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Most houses have attic. I wonder why attics weren't used to dry clothes. That's where lots of people dry clothes overseas, even in community houses they have their assigned space (you get a cellar and attic space with your flat) to dry clothes.
The attics, of course, are super clean and not full of junk people never use.
The way most modern American houses are built, we do not have actual attics. We have a space between the ceiling and the roof, where insulation and some mechanicals are placed. Access to this area is via a narrow, pull-down ladder.
There is no way for an old person like me to haul a full laundry basket up that ladder, even if we had flooring up there, which we don't. We have about a meter of blown in insulation -- loose insulation that should never be compressed by slapping boards on top of it.
Fortunately, I have five acres on which I can plant pretty much any style of clothesline...and our weather rarely gets so cold that one can't dry clothes outside year round.
In most places that I have traveled overseas, there have not any clothing dryers available (meaning one has to use either an indoor rack or outside clothing lines). On the other hand, here in the USA many small rental units don't have much inside room for an indoor rack and the tenants aren't permitted to hang clothing lines out their windows (meaning one has to use commercial dryers).
I have a clothesline strung between two maple trees in the backyard. Rustic, yes, and I love it.
In the winter, I use the drying rack down near the wood stove. I don't, however, dry towels or bedding that way - for them, I use the dryer.
LOL....On our many trips through VT, we would see many cows, near houses with clothes lines, and wonder if the clothes smelled like cow manure.
There are also washer/dryer combos (meaning 2 in 1). My friends in Germany had one in 1980. It did a great job. I suspect that they have much better technology now, water and power saving too.
What I would like about that is you fill it with dirty clothes and don't need to be bothered till you open it again, and everything is washed and dry.
Guy is talking about a max 5% moisture in some very heavy fabrics like towels, but I think he filled the machine just too full. Air needs to have little more space to penetrate the fabrics. Thinner fabrics were perfectly dry.
I think this is a great combination, especially for busy households.
The way most modern American houses are built, we do not have actual attics. We have a space between the ceiling and the roof, where insulation and some mechanicals are placed. Access to this area is via a narrow, pull-down ladder.
There is no way for an old person like me to haul a full laundry basket up that ladder, even if we had flooring up there, which we don't. We have about a meter of blown in insulation -- loose insulation that should never be compressed by slapping boards on top of it.
Fortunately, I have five acres on which I can plant pretty much any style of clothesline...and our weather rarely gets so cold that one can't dry clothes outside year round.
Yeah, I noticed that odd ladder coming out a hole in a ceiling. Very dangerous and inconvenient.
In homes I saw overseas it's just regular stairs that lead to a door, when you enter, it's just another house level, just vaulted and unfinished.
I think some house plans should include such option. It could get popular.
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