A true Australian house has a Hills Hoist in the back yard, that is a bit wonky from the kids swinging on it. We have lots of sun and fresh air so outdoor drying is the way we go. Driers only get used in long periods of wet weather.
Had to look that one up. We call it a whirligig in Scotland
Funny! Iām on my first sit-trip in the UK and thatās one of the first things I ask. āI can understand that you donāt need AC, but no screens???ā And the thing that started the conversation was that everyone was running around the house, chasing flies with electric fly swatters. LOL
You will find very few houses in the UK with fly screens, itās just not something that we have as a general ruleā¦ā¦we quite often have fly curtains on doors thoughā¦ā¦ā¦ I wonder whether itās because historically our climate isnāt conducive to leaving doors and windows open for much of the yearā¦ā¦ā¦
Youāre right, and I hadnāt really noticed but yeah, no screens. Kind of strange. Our windows have them built right in.
Yes, fly screens - I just sat 3 weeks near London - the house had a wall of 9 foot windows facing north and in the heat, leaving the wall open assured it was comfortable, except for the flies. Fortunately, they didnāt make it around 3 corners to the bed room. My condo in NC doesnāt have fly screens either but I can have some āportableā ones fabricated and am working on that.
My first house, bought in 1977 came with the old owners washer and dryer. When the washer died I replaced it but when the dryer died I didnāt. I hung everything in the basement in winter and on a clothesline in the back yard in summer.
Now, in my coop in DC, we canāt even hang things in the windows unless the blinds are down and in NC canāt hang things on these wonderful balconies.
I think to travel in Asia where folks with balconies or porches hang things on them, or even on extending poles/contraptions from windows.
Isnāt there a scene in West Side Story with clothes on pully clothes lines stretching across from window to window?
Ive solved that by not doing any ironing. I gave my ironing board away on Freecycle last year. Iāve kept the iron in case of job interviews/weddings/funerals.
I think itās awful that line drying is banned in some places. Those sorts of restrictions should be done away with, to promote (or simply enable) energy conservation.
@Ketch - I rarely iron, but the clothes that are line-dried are just too creased and crumpled, even by my low standards!
Reminds me of my school knickers which had to have the elastic re-threaded when it did fail!!
I really dislike the fact that UK homes donāt have fly screens. Iām not sure if its because of the double glazed window style, that they canāt fit them on or if there is simply no business over here that does them! There is definitely a market for fly screens in the UK
In fairness, my standards are on the floor - possibly basement - as far as ironing goes⦠But my tips are to remove washing from the washing machine asap and to give them a good shake before hanging on the line. That minimises creases.
I dont have cardboard towels (again, a good shake after drying helps) but I dont use fabric conditioner so theyāre not majorly fluffy. (I cant bear the limp feeling of clothes washed in fabric conditioner and the scents are horribly strong. I just want a fresh clean feel and smell!)
Ah you lucky people in places where itās not humid. Where I grew up, hanging out the laundry would invite mold and good luck getting it dry. And now I am in a place where hanging out the laundry will simply get it covered in dust and sand blowing by, not to mention the very industrious spiders in the summer. Donāt judge people by their love of clothes dryers until you live in their location!
Itās going to be too expensive to use a drier this winter so itās either drying on the radiators if I can afford to use them or having wet washing hanging around on the airer for several days.