Allegedly, hanging one's washing out in the garden ruins the aesthetic look of the place [shock]

I used to love seeing a nice line of nappies blowing in the breeze and the sun shining. Yes, a very long time ago.

That’s really not on in these days of global warming . I always hang mine out and feel I’m doing my bit to help save the planet

In this day and age where we are all trying to be "green" i cannot understand why using fresh air to dry your clothes is frowned upon.

Outside whenever I can, with a short tumble for the towels just before they are quite dry to keep them fluffy.

My husband was respectable working class and I was liberal middle class so my husband had to instruct me how things were done around his home district. I had to be told women did not go into pubs and I had to be told washing must not be hung on the drying green on Sundays. This was a working class tenement in Glasgow in 1956.

The old industrial working class is mostly gone but the culture of hard-won respectability lives on.

Can we include 'not having a Jacuzzi in full sight of the neighbours' too. I find it quite disgusting having to see people I barely know, half (?) naked, having a shared bath (in stale water) in their back garden (especially if they have friends and the dog in there as well!) I'd rather not know what is going on!

It’s a lot more environmentally friendly to hang your washing out than to use a tumble drier. I did have a neighbour who told me to get a drier but I just ignored her. My ex-step mil used to look down her nose at outside washing too. Just off to bring my bedding in now.

They would hate me as a neighbour. I currently have my line drawn high with all the nappies and liners on.

The lady who who bought my last house from me moved from a development of apartments and town houses because she wasn't allowed to dry washing outside or even shake a rug outdoors. My garden is really private so no one can see my undies fluttering away on the line.

There are some blocks of flats in the Dandara development that I live in. They aren't supposed to hang out washing on the balconies, but a number of owners/tenants are now doing that. I have a garden, and always put washing out if possible, including on Sundays, and underwear! Many people that I know don't put out their washing, even though they have gardens. I have to say, I grudge the cost of using my tumble dryer on a regular basis. Free power is the best option when possible.

I lived in a flat which was 1 of 6 who shared two drying areas in the garden. I refused to use it as I had my daughters hand knitted jumper stolen from the washing line, I also had coal stolen from a coal bunker in the yard. Eventually the neighbours stole and burnt the wooden coal bunker. I sure they also stole my step ladders from the washhouse. There were only 2 of us had the keys to the washhouse. Don't even mention the noise from the above flat.

Kryptonite

So much for saving the planet then. Dryers are expensive to run and use up lots of power. Surely we're all meant to be embracing wind power these days!

Exactly!

I believe its outlawed in most of California too. Somewhere where washing dry naturally in half an hour most of the year. I'm surprised, with the current climate (no pun intended) that developers are able to include such a clause.

I've just brought my washing in from the garden - but then I live in a house rather than a flat and I'm not particularly overlooked. I'm sure in some of my past houses there has been a covenant preventing the hanging of washing in the front garden but not the back. It all seems rather snooty, doesn't it?

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Why Morningside? Plenty of Victorian back greens in the area where washing has been hung up to dry for well over a hundred years. What has changed is that these communal back greens are now used for sunbathing, barbecuing, children playing, students playing rugby, parties and so on. That would never have been allowed in the past. Washing only. Not generally comme il faut to hang washing in your front garden though. In fact a young man who was sitting in his front garden the other day and had been brought up in the city told me he felt a bit uncomfortable as it was not traditionally the done thing to even sit there. But the old Morningside culture has largely died out.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DH hung some washing out today ( first time , bless him) all t shirts hung up with arms outstretched along the top of the line, with plenty of pegs in them ‘so they don’t blow away’!

TBH I think he’s just trying to get out of doing it again........

So much for saving the planet then. Dryers are expensive to run and use up lots of power. Surely we're all meant to be embracing wind power these days!

We had a clause when our house was new that we had to have a whirly and not a line, but it wasn't enforced and seems to have been forgotten now.
At one time we had a neighbour behind us who complained about the sight of our airer in the conservatory. The only way he could see it was by leaning out of one upstairs bedroom window! He was ignored.

Its not too bad if you have a well ventilated area that you can dry your washing indoors, otherwise its very bad for your lungs. Damp can cause black mold and that is very bad for people with any lung issues. If you use a tumble dryer unless its self condensed there is still damp issues. Hanging washing on radiators is even worse as it causes even more moisture and dampness. Also prevents the radiator from heating the room efficiently. Maybe the Health Authorities need to be involved as any people with lung conditions should not live in a house with black mold or very damp conditions.

No washing line or rotary dryer here as the minded children play hide and seek amongst the wet laundry!

I have three big metal airers that either live in the utility room or in a separate fenced-off area of the garden. Towels and sheets are always dried on these; towels have a few minutes in the dryer to soften them up at the end. Clothes either go on hangers to dry, or in the tumble dryer.

In my defence I reckon every hour in the dryer saves half an hour of ironing. The eco dryer is 900 watts and has a sensor so stops when it's done. The iron is 2400 watts. So the dryer's not too bad really.

I think hanging washing so it obstructs trams is not good, but when you think of the harm damp inside does to both a house and people's health it is ridiculous to require inside drying. Many blocks of flats are unsightly and it would improve the look of them to have some colourful washing on the balcony. As for those not doing it on religious grounds, the Jewish Sabbath runs from sunset to sunset so if they were really doing what it says in the 'Hebrew scriptures, they would not do it during that time. Obviously, in the Jewish community, there are different degrees of strictness, strict Jews will not turn lights on or off, but will accept motion-detecting lights or lights on a timer, some will not answer the phone on the sabbath, but they will take advantage of any loopholes, that enable them to live life easier. It's not about banning fun things or things that make women's lives easier There I s a lot of wisdom in having a day off, but the sabbath was made for man not man for the sabbath
I was told by someone from the west of Scotland how frowned on it was to wash on a Sunday, but that many were hypocrites and did wash on a Sunday and just dried inside
It is an eco-crime not to allow outdoor drying, as well as the savings in co2 sunlight, bleaches stains, and airing bedding and suchlike is good for health. I'd not want to lie anywhere where I could not have the option of line drying and feel sorry for those in inner cities who have little option but to use dryers
Thinking about it it should be a symbol of wealth/etc to hang clothes out, and poverty not to have space to do so

I live in a preservation area and was amused when I came here to learn this rule had prevailed in earlier times. Most of the houses are massive Edwardian concoctions, but not mine as I am in a line of three newer houses. Always had my washing out and when my rather eccentric MIL stayed, she would drape the washing from trees and hedges if my line was full.
The pine tree was adorned with socks etc and amused our neighbours.
And she collected rainwater for hand washing delicates and woollens (I left her to it?)

Kate1949 Mine's out on the line as we speak. I love how the clothes smell when they've been dried in the fresh air.

That is exactly what I was about to write

Like many others, I love my washing out on the line, drying in the breeze - there’s some out there now! Def much more environmentally friendly than using the dryer - that’s for underwear in the winter to finish off when it’s been dried inside and not very soft and for the last few minutes for towels to keep those soft too. Drying washing in the house can also cause damp and mould, so outside is def always my first option.