I hang washing out weather permitting,irrespective of what day of the week,I love to see it fluttering in the breeze,and also the lovely fresh smell when it is brought in

Solidly working class washing hanger outer here. Totally lacking in respect obviously. Never scrubbed the doorstep either. Clearly slovenly too!

It's a social class thing, Respectable working class and lower middle class are almost defined by their need to be seen to be respectable. The need to be seen to be respectable is dying out with the decline of these archaic classes.

My husband who came from respectable working class stock informed me not to hang washing out on a Sunday. I had not a clue about the does and donts of working class neighbourhoods so was glad to be informed of the proper procedure. BTW social class defined by old prejudices has little to do with income so some woman or man may be rich and still be prejudiced.

I can remember being very embarrassed, as a small child, when my mother hung out her 'corselettes' on a high line - for all the neighbours to see. I was so relieved when my allergy consultant told me to dry everything indoors.

Hanging out washing, it's a no brainer as far as I'm concerned. They haven't yet found a way to tax the air we breath so while it is still free it is essential to use and utilize this valuable and cost friendly resource. I feel sad for those without access to outside drying space.