Dry clothes outdoors.
Drying clothes outdoors rather than in a tumble drier can help save money and the environment. OK, not everyone has access to a clothes line but if you do, this is one simple way to be generous with one of life’s necessities – laundry.
The thing is that sunshine and wind (at the time of writing) is completely free at the point of use. And borrowing their energy to dry your clothes is a modest little symbol of how we need to borrow their energy for so much else if we are to tackle climate change. The Environment Agency estimates that £88m is spent on powering tumble dryers alone in the UK every year.
Go Generous with your laundry, hang your knickers on the line. (Thanks to Rachel for this action, which has garnered the most votes from Generous Members in our ‘Suggest An Action’ area. If you want to Suggest an Action – or vote on some existing suggestions – click here)
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Norwich, GB , 11 Sep 2006
Easy-peasy when you live in the East of England where the sun shines…!
Luton, GB , 13 Sep 2006
I have a washer/drier but hardly ever use the latter – most of the year you can get washing dry on the line, the rest I put an airer over the bath. It’s only occasionally that I need to do towels in winter in the drier.
13 Sep 2006
I hate using the tumble dryer, costs a fortune and clothes just dont smell/feel the same as line dried clothes. Same as spougej manage to dry over the bath in winter.
14 Sep 2006
What if you live in a flat and dont have any outside space to hang your laundry?
14 Sep 2006
Don’t have a tumble drier, so no choice! Love the smell of washing when it’s brought in from outside. Have a Sheila Maid in the kitchen (one of those wooden racks you hang from the ceiling) which I use in the winter and when wet.
14 Sep 2006
Don’t have a tumble drier, so no choice! Love the smell of washing when it’s brought in from outside. Have a Sheila Maid in the kitchen (one of those wooden racks you hang from the ceiling) which I use in the winter and when wet.
15 Sep 2006
Please can someone advise me though? I’ve stopped using fabric conditioner but I hate having crispy towels that stand up by themselves when you take them off the line! Is there any way to avoid this without tumbling them? I am not after soft fluffy luxury, just something a little less rough!
17 Sep 2006
Reply to JoFlo: We live in a flat and don’t have a washing line, but we do have four airers/clothes horses and a window that opens wide. The lounge is normally full of washing for a few days after doing the washing but it saves mega bucks if you do your washing at a laundrette like we do. Reply to susiefoster: I think it depends on what washing powder you use. We’ve started using Ecover and I’m quite impressed with it, jeans are still stiff but the towels seem OK. Plus, being Ecover it’s more environmentally friendly.
25 Sep 2006
JoFlo – we’ve just spent 4 years in a flat and never used our tumble drier. We have an airer to hang the clothes on, takes up about 0.5m².
susiefoster – I’ve heard that soap nuts are very good and you don’t require softener with them. Because they tumble around withyour washing they naturally soften the fibres (or something like that) http://www.naturalcollection.com/natural-products/Biodegradable-Cleaning-Grown-From-a-Tree—.asp http://www.gogreen.cellande.co.uk/shop/products/soapnuts/soapnuts.htm
25 Sep 2006
JoFlo – we’ve just spent 4 years in a flat and never used our tumble drier. We have an airer to hang the clothes on, takes up about 0.5m².
susiefoster – I’ve heard that soap nuts are very good and you don’t require softener with them. Because they tumble around withyour washing they naturally soften the fibres (or something like that) http://www.naturalcollection.com/natural-products/Biodegradable-Cleaning-Grown-From-a-Tree—.asp http://www.gogreen.cellande.co.uk/shop/products/soapnuts/soapnuts.htm
Godalming, GB , 09 Oct 2006
I always have done this when the weather permits, but we did invest in a tumble drier last Autumn as it was getting difficult to dry everything needed by a family of 4 adult sized people when the weather was dull, damp and/or dismal.
The alternative is to put the heating on when we don’t need it, which would probably be more extravagant and make us feel unwell, or we could wear fusty-smelling clothes, which isn’t very nice.
Wokingham, GB , 09 Oct 2006
What can I say.. this is something I have been doing for years as long as the weather permits- saves on electricity and I get such a buzz from having fresh smelling clothes.
10 Oct 2006
I always dry washing outside, and if it’s cloudy and looking like it might rain, I hang the clothes on a clothes horse and put the whole thing outside (because it’s much easier to bring a clothes horse in if it starts raining than run around a washing line trying to unpeg everything!).
Penzance, GB , 12 Oct 2006
I’ve never owned a tumble dryer, and don’t want to. As well as wasting energy, my memory of the one we had when I was a child was that all my clothes were full of static electricity and my hair was constantly standing on end. I friend of mine had a combined washer/dryer and it went wrong and burnt the clothes. Another reason not to have one…
Leicester, GB , 15 Oct 2006
I don’t own a tumble drier and unfortunately I live in a flat with no outside space big enough for a washing line so for half the week there are shirts hanging up all round the place and we have a big warm airing cupboard. I agree that clothes are lovely and fresh and clean feeling and smelling when they come in from off the washing line…sigh
26 Oct 2006
Lived in my flat since Feb 06,washer/dryer is supplied,but have always used an airer or line outside. Dry your big stuff-towels,duvet covers,over an open door!
Stroud, GB , 31 Oct 2006
Been doing it for years – and using an airing cupboard when the weather is not condusive to outside lines… – though I do have to admit to resorting to a fan heater in the airing cupboard from time to time (on a low thermostatic setting) when it is wet outside but too warm for the heating to be on… In our own house we did not need to as we were able to drill large holes in the top & bottom of the cupboard door to allow air to circulate, but we are in diocessan accomodation now and they take rather a dim view of that sort of thing….
06 Nov 2006
Have been doing this for quite a while now, and it does give me a bit of a buzz for some reason. But now it’s getting colder it’s a bit more hard work as even after a day on the line the washing is still quite damp, and freezing cold with it.
Pierrefonds, CA , 29 Nov 2006
susiefoster – My wife loves for our towels to be as soft as can be, but I prefer to hang them on a line. The compromise that seems to work is that I hang them on the line and get them mostly dry, then tumble dry them on low to get rid of most of the roughness. Not a perfect solution, but it still saves energy. I had to experiment a bit to find the right balance between line dry and tumble, though.
03 Feb 2007
Yes this is definately something to do weather permitting. To be honest we only use our line in the spring and summer as we found that items are usually still damp even at the end of a nice day in the autumn and winter. We have clothes horses and a rail in our airing cupboard. There’s no tank in there now but the hot water pipes still run through it and create warmth, ideal for drying clothes. We use Ecover fabric conditioner in our wash. Nice smell, economical, environmentally friendly, not tested on animals and vegan.
10 Feb 2007
I had slipped in to Tumble dry mode since moving into our new house at Christmas. We haven’t got round to putting the washing line up and the dryer was their in the utlity room right next to the washing machine (I used to have to go out side and then into the garage passing the washing line so outside normally got the most use). Today the washing line goes up and I have just hung this mornings wash up pn the clothes horse inside instead of popping it into the dryer. Sometimes convenience takes over without thinking and then becomes the norm so taking a step back and consciously thinking about the actions we take day to day can make a huge difference. trying to do better :)
03 Mar 2007
Do have a washer/dryer but hardly ever use it- only in an emergency nappy situation!!! I actually enjoy hanging the washing out- gives me a quiet 10 mins outside away from the kids. My six month old loves to sit by the window watching the washing and my two year old has christened the washing to be the ‘flap flaps’.
Dub, IE , 13 May 2007
Never ever used a tumble dryer, just not seen the point – not to mention the expense! When it rains I use airers by the rads. Other than that it always goes out on the line. am lucky to live semi rural and especially this time of year it comes in smelling so fresh.
19 May 2007
We have a south facing conservatory – even a little sunshime makes it warm and the washing dries quickly in there on airers or quilt covers hanging from the bars across the room on hangers. It looks like a chinese laundry sometimes, but its great!
02 Jul 2007
Yes, this is easy in sunny clacton! (except for today, and maybe yesterday, and oh the whole of june! lol…seriously, I hate using the tumble dryer so would rather wait for things to dry naturally on an airer if it’s too rainy outside.)
Kingston upon Thames, GB , 01 Aug 2007
We very rarely use a tumble dryer, even in winter and even though our son is in cloth nappies. Summer is ideal for outside drying and everything smells so fresh
07 Aug 2007
Love putting washing out on the line to dry, it smells nicer, if you peg things out carefully it can reduce the need for irnoing too and the best thing of all;it’s free. I have two clothes airers which I use in wet and cold weather and try never to use the tumble dryer although it does get used occassionally for large items like duvet covers in the winter :(
Perth, GB , 29 Oct 2007
Susiefoster – try using a cupful of white vinegar in your wash, it acts as a natural softner and will help stop crunchy towels.
London, GB , 16 Aug 2008
I agree with Suesuesuesue’s comment above Use vinegar in final wash and you will be amazed at how soft the clothes are. My son has eczema and I started using vinegar as a way of getting all the soap out of the clothes. Makes you wonder about all this sofner….
Regarding drying I put up hooks either side of the garage and strung a strong line back and forward between the hooks. Engough to hang a load of washing out at a go. Also handy for a tent or sleeping bag to air out after camping