Madam, – Re: The Right to Dry Campaign (April 15th): It’s hard not to despair when something as old as time and as commonsensical as hanging clothes out to dry is forbidden – in a lot of cases illegal – and people living in apartments are forced to sneak their washing onto their balconies, for fear of being caught by the laundry police.
Enforcing the use of tumble dryers by arguing that “air drying is unsightly” is essentially class-based snobbery. Unsightly compared to what? Concrete? PVC windows? A car parked outside? Compared to what? The clothesline is the greenest appliance in any household.
It was mentioned in the article that it could be frustrating for architects to have “their aesthetic destroyed” by the sight of laundry hanging out to dry. That architects, all over the country, have been allowed to create living spaces without as much as a nod to air drying is mind boggling – what planet are they on?
This oppressive attitude to ordinary peoples’ daily lives is outdated and environmentally damaging. Architects, developers and management companies need to cop on and allow people to do the right thing and dry their clothes outside.
– Yours, etc,