[Jo Jo]

This probably seems like a stupid question, but does anyone know roughly how long washing takes to dry outside on a clothes line? I'd love to be in the position where I think, "Oooh*, my washing's been on the line for X hours now - better get the sheets in cos they'll be dry, but the towels will need another Y hours, so I'll get them in before supper"

I know there are various factors that affect how long washing takes to dry, like the type of material, and how sunny/ windy it is, but are there any rules of thumb that people use when judging when to do their washing and how long it will take to dry? Or is it just trial and error?

Also, what's a "good drying day"? I'm guessing it's a day when it's windy and sunny... is that right? And, does washing dry more quickly on a day when it's sunny but not windy, or on a day when it's windy but not sunny?

I'm sure these are all things my mother should have told me. Still, it's never too late to learn. :)



*hanging washing on the line genuinely does make me go oooh as I haven't had a washing line for the last 20 years. Give it another year or so and I probably won't find it so exciting.

[Moorf]

Hooray - I'm not the only "washing line" virgin :raebanana

Before coming to NZ I'd never hung washing outside (I know, I know - I don't know how I managed now but was always in a drier or indoors). Now I've discovered the joys of hanging washing out I really am addicted! I love the smell of it and knowing that all the bugs get zapped by the ultra-violet is a bonus. I've been known to stand and watch my bed sheet whizzing round in the wind... :o

A while back I spotted my neighbour's washing on the line first thing in the morning - it was freezing cold but clear. I thought it was a bit strange - when I next spoke to her I asked why she bothered to put out her washing when it's freezing cold ("surely it goes stiff and doesn't dry?") but she swears that it gets her whites whiter and clothes etc fresher in the cold/sun... she did say they weren't usually bone dry when they came in unless v. sunny day but that she finishes them off on the "flying nun" !! I've got some out today - it's v cold - I shall see what it's like at about 3pm before sun goes too far down....

People always look at me as if I'm a bit strange when I tell them I didn't hang out my washing in U.K :laugh

[Jo Jo]

Hooray - I'm not the only "washing line" virgin :raebanana


Phew - ditto! :D

[Moorf]

Neighbour says that putting cloth nappies on the line overnight on a clear frosty night is really good for them and makes them uber-white... old wives tale or what?

[dilanium]

Do most homes in NZ already have an outdoor clothes line?

I'm not really experienced with outdoor clotheslines as they're illegal in most places I've lived.

[Moorf]

All three places we've been in have had washing lines... :yes

[StevieD]

We have one line "al fresco" and one under the car port, we just tend to leave it until it is dry, no particular limit. If it needs a blast in the dryer, so be it.

[dharder]

Do most homes in NZ already have an outdoor clothes line?

A lot seem to have those spider web thingies, that turn in the wind (or when a medium sized child hangs off it). Ours broke the other day (surely the wind, because the medium sized children denied all knowledge...), and a guy who was supposed to sell us a new one ended up suggesting he'd fix the old one. Lots cheaper!

We've never really had a drier before we moved here, and we've done twins in terry cloth nappies without a drier just hanging it all inside and outside and on radiators. Sunlight does wonders for stains, btw, espcially on whites.

But here, I guess you really need one, or you might run out clothes before a load is dry!

Daniela

[Jo Jo]

But here, I guess you really need one, or you might run out clothes before a load is dry!



Yes, I'm starting to think we might need a dryer after all. I had one at my last place in London, but never used it - I just used to hang all my washing to dry on clothes racks near the heaters, but that's not an option here. And we seem to have a lot more washing here than when we were in the UK - I couldn't understand it at first, but then my husband pointed out that he used to have all his clothes service-washed at the launderette because I wouldn't let him use the tumble dryer! :laugh

[jubjub]

Well, I have to say I hate washing lines, always have!

I use a big airer and carry that in and out... its currently out on the deck. It dries well even on a cool sunny day (like today) but saying that I have a tumble dryer now, and I never had one before, this is partly becuase we have another person in the house (he may be small, but produces a lot of laundry) and the stuff doesnt dry very fast in winter, and when you get a wet Auckland week, you are totally stuffed for getting anything dry.

Sun is also good for getting stains out of pale clothes...

So basically if the sun is out, you clothes should get dryer, faster...

[peebles16]

Our washing line thingy is one the shady side of the house so rubbish for drying clothes even on a good day :( So I've taken to using clothes horse on the patio - on a cold but sunny day like this clothes can get dry in around 4 hours or so :)

Karenx

[Moorf]

Definitely couldn't do without my dryer in Winter here...

[Moorf]

I'm not really experienced with outdoor clotheslines as they're illegal in most places I've lived.

Why were they illegal ?

[KerryS]

Why were they illegal ?


I'm guessing she means not permitted in a tenancy agreement or suchlike. I've lived in an apartment block where you weren't allowed to hang things outside to dry, and had to either put it all on an airer inside and hope it would dry, or use the tumble drier.

I love hanging things on the line - it makes everything smell so fresh and clean. But, I need mine moving, as it's currently at the back of the house, and I think that the side would be better - a perfect sun trap.
I have a tumble drier too, as during wet winter times in Auckland it's hard to get stuff like sheets and towels dry without.

[JandM]

There's NO way to tell a particular wash hung out on a particular day will take x hours to dry. As you say yourself, there are so many variables.

A good drying day is when it's sunny and blowy. And, does washing dry more quickly on a day when it's sunny but not windy, or on a day when it's windy but not sunny?On this one, you're back to the variables, particularly humidity. But you do get to know over time, by the feel of the air, how good a day it is.

As the others have said, sunlight bleaches. I haven't heard the one about overnight in the frost doing the same.

My Gran used to swear by lying winter woollies and blankets out to dry and/or air on the hedges round the garden before putting them away for the summer, saying they would be 'healthier'. I don't know if this was from some particular property of those hedges (hawthorn).

[zardell]

When we lived in the BoP, due to the humidity it took ages to dry my washing even in the heat of summer.

I think that's what you'll be struggling with JoJo - the humidity.

You are quite right when you say that a sunny, warm breezy day is the best day for getting the washing dry, but it will dry much quicker on a less humid day.

I always hung out my washing in the UK and in all honestly, in a UK summer it was dry a lot quicker than it ever was in Whakatane!!

And don't get me going about crisp towels!! I hate crisp towels and my towels always go crisp when hung out to dry both in NZ and OZ. Now that must have something to do with the sun, because that never happened in the UK either.

One of those strange, but true things........:D

Julie

xx

[StevieD]

And don't get me going about crisp towels!! I hate crisp towels and my towels always go crisp when hung out to dry both in NZ and OZ. Now that must have something to do with the sun, because that never happened in the UK either.

One of those strange, but true things........Oh stop whinging :laugh

But I agree with Julie, the humidity definitely dictates how the washing dries. The damp air in the Waikato can mean it takes days for some things to dry, hence the drier to take the last bit of it out of the clothes.

The sun here really plays havoc with the clothes, bleaching them really quickly (especially the tat from the Warehouse :laugh)

Problem I have now is the wood burner next door, 99% of the time the smoke blows through our car port, giving the clothes a nice smoky smell:mad:

[Debbie]

I have to admit I was another washing line virgin. Everything went on the rads or in the tumble dryer in the UK. I couldn't think of anything worse than having your laundry literally hanging out. Now I'm loathed to pay to dry my washing by using the tumble dryer. I've even been known to stick the clothes out on a dryer on the front deck, In public view!!. It's strange the things you'll do once you live here.
Debbie

[Tia Maria]

I know loads of people that use a clotheshorse on the deck or verandah and will move it around to take advantage of the sun, or bring it in if its going to rain.

It use to drive me nuts hanging out washing here, I'd put it out on a nice sunny morning, then just as it was about to dry there would be a sudden downpour! :wah

I never had a tumble drier till I got to NZ, but its essential for me, as like another poster said, if it doesn't dry within the day we run out of clothes.

I'll put some items on the clotheshorse on the front verandah, (it gets the morning sun), but I won't put my knickers on there. :o

Cheers

Tia

[zardell]

Problem I have now is the wood burner next door, 99% of the time the smoke blows through our car port, giving the clothes a nice smoky smell:mad:


Oh - stop whinging...:laugh

:D

Julie

xx

[sweetpea]

The damp air in the Waikato can mean it takes days for some things to dry, hence the drier to take the last bit of it out of the clothes.

True here, too. If you don't have a dryer, you can put your still-a-little-damp clothes in the airing cupboard (ie, above/around the hot water heater). Or, if you're a lazy student, just keep em hanging up under the carport till the morning you need them :uhoh

[jubjub]

but I won't put my knickers on there. :o



Just as well, my neighbour did and they got nicked! :laugh

[YouMeAndThree]

Neighbour says that putting cloth nappies on the line overnight on a clear frosty night is really good for them and makes them uber-white... old wives tale or what?

I use cloth nappies on my youngest (I'm still thought of as an oddity in UK, probably will be in NZ too :D ) and agree that frost is good for them. It can help to soften them up. However, it's not the frost which gets them white, it's the sunshine. In fact the sun is a great, natural stain remover and I recommend it for all stains (especially as baby food is often orange and their clothes nice and pale :uhoh )

To me there is nothing better than seeing a line full of nappies or sheets blowing in the breeze ........... sad or what, LOL.

[chocolate cake]

I'm guessing she means not permitted in a tenancy agreement or suchlike. I've lived in an apartment block where you weren't allowed to hang things outside to dry, and had to either put it all on an airer inside and hope it would dry, or use the tumble drier.


Yeah, I've rented a place where this was the case before.

In the UK, I always used to hang things inside over radiators etc. that it isn't an option here, what's a radiator for a start!

Just getting used to hanging things out, I find the windy dry days, or scorching sun days best for drying things.


I haven't heard the one about overnight in the frost doing the same.


Not heard of frost bleaching things, but I remember things freezing solid when I hung things out to dry while camping in Nepal some years ago.

[jonSE]

Was a clothes line virgin until the age of about 5 - tooo long ago.

The reason that frost helps is because it freezes the remaining moisture in the clothes. Ice is 4% bigger than the water it came from so the freezing action will "lift" the microscopic dirt particles out of the fabric. Same reason that if you leave a field with no visible stones on the surface to lie fallow for 10 years or so in the UK when you return it will have stones on the surface.

I remember trying to dry beach towels when on holiday in Fiji. No chance at all you could leave them out all day in 40C plus and they still be damp when you brought them in. Something to do with 100% humidity me thinks. You couldn't get dry when you got out of the shower either even with a dry towel.

[dilanium]

Why were they illegal ?

Well our neighbourhoods declared them an eyesore. You would get a fine if you had one out.

[Mels]

Just as well, my neighbour did and they got nicked! :laugh

It's even more embarrassing when your 'smalls' (or 'littles' as we call them) get blown down the road in a strong wind and you have to go and claim them :o

Mels

[marybelle]

If the washing needs drying and its raining outside but not cold enough to put the radiators on, I put the de-humidifier on and put the clothes horse in front of it.
Mine will dry a full load in a couple of hours!
Mind you, if hubby would let me have a tumble drier things would be done alot quicker!!

[JandM]

It's even more embarrassing when your 'smalls' (or 'littles' as we call them) get blown down the road in a strong wind and you have to go and claim them :o

Mels

I was once in France with a school party, and inside an old World War II gun emplacement, one of the girls found a carrier bag containing a knicker-whipper's haul. I felt a right nellie going to the local police and handing in 30+ items of assorted ladies' underwear!

[marcia]

I'm with Julie on the crisp towels - hate them! But don't want to waste money using the tumble dryer to dry them from scratch, so I hang them out till they are nearly done then give thme a blast in the dryer to fluff them up.

I always hang my washing out, (only try to do washing on fine days) except for socks and undies - I wait till I have a full load of just socks and undies (doesn't tke long with 5 of us!) and the whole load then goes in the tumble dryer, even in the summer!! I'm not spending half an hour hanging out a weeks worth of socks and undies for five people!!

I usually end up bringing the washing in and finsihing it of on the clothes horses over night - have to get it sorted and put away the next day - I hate the sight of it hanging around!

[Alive&Kicking]

This discussion mainly boils down to the area where you live and the season. Living in Wellington I would not be able to do washing without a dryer, but living in Blenheim such a thing is of hardly any use at all.

On good days here the washing is dry before I even turn around and hang the next lot on. Except of course on the occasional day that there is a bit of rain. But being in the Sunshine Capital of NZ, that is very rare:laugh

Anita

[zardell]

I'm with Julie on the crisp towels - hate them! But don't want to waste money using the tumble dryer to dry them from scratch, so I hang them out till they are nearly done then give thme a blast in the dryer to fluff them up.




Ditto.

:nice1

Julie

xx

[James 1077]

I'm with Julie on the crisp towels - hate them!

Got to disagree with you there - if your towel isn't crisp enough to take a layer of skin off as well as dry you after a shower then something is wrong. :)

Unfortunately most people don't agree with me (like my wife and she does the washing) so I have to make do with some fluffy thing that barely dries you but does feel soft. :wah


Back to the thread the best weather for drying is hot, sunny, windy with no humidity.

I once gave my jeans a wash at my parents' place in the Middle-East when I was there at Easter. Temperature was about 35 degrees, there was a strong wind, bright sunshine and the wind was coming off the desert so it wasn't humid. I put the jeans on the line, had a shower, came back and put the bone dry jeans on about 10 minutes later!

[Alive&Kicking]

Got to disagree with you there - if your towel isn't crisp enough to take a layer of skin off as well as dry you after a shower then something is wrong. :)

Unfortunately most people don't agree with me (like my wife and she does the washing) so I have to make do with some fluffy thing that barely dries you but does feel soft. :wah


Maybe it is a good idea that you start doing the washing !?

[James 1077]

Maybe it is a good idea that you start doing the washing !?

Nah, its easier for me to live with having fluffy towels than to live with the nagging crisp towels would create! :)

[Alive&Kicking]

So, better stop moaning then!

[zardell]

Nah, its easier for me to live with having fluffy towels than to live with the nagging crisp towels would create! :)


:laugh

Love it.

:nice1


Julie

xx

[djchicane]

i do miss my clothes line in the UK - almost 50ft long, and if anyone has ever lived in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, they will know that washing dries in about 3 minutes whatever the weather!!! I am here in Christchurch, with a clothes horse nestled close to my only electric radiator as the sun was gone when I got in to do my washing today, however, washing here seems to take ages to dry outside.. grr...

I suppose the best thing for drying washing is a dry warm wind, so hopefully shouldnt have a problem in the summer here in Christchurch

Cheers, Dave

[Sam B]

I'm a crispy towels fan, a natural exfoliant.

[Familyofmonkeys]

Couldn't live without a tumbledryer here in Auckland...it is so humid most of the year, I just can't keep up with the laundry and get washing properly dry... all the seams of clothes can take several days to dry. The few items we have that are not tumbledryable can take up to 3 days to dry if I don't put them in warm oven etc.....complete pain in the bum!! In UK we only used dryer for towels and denim and everything else would dry just fine on clothes horse near a radiator and outside in summer...but just not the same here :(

[melly]

A lot seem to have those spider web thingies, that turn in the wind (or when a medium sized child hangs off it).
Daniela

The 'spider web thingie' is called a 'Hills Hoist'.

Here's a little bit from wiki about it:
The Hills Hoist is an Australian version of the rotary clothes line, the distinguishing feature of which is a crown and pinion winding mechanism invented by Adelaide based Lance Hill in 1945. This allows this clothesline to be lowered and raised. This style of clothes line was popularised in Australia by Lance Hill and is a common backyard sight in Australia and New Zealand.

Here's the link if you want to read more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hills_Hoist