Forum - View topicAnswerman - Why Does Everyone In Anime Use Clotheslines?
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Hugh Mungus
Posts: 84 |
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I can confirm that in Canada, everybody uses driers. Even in apartments, where everybody has a mini-laundrymat in the basement
Here on the prairies, despite the dry air and warm summers, a sudden storm can come in and wet all those clothes all over again. And hanging them inside is just not a Canadian thing to do. And for the cold winters, yeah you can forget about hanging it outside. 
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Omu
Posts: 18 |
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It always struck me as something American to dry all clothes in a dryer. Like other users here have already written: It's not a Japanese thing to use clothelines. I would say it's the normal thing for much of the world, including Europe. Though where I live (German speaking countries) we normally use a clothes horse (I just learned a new word
 ), at least when living in a flat.
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Kikaioh
 Posts: 1205 Location: Antarctica |
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That's something of a good point, though it doesn't change the fact that China's overall emissions are still twice that of the United States. And even if we were going by per capita emissions, the US appears to rank 7th, while South Korea, Taiwan and Japan don't trail far behind at 11th, 12th and 14th respectively. Western Europe ranks even lower, so I'm not sure that energy efficiency can really be pointed out as a uniquely Asian quality. |
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EricJ2
 Posts: 4016 |
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I'd heard it said that since it was culturally rooted that the Sun (= Amaterasu) "rules" Japan, drying your clothes out in the open air and sunshine was just considered more natural, even up through the still-traditional days before the War.
Not sure how many full-time housewives still work in Japan (where it's "selfish" to pursue a career after marriage), and have the time for housewife chores, but the dryer is still considered too much of a heretical Western luxury compared to the more natural and homestyle tradition. As for why they string clothes on bamboo poles instead of clipping things on rope, that's probably also more traditional from what ancient houses used to have on hand. It still doesn't answer the cultural-pun question, though, of why the "Bamboo poles for sale!" salesman always goes by in the background whenever Ryouga shows up in the Ranma 1/2 episodes. |
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Dr.N0
Posts: 149 |
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John Thacker
Posts: 1006 |
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Although to be fair, that's the sort of thing that includes CO2 emissions from manufacturing, and some countries do manufacturing for products that are used in other countries, and some countries do less. (The US does have a lot of manufacturing.) There are lots of reasons to always be careful of these types of statistics, because small changes in what is studied can make a big difference. (For example, studies of "household electricity use" make the Northeast US look very energy efficient compared to the South-- until you realize that the Northeast uses lots of gas and heating oil for heat, whereas the South uses electricity for air conditioning and a lot of electric heat pumps for heating, so emissions and energy are different than electricity usage. The temperate West Coast is most efficient; then there's the secondary issues about how some places, like Canada and the Pacific Northwest, use a lot of clean hydroelectric power.) For the basic issue mentioned in the article, yes, the US and Canada use clothes dryers at a much higher rate than the rest of the world, and they are pretty energy intensive, accounting for some 12% of household energy use. People in poverty in the US are more likely to have clothes dryers in their house than the median family in either wealthy European or Asian countries. |
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kgw
 Posts: 1085 Location: Spain, EU |
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Ditto in Spain, and all Southern Europe, as far as I know. Dryers, while do exist, are expensive and energy-wasting machines (as opposed to the sun). |
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chronos02
Posts: 270 |
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Well, in Spain we do use dryers, however, they're very expensive to use, it's far cheaper to hang the clothes to dry. Now, when it comes to dry bedsheets, well, that's when they shine, or when one needs a specific dress. Beware though, when the electricity bill comes, you're down for some surprises...
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catandmouse
Posts: 214 |
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I've never been to Asia, but I know that clothes lines are also very common in Mexico too.
It may not be for the same reasons (mostly because people can't afford a dryer), but they are used there too.. |
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Cptn_Taylor
Posts: 925 |
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Americans know the price of everything and the cost of nothing. Dryers are freaking expensive on the electricity bill (in any developped nation). Unless you live at the north/south poles or in some region of the earth that has a humidity rate of 97% or have a dry cleaning industrial company dryers simply aren't needed. Use the washing machine to wash the clothes and then put them up to dry on the clothesline. Wether you live in an apartment or own a villa the end result is the same. Dry clothes after 1-2 days. |
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Ushio
Posts: 630 |
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Clotheslines where made illegal in many US states whether by home owner associations to make the area look tidy or by the local government to help the businesses that manufacture washers and dryers when they where often sold as a set in the 50's and 60's
Yep the USA is weird. http://www.sightline.org/2012/02/21/clothesline-bans-void-in-19-states/ |
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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Quite so! If you rent a room (i.e., if you were born after the 1970s) then it is likely you shall have to dry your garments in the old-fashioned way. I find that with some manoeuvring, my Sunday load is amply dry by Wednesday during the winter. There is a spray for the ensuing mould. |
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_Quasar_
Posts: 51 |
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I'm in Australia and we've always used clotheslines too, but I imagine its different for apartment dwellers.
Have a drier, just that I basically only ever use it if I need to wash during wet weather. |
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Lord Dcast
 Posts: 644 Location: 'Straiya |
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Exactly, or if the clothes need to be done with haste. I guess not using a clothes line is an American or a European thing. Also using the dryer too much can make your clothes shrink. |
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MarshalBanana
 Posts: 5407 |
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Why is it considered strange to hand your clothes out to dry, do Americans mostly use tumble dryers? They dry better on the line.
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