I know I've posted about this before, but for the most part, no one uses dryers here. Most families have a small washing machine (half the size or smaller than typical American washing machines) the only water temperature is cold and all laundry is hung outside to dry. There are dryers at laundromats if you must get something dry quickly, but it usually isn't that big of an issue.
This was one part of living in Japan that I was suspicious of. Having a large washer and dryer seemed pretty necessary to me when I arrived here. I have to say, though, line drying, when you are set up for it, is no big deal. I actually prefer it.
Of course, being set up for it is a major factor. We have two sturdy aluminum rods within arms-reach of our patio door. The washing machine is right next to them (also arms-reach from the door) and there are all sorts of clever clamps and hangers designed to fit over said metal rods to keep your laundry from flying away. We even have a little overhang to give us a decent chance of rescuing our laundry if it starts to rain hard and seems to keep the birds from leaving presents on our laundry for us.
I was thinking about how nice our set up is today as I was hanging our laundry IN THE SNOW. It wasn't snowing hard, but I thought - you know, if I were in Oregon, I would probably see the snow and assume laundry was off. Here, so long as there isn't any worry of the flakes accumulating on my undies, laundry day is on.
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For a while in Ecuador I also had to line-dry my clothes. My two biggest complaints were that the cotton clothes got pretty baggy and shapeless and that Ecuador, despite doing a LOT of line-drying, has no idea how to do it efficiently. We had one wire strung up on what used to be a hammock frame and then a small indoor rack that would normally be used to dry sweaters and unmentionables. This sort of setup appeared pretty common. I longed for the system of ropes my dad rigged up here that would actually fit MORE than one load of laundry. And so, when we moved to a place that had laundry facilities that included a dryer (!), I was pretty excited.
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