Mimar

Going to a laundromat is a good way to meet the locals. Rick Steves lists locations of laundromats in his guidebooks. But then you meet the Steveites, not so much the locals.

I don't trust those wash and fold places to follow the washing instructions on clothes labels. I asked one place in England if they did and they said no. I don't want my more delicate clothing to be shrunk or destroyed.

But I'm used to washing things out frequently on our trips. We try to bring quick drying clothing. I have a clothes washing kit with soap leaves, a clothes line, blow-up hangers, and a generic size sink stopper

This whole topic illustrates why I say don't bring heavy clothing, like jeans or cords. They take forever to dry, maybe 3 hours or more in a European dryer. Of course in winter you do need such clothing but it doesn't need washing so often then.

StacyB

In Seville, we dried our clothes on the clothes line on the roof of our apartment building. The smell was heaven! Enjoy Seville, a favorite of ours. Go to Triana across the river near the bullring. Have fun!

Sassafrass

I can't imagine that there would be enough "Steveites" doing laundry at any one laundromat to keep it in business.

Do you really "meet the locals" in a laundromat?

Next time a poster says they want to meet locals or live like a local, and get off the beaten path, should we recommend laundromats? LOL

hetismij2

My European jeans do not take 3 hours to dry in my European dryer.

Since it is a beautiful day today I offended my more religious neighbours and hung out my washing. I managed to do the weeks washing and getting it all dry and folded, and it smells lovely, so much better than from the dryer. Even better - none of it needs ironing!

I am quite sure that the good people of the Carolinas managed to wash and dry their clothes outside in the days before tumble dryers btw. I expect there are any who have little choice in the matter, even today.

Sassafrass

You are quite right, Hetismij2. When I lived in S. Carolina, even in the city, I saw clothes hanging out all the time. As a matter of fact, I took pictures and did paintings of them. Having been in Seville in late July, I didn't find much difference in heat and humidity.

thursdaysd

I have lived in North Carolina for over 40 years, and I have never seen clothes hanging outside.

janisj

A sad reality -- many housing developments have CC&Rs (residential rules) that prohibit hanging/drying laundry outside. Yep -- supposedly lowers the property values to see sheets and underwear hanging from a clothes line!!!

I would dry my laundry outside (as I did the 5 years I lived in England) if I could . . .

Bedar

Exactly, Janis !

Sassafrass

http://www.bettersouth.org/2013/06/c...allendale-s-c/

luz_de_lisboa

Here in Lisboa, I don't own a dryer, and most of my neighbors don't either judging from the clothes hanging everywhere. It's not very convenient in the humid winters. But in the spring and summer the wash dries on the line in no time flat. And I don't really miss a dryer - it's better for clothes, the environment and the electric bill. The one danger is when you've just finished hanging out your newly washed clothes and your neighbors start grilling sardines!

Dukey1

I have a hard time believing that "Europeans" or anyone else for that matter who actually do laundry "don't like the idea of dryers" especially when it is bitter cold outside or pouring rain.

I suspect what they "don't like" even more is high electricity bills.

I dry a lot of heavier items outside here in Florida and I like the smell of clothes dried outside. What I don't like is the damage that the sun can do to fabrics so it is a trade-off.

I suspect the lack of electric dryers in a RENTAL might be as much the electricity costs as anything else.

thursdaysd

@janisj - according to wikipedia a number of states have banned bans on clothes lines:

"As of August 2013, the states of Florida, Colorado,[10][11][12] Hawaii,[13] Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin had passed laws forbidding bans on clothes lines, with Utah allowing local jurisdictions to forbid such bans." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothes_line)

It doesn't seem to have made a difference to my neighbors.

janisj

It is my understanding that frequently old CC&Rs are grandfathered and allowed to stand. But maybe that is a state by state situation.

Melnq8

quokka -

I think you live in Germany, but I assume you're from Australia, given your screen name??

I was as shocked as you, but in the opposite direction, when we moved to Australia. I couldn't believe how difficult it was to find a decent dryer (to purchase, let alone in holiday accommodation).

All we could find were small dryers, terribly inefficient and godawful expensive. The only US type/size dryers we found was sold for commercial purposes, and to use it we'd have had to rewire our house!

But I quickly learned that the OZ sunshine was the best clothes dryer ever. In the summer months, my clothes were dry before I even finished hanging a load. I found hanging sheets a major PITA though (KS bed).

I also quickly learned that Australia has some of the most expensive electricity in the world (right up there with Italy).

I saw indoor clothes lines in many garages, but the winters were wet, so how did the clothes not mildew before they dried?

Anyway, now that we're back in CO, I desperately want a clothes line, but haven't figured out where to put one.

It won't do me much good in the winter, when it's cold and snowy, but I'd love to have one just the same.

RE: that law mentioned above - I'd never heard that CO had ever banned clothes lines. Lots of folks here in CO have them, and always have.

StCirq

I would guess that only 1/3 to 1/2 the residents of our commune own a clothes dryer, but that doesn't mean they use them much. Even if you sign up for les heures creuses, which means you can only use your big machines between 2 pm and 7pm and 1 am and 6 am, the machines are small, the heat's not very high, and it costs a good deal. We have several clothes lines outside and one large drying rack in the garage, where the washer and drier are also. Unless there's a pressing reason to use the clothes drier, we hang our wash.

PatrickLondon

>>I saw indoor clothes lines in many garages, but the winters were wet, so how did the clothes not mildew before they dried?<<

Depends on how good the indoor ventilation and airflow is - and maybe the missing link in the conversation above is the spin cycle on the washer, and how much water that extracts before there's any question of hanging vs. dryer. I find that with my laundry, shirts are ironing-dry within a few hours of being out on an airing-frame (indoors, since I'm on an estate that frowns on hanging out washing in public), and things like towels are cupboard-dry overnight.

Another factor against much use of the dryer is that, certainly for a combination washer/dryer, you're advised that the drying cycle takes only half the load of the washing cycle: in which case, you might just as well hang the lot out to dry anyway.

thursdaysd

"I'd never heard that CO had ever banned clothes lines. Lots of folks here in CO have them, and always have."

I don't think the issue was that the state had banned clothesline, but that things like restrictive covenants on neighborhoods banned them.

Melnq8

Gotcha

swandav2000

This is a fun topic, revealing some of our misconceptions and how customs differ in places we thought we knew well.

When I moved to Germany, I dutifully and thoughtlessly bought a matching washer/drier set... never even thought about it. When you buy a washer, of course you buy a drier.

But using it wasn't wonderful. I would dry my sheets for an hour, and they would come out still damp. I would still have to put them on a line to finish the drying... didn't take me long to stop using the drier altogether. Except for "dry cleaning" clothes; I still used it about 3x or 4x a year to dry clean or steam clean my sweaters and scarves and shawls.

And then one day, when I went to use it, the most awful stink came out of it. Turns out, my kitty had brought home a mouse, and it had survived her attentions, and then it had set up housekeeping inside the drier. I got my handyman to open up the drier, and inside was a MOUNTAIN of cat food interspersed with a MOUNTAIN of mouse feces. The two of us got the drier downstairs, we saw the mouse make a run for freedom, and he carted it off to the dump a few days later. It took me a week of almost daily cleaning with ammonia to get the stink out of the bathroom.

Needless to say, I haven't replaced it. I'm lucky that my apartment is big enough to put up two drying racks. Clothes normally dry within 24 hours, summer and winter. In winter, it's the heat from the radiator that dries them, and in summer, it's the fresh air.

I do sometimes chuckle when I think that my American friends expect clothes to go from dirty to clean & dry & folded within an hour. I always have to tell my guests to plan for a day to get their laundry clean.

s

WoinParis

I guess I have discovered a new clivage between US and Europe.

First we are supposed to have jeans which never get dry (the good Ines all remain in the US I guess) then we cannot or will not use dryers because ours are not good or we are broke.

Actually we have 2 dryers and hardly use them. We have lines in the basement where the washing machine is located. Conveniently next to the heater that brings some warmth or at least evacuate the humidity. We even have a word in French for such a room : la buanderie.