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U.S. residents fight for the right to hang laundry (2009)
- rajnathani 4y agoI feel that a good middle ground would be to allow for outdoor / balcony clothes drying, as long as they’re covered by a tinted glass enclosure (those types used in office buildings where you can see one way, but not the other (the reason is so that some sunlight/UV can come in to heat to dry the clothes, without making them visible to surrounding people)).
- j-bos 4y agoAn advantage beyond the climate and household finances is that clothes hung out in the sun often smell better than those from a dryer.
- gilrain 4y agoThis is of course subjective. I really dislike the smell, but I’m sure I could get used to it with time.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Wowfunhappy 4y ago> dryer use accounts for about 6 percent of U.S. residential electricity use That's a huge amount! I didn't realize it was so much!
- blakesterz 4y agoI thought for SURE that was going to be one of those made up stats from stupid magazine... nope... seems like that's actually true!? That's WAY higher than I would've ever guessed.
- namdnay 4y agoI guess they're mostly using old dryers without a heat pump
- gambiting 4y agoYou want a crazy stat? US uses more energy just for its AC usage, than the entire continent of Africa uses for literally everything combined together.
- wyldfire 4y agoIt's probably more meaningful to compare energy usage per-capita. IMO it's hard to understand what it means when describing energy uses by land masses. 2020 US population 330 million 2020 Africa population 1.3 billion
- refurb 4y agoIt's 6% of residential use. Residential use is 39% of all electrical generation. So driers are 2.3%. That number doesn't surprise me in the least. Residential electrical consumption is trivial if you don't include heating. So having an appliance use 5% of all home electricity seems pretty low?
- nonethewiser 4y agoI'm actually struggling to figure out the remaining 94%. I guess AC is like #1, fridge, tv/computer.... lights ... ?
- ghaff 4y agoI would guess AC (on average across the US) is a big one. Electric heat where it exists and is needed, refrigerators/freezers, over/stove, washer and dishwasher often heat water some. With LED lights/monitors and a general shift to more mobile electronics, I imagine that sort of thing is pretty far down the list.
- adgjlsfhk1 4y ago
- anecdotal1 4y ago
- gpderetta 4y agoObviously excess heat for mining should be used to dry clothing!
- gus_massa 4y agoThere were some project to make electric heaters that used and ASIC instead of a resistor, but none of them catch on. And ASIC is too more expensive than a resistor, and if you use the ASIC intermittently it get's old before you get your money back.
- micromacrofoot 4y agoeveryone needs dry clothes no one needs bitcoin
- gpderetta 4y agoTsk. If you mine bitcoins you can throw away your used clothes every day and always buy new ones with the profits. No need to wash them.
- the_third_wave 4y agoUse a mining rig as the heating element in a dryer and you'll get the benefits of both. This may be tongue in cheek but I do actually use the waste heat from our server and storage array to: - dry produce - fruits, mushrooms etc. - partially heat the second floor. The house is well-insulated so this relatively small amount of heat - the whole rig pulls around 300W - is often enough to keep the temperature above 15°C which is enough for the use we make of it.
- sure_about_that 4y ago
- sbradford26 4y ago
- gus_massa 4y agoAt home we stopped using the dryer and the electricity bill got reduced like a 30%. It's impossible to dry all the cloth in rainy winter weeks (imagine 10°C(50°F) and 90% of humidity), so now we are hanging towels, bed sheets and similar stuff and using dryer for small stuff, probably 50% and 50%.
- henvic 4y agoGet a heat pump dryer and you'll have the convenience and it'll probably cost only 30% of what it used to cost you.
- HarryHirsch 4y agoHang your clothes outside, and you don't have to plunk down for any dryer, heatpump or conventional.
- henvic 4y agoNope. I waste barely no space with my heat pump dryer. I can have my clothes dried outside quickly. I still can use my balcony for recreation rather than as an extension to the service area. I probably spend €15 a month drying everything I use, no big deal.
- bombcar 4y agoGet a spin-cycle front loader that bolts to the floor or a water extractor and hardly need to even use the heat pump! https://speedqueencommercial.com/fr/products/hardmount-washer-extractor/?lang=en https://speedqueencommercial.com/fr/products/hardmount-washe...
- JoeAltmaier 4y agoNOt mine! I live in the country, but the county gas pipeline crosses our property. The easement (written 50 years ago) permits us to connect as a customer. So all our appliances are gas.
- henvic 4y agoBad choice nonetheless. Get a heat pump dryer and you'll save a lot and your clothes will last longer.
- pandaman 4y agoSaving depends on the cost of gas and electricity, so you might be right for some locales and wrong for others (to the point that a heat pump dryer will cost more than gas dryer), but how do you imagine clothes will last longer? Do you think temperature causes more wear than a spinning drum?
- henvic 4y ago> how do you imagine clothes will last longer? From my own experience + the fact that it dries at a much lower temperature.
- pandaman 4y agoI am questioning that fact. In my experience temperature is not destroying fabric, people used to iron their clothes for decades. Spinning in an underpowered dryer for longer will put more wear on the fabrics and stitching.
- bombcar 4y agoYou can kind of compare the amount of lint you get, but often that is caused by the washing machine and not the dryer.
- 4y ago
- mlindner 4y agoEvery house with a washing machine has a dryer in the US. Also many are gas powered instead of powered by electricity. Similiarly for any laundromat or laundry room in an apartment complex. I've yet to have ever been to a location in the US where a dryer was not directly adjacent to the washing machine.
- bombcar 4y agoI've seen a few cases, but they're rare. Much more common in the south and the desert where the weather is almost always sunny.
- morsch 4y agoFor the entirety of my life, we've hung or clothes to dry inside. No dryer. No, they don't smell bad. Yes, even with small kids in the household. No, there is no problem with mold. No, it doesn't take forever, I'd estimate twelve hours most of the year, depending on how fast you spun them (typically 1200+ rpm). Yes, the evaporating cools down the room, though I can't say I ever noticed it. In terms of energy efficiency compared to a dryer, it's much better in summer, and not much better in winter, though you get a humidifier as a freeby. Yes, it's a chore, a full load takes about ten minutes to hang, and it's real boring work.
- forgotmypw17 4y agoClothes last much longer that way, too. The dryer wears down clothing very quickly with friction.
- dijonman2 4y agoWashing does, too. I launder my clothing grouped by fabric density to avoid “pulling”. Works reasonably well.
- lotsofpulp 4y agoI wear ASICS/Uniqlo/Next/Adidas/Express/etc level clothing ($5 to $30 per item) and it lasts many years (5+) even though I use washers and dryers constantly. Cannot imagine additional longevity would be worth all the work of manually doing it.
- perfectstorm 4y agoit depends on the fabric materials used. not all of them are prone to degradation from dryer heat. i didn't notice it until my wife told me about it so now i make an effort to dry my nicer clothes on a stand rather than in the dryer.
- WastingMyTime89 4y agoThat’s mostly sport wear brands. You can’t wear that at work in most of the world. I doubt Uniqlo clothes last five years while tumble dried. I hand dry the few t-shirts I own from them and after three years I wouldn’t wear them as anything else than bed wear.
- bm3719 4y agoFor those thinking about going no-dryer: You can also get small, indoor, foldable clothes drying racks for around $20. I used one of these my entire adult life and pretty much never needed a dryer. Later on I got a house that came with a dryer, but only use it for large items like bed sheets.
- theow7384iri 4y ago
- micromacrofoot 4y agowe don’t even have healthcare, let us have dryers
- smeej 4y agoI've been using a 1300 RPM spin dryer[0] and drying rack[1] combo for the last two years and, at least as a single person, I can't come up with a good reason I would want to do anything else. There's the step of moving the clothes from the spin dryer to the drying rack, but that's really the only extra effort, and they dry nearly as quickly (~1 hour), either in the sun when it's warm or in front of my house's propane heating unit when it's cold. The drying rack I use doesn't require clips or anything, so hanging clothes is really fast. I do need to steam certain fabrics to make sure they're not all wrinkly, but people with heat dryers have to iron certain things too. I'm in coastal New England, so it's not like this is an especially warm or dry climate. [0] https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07TDP2MMQ https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07TDP2MMQ [1] https://www.bestdryingrack.com/ https://www.bestdryingrack.com/
- throw__away7391 4y agoI must be doing something wrong, but whenever I dry clothes on a rack they end up with weird wrinkles and feeling a bit "starched".
- Kiboneu 4y agoGive the cloth a good whip or two before hanging it. While drying: constant airflow from a fan (make sure it’s not depositing dirt from the floor / wall / window-ledge to your clothes while it is on). This breaks the oils/soap that have remaining in the woven fabric, that sometimes harden to encourage a wrinkle pattern. I think…
- ce4 4y agoUV / sunlight exposure also helps with sanitizing the laundry.
- bigbacaloa 4y ago
- copenseethe 4y ago
- dang 4y agoYou can't post like this here, regardless of which country you have a problem with. We ban accounts that do, so please don't do it again. If you'd please stop posting unsubstantive and/or flamebait comments generally, we'd appreciate that also. It's not what this site is for, and it destroys what it is for. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- kwhitefoot 4y agoGood grief! So much for the land of the free.
- nemo44x 4y agoAlthough I get her point I think she’s antisocial and being a bad neighbor. Especially by insisting to hang it in the front yard. To live peacefully in a society you have to compromise and you can’t just do as you please. Communities have certain standards and by-laws that should be respected. If you’re compelled then bring it up at the next town meeting and rally support for your cause. What if someone decides they should park their car on the front lawn since the boat and camper take up the driveway? Or just set a couch up on the front lawn because I like to have a nap there?
- kergonath 4y ago> Although I get her point I think she’s antisocial and being a bad neighbor. Especially by insisting to hang it in the front yard. That’s a very restrictive view of what a good neighbour should be. Those who are offended by the view of drying clothes and insist on dictating other people’s lifestyle are much worse neighbours than she is. > To live peacefully in a society you have to compromise and you can’t just do as you please. Exactly. Like accepting that some people hang their clothes to dry. That’s a step towards keeping a peaceful neighbourhood. > What if someone decides they shiujd park their car on the front lawn since the boat and camper take up the driveway? Or just set a clinch up on the front lawn because I like to have a nap there? Who the fuck cares? Whom would this hurt?
- nemo44x 4y agoThe town has a standard where you don’t hang laundry though. She’s the odd person out here and should appeal to the people of the town. Otherwise she’s just doing as she pleases and that’s antisocial behavior. As to who it “would hurt” - it could very well hurt everyone’s property values and certainly hurts everyone’s eyes to have to see a car parked on the front lawn. Again, it’s antisocial behavior and inconsiderate of the vast majority of people in the area. It’s selfish.
- AlexandrB 4y agoLand of the free. It's revealing what's considered anti-social (hang drying your clothes) and what's considered normal (driving massive, pedestrian-flattening pickups).
- villgax 4y agoHOA is the problem, taking away our unmentionable freedoms
- ejb999 4y agoHOA don't take away any freedoms - you give them away when you sign the contract.
- robbywashere_ 4y agoI've sat in at a couple anti-dryer meet ups in my locality (big city, east coast) out of curiosity. Most of the points are valid some are a little outrageous; (dryers sheets disrupt sea turtle populations?) But after reading Sally Heathers book 'The Doomed Dryer Nation'; I decided to give line drying a try. I will say that my sleep improved and some of the daily fatigue I struggled with when I lived with a dryer mostly dissipated. BUT hanging line drying is such a chore it just wasn't sustainable; a big load could take upwards of 3-4hrs a day. So I went back to the dryer. The book is good, looking forward to the doc this fall.
- ThePowerOfFuet 4y ago>a big load could take upwards of 3-4hrs a day I find this hard to believe; I can wash an 8kg load and it takes me perhaps 15 or 20 minutes to hang it, and much less to unhang once dry. Folding and putting away is the same regardless of drying method. EDIT: "just such a chore" made me think it wasn't about the drying time.
- P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y agoUsed to do it as a kid, I also find it hard to believe. I suspect they mean the entire dry, not just hanging it up.
- ejb999 4y agomaybe they meant it would take 3-4 hours to dry? thats how I read it anyway.
- gpvos 4y agoTheir wording seems to imply it's a chore that lasts that long. Maybe they thought they had to watch it dry?
- peanut_worm 4y agoHow exactly did not using a dryer improve your sleep?
- 4y ago
- henvic 4y agoIt must be a property owner prerogative to decide whether or not hang laundry to dry outside their houses. That said, I also feel like that's a poor choice considering you can now get a A+++ heat pump dryer that's very economical and works quite fast (slightly more time than with a convention dryer, but your clothes will last much longer) anytime (as long as it's not stuck in a icy cold basement) regardless the weather. Another mistake some people make is using an all-in-one washer/dryer: they are the worst option ever. Terrible at everything by design.
- refurb 4y agoDrying without a dryer sucks big time. They call appliances "modern conveniences" for a reason. Sure, if you're a hip cool 20-something who does a load of laundry per week air-drying is fine. Try being a household with a couple kids and a baby under 2 and hanging your laundry everyday. It's a waste of time and frankly sucks. I've done it.
- lawn 4y agoWe have two kids and we've never used a dryer. We just hang it up in the basement and it's dry the next day, or we hang it outside on the summer and if it's sunny. Not a big deal at all.
- s1artibartfast 4y agoI find it to be less time consuming than the machine. I dry most of my clothes on hangers and store them on the same hangers. The machine was a pain in the ass. I had to check it so the clothes didn't get too hot or go too long. Once done, you have to fold or hang immediately or you get wrinkles. Now I just put them up and forget about it until later, often the next day when I want something
- woodruffw 4y agoWhat does this have to do with the article? It doesn’t claim that hanging your clothes to dry is more convenient; only more economical and environmentally friendly. Not everybody on the planet (or in the US) has selection pressures that maximize convenience. We’d probably be worse off as a society if that was our only consideration.
- lloydatkinson 4y agoI can’t imagine such a freedom limiting law in any European country or here in the UK. Utterly absurd a country that prioritises freedom so much also dictates how people are allowed to dry their laundry. I’m sure if the wind could be taxed they’d not restrict it though…
- weberer 4y agoDid you even read the article? There is no law against it.
- dijonman2 4y agoLaws are one thing, enforcement is another. I’ll do whatever I want, including line drying my laundry if I want to.
- tiahura 4y agoThese aren’t national laws. They are passed by local communities. Local communities have always been given wide latitude to implement housing regulations.
- edflsafoiewq 4y agoWhat kills me the most is the electricity is increasingly solar and wind. It's basically putting your clothes in the sun with extra steps. "Ah, what fine weather! Spot prices must be low... we should do a load of laundry!"
- mnw21cam 4y agoThere are certainly places in the UK where you aren't allowed to put up washing lines. I'm pretty sure Poundbury is one, but I can't find any evidence, but there's also Nansledan [0]. [0] https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12658715/prince-charles-bans-washing-lines-satellite-dishes-drunkenness-housing-cornwall/ https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12658715/prince-charles-bans-w... (I'm very very sorry that all I could find was a Sun article.)
- ljf 4y agoTry parking a 'work van' (think Ford Transit or similar) outside your new build house on my new estates in the UK. You will swiftly find this is against the terms of ownership and may be liable to a daily fine: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/297654/no-commerical-vehicles-allowed-in-deeds https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/297654/no-co...
- ejb999 4y agoStupid people who don't read the HOA agreement they signed, and then whine after the fact that some things aren't allowed - I have no sympathy for them (and for the record, would never live anyplace that had an HOA). That said, if its not in the agreement you signed, or you live someplace without an HOA, I support peoples right do hang their laundry out to dry - shouldn't even be a question of being allowed or not.
- resoluteteeth 4y agoStupid people like the first person mentioned in the article, who apparently doesn't live in an HOA and was asked by a town official to stop hanging laundry?
- s1artibartfast 4y agoThere is nothing wrong with asking.
- resoluteteeth 4y agoI don't know if I necessarily agree with that when it's someone in a position of authority like a government official who is doing the "asking" since that typically carries the implied threat of some sort of repercussions
- s1artibartfast 4y agoI don't think you can assume an implied threat here. "your neighbors keep calling the police and we have told them that it isn't illegal to hang laundry. Can you hang it in the back yard so we stop getting calls?
- mindslight 4y agoSimilar "voluntary" deed covenants were used to keep neighborhoods white, before they were overridden via state laws. While on a drastically different moral scale, and with some legitimate uses for HOAs, the world would be a better place if most types of their bylaws were similarly nullified.
- cinntaile 4y agoThe land of the free sure has a lot of strange rules.
- phil21 4y agoFrom my traveling I've come to the conclusion that the US has a lot of political freedom, but very little personal freedom. The opposite is true for many other places I've spent time in.
- bombcar 4y agoIt entirely depends on where in the USA you are. With not much money at all, you can live in the wilds of Wyoming and nobody may even know you exist.
- seydor 4y agoI'm more interested in the rationale given about being offended by underwear (aka 'unmentionables'). American puritanism is so pure that someone will find a way to weaponize it
- phil21 4y agoFrom personal experience it almost assuredly has nothing to do with feeling offended by underwear itself. The complaining party simply thinks (correctly) that they will get more traction from their neighbors/public/city council/HoA if they wail about that vs. general clothes line drying they find distasteful. I have nothing good to say about people like this, other than to say they are a large and growing segment of the US population.
- hk1337 4y agoDoes she not have a backyard, preferably with a privacy fence? Is the front yard her only choice?
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- traveler01 4y ago
- pandaman 4y agoHOA owns the land, so in a HOA you only have a fractional ownership of the land through the membership in the HOA. As the result of such an arrangement you have to obey the HOA's rules.
- bombcar 4y agoOften the HOA is just a covenant bound to the land, so you own the land but have to follow the covenant. Getting rid of a HOA is a fun exercise, and it's sometimes done, but rarely.
- browheresmychar 4y agoIt's an American passtime to get involved in other people's business.
- throwaway67587 4y ago
- giantg2 4y ago"and their law so restrictive in some cases" Note that there was no law against this. "This coming from the country where morons want to own a gun to protect their property and all other bs excuses, it's rather comedic." This is highly inflammatory and disrespectful language and some might see it as trolling to get us off topic. "And she received two anonymous notes from neighbors saying they did not want to see her underwear flapping about." This is what she says happened. There content of the note is not provided, they didn't reach out to the officials, they didn't interview neighbors. Hanging laundry is normal in some areas of the US too. Although it might not be normal to hang it along the road in your front yard (most have it in the back yard). I'm guessing there are some legal things in Portugal that annoy you, no? That's all that's objectively and factually happened here. Although I do disagree with the use of anonymous notes and getting the government involved in petty stuff. But for every story of bad neighbors doing this, there are orders of magnitude more unreported stories of neighbors helping each other.
- giantg2 4y agoI think this might be a poor article and there could be more to the story. I don't see them fighting for the right to hang laundry. No action has been taken against the woman, and the man was fined by an association (I don't like associations, but they have tons of restrictions that he voluntarily entered into). If you look at that picture, it seems the woman is hanging her laundry in the front yard. It seems the article is all her side of the story without talking to others. There's a very real possibility the neighbors leaving notes may just want her to dry the laundry in the back yard, which is the normal thing to do. You have every right to do things that are atypical or even antisocial so long as it's not illegal. That doesn't mean other people can't ask you to stop or ridicule you. Flagging this because it's a click bait headline with substandard content that seems to be misrepresenting the situation.
- ufmace 4y agoI agree - it reads like propaganda paid for by this "Project Laundry List" organization, in the pattern of PG's Submarine article. Since when does this need to be a national issue anyways - "U.S. residents fight..."
- woodruffw 4y agoThe article establishes the national relevancy directly: > His principal opponents are the housing associations such as condominiums and townhouse communities that are home to an estimated 60 million Americans, or about 20 percent of the population. About half of those organizations have ‘no hanging’ rules, Lee said, and enforce them with fines. Millions of Americans live under covenants that prevent them from doing their laundry outside, lest their neighbors see. That should strike you as at least a little ridiculous. It also goes beyond the normal “just live somewhere else” mantra: you can’t relocate 60 million Americans.
- giantg2 4y agoThis is still a poor article. If that's really the point, then they should have focused on many other points related to covenants and not confused that point by including people who were not under covenants. They could also tell us what their solution is (make associations illegal?). Or are the just complaining without any solution or even a salient argument.
- clamprecht 4y agoI was visiting Monaco once and noticed that no one had laundry hanging on the balcony. In Beausoleil, France, literally on the other side of the street from Monaco, they had hanging laundry. I'll bet there was a law against it in Monaco. Maybe someone on HN who lives there can confirm.
- themodelplumber 4y agoSome aspects that seem kind of strange to me: - The article is from 2009. Surely there's some more recent update to the situation described, which also offers context? - The laundry was being hung in the front yard. This is really rare. While probably not entirely without precedent, it's certainly a significant and rational weighing factor. - The owner of the laundry said she hung her underclothes/unmentionables inside the house, so essentially the neighbors complained about a feared outcome, rather than making a 100% evidentiary complaint. This is often a bad idea, no matter how good one's laundry prediction skills may be. - The condominium resident thought other residents would be OK with their personal laundry hanging in a "common area"...this seems pretty cringe. Did he ask beforehand? Maybe we'll never know. After all, 2009.
- mlindner 4y agoI'm in this thread as an American confused about why everyone cares about this. Everyone has a dryer here, either in their place of residence or in the location they do their laundry. Washer and dryer are a set pair. They're either stacked on top of each for compactness (some apartments) or they're next to each other in the same room. I've never even heard of a place in the US that doesn't have dryers where they have washing machines. Even homeless people can use dryers, assuming they can afford to use the laundry in the first place. (And no the hot humid air doesn't dump into the house/apartment, it dumps to the outside.) Yes I occasionally hang up laundry, but the dryers are always there. It's not an access issue. This isn't something people complain about or even mention here. It's usually only recent immigrants to the country who hang up laundry like this however.
- gpvos 4y agoUsing a dryer costs unnecessary energy, which is something environmentally-conscious people want to save. That should be enough reason. It's also just freedom in action, something which I thought Americans like.
- cphoover 4y agoWhy is this article from *2009* being posted some 13 years later? I would want to know how things have changed (or haven't) since that time.
- s1artibartfast 4y agoI love hanging my laundry, but wouldn't appreciate it it my neighbors front yard. It is a jerk move if they have another option. I guess it falls in the free speech category. I don't like what you say but I support your right to do it. HOA residents also have the right to make binging agreements, for better or worse.
- jollyllama 4y ago>wouldn't appreciate it it my neighbors front yard. I don't get it; why do you care?
- s1artibartfast 4y agoPlease take this with an open mind. To the extent I care, it is a mater of aesthetics. I enjoy seeing a less cluttered and more maintained environment. Because they are my neighbor, I see their front yard frequently, as do my visitors. This is basically the same reason that I don't like it when people litter and leave their garbage in the street, or I don't leave dirty dishes around my house.
- bombcar 4y agoMost people who live in non-rural areas prefer their neighbor's houses to look "somewhat" like theirs. Whether that preference is made through laws (mandatory mowing regulations), HOAs, community shaming, etc, is another question entirely. Those who really don't care often end up moving to rural areas anyway, where the nearest neighbor is acres or miles away.
- jollyllama 4y ago>Most people who live in non-rural areas prefer their neighbor's houses to look "somewhat" like theirs. That's the thing I don't understand.
- bombcar 4y agoDo you have an example where that's not the case? Jumping around on Google maps to random cities the world over shows buildings that look "kinda like" the ones they're near. Every once in awhile you find a immaculate mansion in the middle of a favela but it's rare.
- stormdennis 4y agoYears back we rented a flat in a building that housed a lot of retired people. A regulation we weren't aware of was that you weren't allowed to hang anything on the railings of your balcony. On a day off we were cleaning and left a mat we'd washed to dry, hanging over the railing. It wasn't there an hour before we had a delegation at our door of angry elderly residents. They weren't one bit nice about it even after we immediately apologised, took down the offending item and explained that we were unaware of the regulation. Later we got an apologetic call from our landlord who said he was ringing because he'd received a complaint about us.
- j_k_eter 4y ago
- potbelly83 4y agoI'm always curious what is it about old people that make some behave in this way? Is it the way people used to be raised, cognitive decline, or simple nothing better to do? I also notice it in the comment's section where older people tend to be far less forgiving of discretions than younger people.
- s1artibartfast 4y agoSome people are just rude and you see it in all ages. Older people probably have an expectation that you have read and understood the rules as well
- bel_marinaio 4y agoLife was extremely rigid not that long ago. People knew their place and did not break the rules. I am not sure if this is better or worse than my idiot downstairs neighbors that would party every weekend til 3am with zero regard for any of their neighbors. Then they are banging on the ceiling at 4pm on a Wednesday because we were moving furniture around for 15 minutes.
- 4y ago
- j_k_eter 4y ago
- blisterpeanuts 4y agoInterestingly, hang-drying laundry is widely used in Japan, where people prefer it to using a machine when weather conditions permit; the sunlight kills germs and dries fabrics more gently. Saves energy, too. The main problem is creepy older men stealing ladies’ undergarments. It’s become such a problem that you can buy gadgets that secure your clothes to the line such that they can’t be pulled off by thieves using “grabbers” on long sticks.
- tristor 4y agoI hang my laundry sometimes, I've never been bothered about this in a string of rentals, owning houses in HOAs, owning houses outside of HOAs. Mostly you just don't do it in the front yard, which seems like basic common sense? Also, in the US nearly everyone has a washer and dryer, so the only time you need to hang laundry is for delicate clothing that is drip-dry only. I lived in Europe for a time where it was common to have a washer and no dryer, because the electrical grid couldn't support it (old buildings retrofitted with power with only 60A service were commonplace in two of the European countries I lived in). But even in this case, mostly people had brackets on a window that pushed out to make a clothesline towards a center common courtyard for a blockhouse/flats, not out into the street (or if it was street-facing it was well above street level). This is different than in this article where someone is hanging clothes out at street level in their front yard, rather than the back, which is considered a private space. If you don't want an HOA, don't buy a house in an HOA area. I certainly got tired of HOA bullshit, which is why I bought a non-HOA house.