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Thread: How long does washing take to dry?

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Default How long does washing take to dry?

    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.

  2. #2
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    Hooray - I'm not the only "washing line" virgin

    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...

    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

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Moorf View Post
    Hooray - I'm not the only "washing line" virgin
    Phew - ditto!

  4. #4
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    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?

  5. #5
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    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.

  6. #6
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    All three places we've been in have had washing lines...

  7. #7
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    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.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by dilanium View Post
    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

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by dharder View Post
    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!
    Last edited by Jo Jo; 28th May 2008 at 03:16 PM. Reason: changed my "i"s to "y"s

  10. #10
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    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...

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