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Seville Apts: washers, no dryers - help me understand

Seville Apts: washers, no dryers - help me understand

Old Mar 13th, 2017, 12:39 PM
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Seville Apts: washers, no dryers - help me understand

still messing with trying to find the best apt in Sevilla this summer. The bulk of the ones we've looked at have washers but no dryers. As our main motivation in going for an apt rather than hotel is to have a place to wash our clothes this has been frustrating. I asked one owner about the lack of dryer and she said they just use the Seville sunshine. My question is have you worked with/experienced this and where does one hang the clothes? is it a practical solution for tourists? Thanks
ps. how far afield is Macarena neighborhood?
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Old Mar 13th, 2017, 12:42 PM
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I've not been to Sevilla, but this is common practice in much of Europe, New Zealand and Australia due to the high cost of electricity.
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Old Mar 13th, 2017, 12:43 PM
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Apartments often provide a line dryer where you can hang up your wet clothing.
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Old Mar 13th, 2017, 12:45 PM
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At times in Europe, the washer is also the dryer, the same machine. You could also go to a laundromat.
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Old Mar 13th, 2017, 12:48 PM
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Clothes driers are highly uncommon in Sevilla. There is usually a metal contraption sitting outside (on balcony, or roof top terrace, etc.) to have the sun naturally dry wet clothing (quite efficient too). I experienced this even when staying with a host family - this is very much part of daily life.
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Old Mar 13th, 2017, 01:09 PM
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We have quick dry clothing and they always have clothes racks to hang your clothing on. I hang them on hangers and dry also. It is the European way. Love Italy and their clothes lines outside your windows. We had one with a great rack on the balcony.
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Old Mar 13th, 2017, 01:26 PM
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Very common. Take along a piece of string and a few clothespins and improvise your own line if you can't or don't want to use an outside gizmo. If you buy any clothing items between now and your trip, make them the quick-dry easy-wash kind that is so prevalent now - saves a lot of problems.
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Old Mar 13th, 2017, 01:42 PM
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Yes, as Bedar said, sometimes the washer and dryer are the same machine. Just look at the settings.

Also, very common to dry clothes on a line outside - look for a line already set up outside a window or kitchen.
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Old Mar 13th, 2017, 01:47 PM
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ok - learning curve - when in Europe...thanks
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Old Mar 13th, 2017, 02:05 PM
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There should be either a clothes line somewhere (inside or out) or one of those folding wooden drying rack deals. Very typical.
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Old Mar 13th, 2017, 02:30 PM
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Dryers are also rare in Italy, but they're starting to be sold.
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Old Mar 13th, 2017, 03:33 PM
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Ditto to the above. When we were in Spain 2 years ago, there were washers but no dryers -- but the sun dried our clothes very quickly! So no need of the dryers, just a place to hang our things, Every apartment we stayed in had something - either a line or a folding drying rack.
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Old Mar 14th, 2017, 07:50 AM
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Even in London we don't have a dryer in our new flat. We only have a washer and hang our clothes to dry. Clothes should dry overnight, with maybe the exception of jeans.
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Old Mar 14th, 2017, 07:58 AM
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We have one washing machine and 2 driers.
Belgium 12 points !
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Old Mar 14th, 2017, 08:07 AM
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We've always had a separate dryer in the UK & Sweden, never dried clothes indoors. If the weather is good enough, some clothes and bed linens would be dried outside, everything else in the dryer, esp bath towels. In the Med where it is very hot in the summer, there is no need for a dryer.
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Old Mar 14th, 2017, 09:35 AM
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I presume the OP knows if the apt has a dryer or not, the description will say. But I have found this common in France, also, and I find it very odd. That is a northern country, it isn't sunny and dry most of the time, not to mention a big city so people can't be hanging sheets and towels out the window. People in apts don't have yards to hand things in, although some might have a terrace, I suppose. I think I've read it has something to do with people not wanting to pay the electricity bill, I don't recall.

I have a drying rack in my home in the US in Washington DC and do use it for underwear and synthetics, socks often, and some shirts, and cotton trousers/capris in warmer seasons. But you can't use it for towels or sheets. And when I do use it for most things other than synthetics, I dry the items about 5-10 minutes in the dryer first to make them wrinkle-free and to get a start. I use the drying rack it to preserve the fabric and keep the sizing correct and to avoid shrinkage. So without a dryer assist, not sure how I'd dry jeans or cords or any thick cotton, but they wouldn't look so good, either.

Anyway, what can you do, that's common. IF the owner said they used the outside, they must have an area to do it, I suppose. Is it practical for a tourist? I rarely have to wash or dry anything when I'm on vacation, at most some underwear or lightweight Tshirt or something, and for that it would be fine. If you are staying long-term and perceive some heavy duty laundry needs, I suppose it's as convenient for a tourist as a resident. But asking where one dries the clothes when the owner itself answered the question -- no one on Fodors can know about any specific apartment in Seville, the owner should advise and certainly should provide the drying rack or explain where they do this.
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Old Mar 14th, 2017, 10:38 AM
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I'm old enough to recall when we didn't have dryers in homes and everything was dried on a line outside. One of my favorite memories as a child was climbing between freshly clean sheets that had been dried in the sun and the breeze --- that smell was heaven!
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Old Mar 14th, 2017, 10:40 AM
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I have lived in France. Europeans generally don't have dryers or if they do they don't use them often due to the high cost of electricity.
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Old Mar 14th, 2017, 11:46 AM
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????
Europe goes from Lisbon to Moscow.
Following the same reasoning we all do the washing by hand and have no dishwashers.
Cost of electricity varies and sun doesn't shine everywhere.
Friends living in southern france have no proper heating compared to mine and I gather people living in Hamburg have more driers.
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Old Mar 14th, 2017, 12:19 PM
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I have a drier. I only use it in winter, or if we have a long rainy period.
Usually I hang things outside to dry, even when there is no sun, and certainly when there is a good breeze.
As nukesafe says there is nothing to compare to the smell of laundry dried in the fresh air.
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