Housing for Health – the guide
  • Safety
    Electrical Safety

    Electrical Safety

    • A1.1 Functioning Safety switches
    • A1.2 Electrical earth connection
    • A1.3 Cabling and wiring
    • A1.4 Power points, lights and other fittings
    Gas Safety

    Gas Safety

    • A2.1 Gas Safety
    Fire Safety

    Fire Safety

    • A3.1 Fire prevention
    • A3.2 Fire and smoke detection
    • A3.3 Escape in the event of fire
    Structural Safety

    Structural Safety

    • A4.1 Structural safety
  • Health & Housing
    Washing People

    Washing People

    • B1.1 Wet area design
    • B1.2 Hot water
    • B1.3 Water outlets, valves & taps
    • B1.4 Washing young children ― hand basins, bathtubs, and laundry tubs
    • B1.5 Showers
    • B1.6 Wet area floor drainage (bathroom, shower, toilet and laundry)
    • B1.7 Turning the water off to allow plumbing maintenance
    Washing clothes and bedding

    Washing clothes and bedding

    • B2.1 Laundry design
    • B2.2 Drying clothes and bedding
    Removing waste water safely

    Removing waste water safely

    • B3.1 Flush toilets
    • B3.2 House drains
    • B3.3 Septic tanks, common effluent drains and on-site effluent disposal systems
    • B3.4 Aerated waste water treatment systems

    • B3.5 Dry toilets
    Improving nutrition – the ability to store, prepare and cook food

    Improving nutrition – the ability to store, prepare and cook food

    • B4.1 Quality of drinking water
    • B4.2 Food storage
    • B4.3 Preparing food – sinks and benches
    • B4.4 Cooking
    • B4.5 General issues for kitchen design
    Reducing the negative impacts of crowding

    Reducing the negative impacts of crowding

    • B5.1 Performance of health hardware in households with more people
    • B5.2 Developing the edges of the house and the yard
    • B5.3 Storage areas in the house
    Reducing the negative effects of animals, insects and vermin

    Reducing the negative effects of animals, insects and vermin

    • B6.1 Animals: Dogs, cats and others
    • B6.2 Animals: rats, mice, snakes and birds
    • B6.3 Insects: ants and cockroaches
    • B6.4 Insects: mosquitoes and flies
    • B6.5 Insects: Dust mites
    • B6.6 Insects: termites
    Reducing the health impacts of dust

    Reducing the health impacts of dust

    • B7.1 Reducing the health impacts of dust
    Controlling the temperature of the living environment

    Controlling the temperature of the living environment

    • B8.1 Human comfort and climate
    • B8.2 Passive design in tropical zones
    • B8.3 Passive design for houses in arid and temperate climates
    • B8.4 Active cooling of houses
    • B8.5 Active heating of houses
    Reducing hazards that cause minor injury (trauma)

    Reducing hazards that cause minor injury (trauma)

    • B9.1 Hazardous materials
    • B9.2 Personal security
    • B9.3 Preventing slips, trips and falls
    • B9.4 Preventing cuts and abrasions
    • B9.5 Preventing burns
  • Healthy Communities
    Water

    Water

    • C1.1 Water quantity and treatment systems
    • C1.2 Water quantity and demand management
    • C1.3 Rainwater, stormwater and recycled water for landscaping
    Energy

    Energy

    • C2.1 Electricity
    • C2.2 Gas
    Waste Water

    Waste Water

    • C3.1 Waste water
    Household rubbish disposal

    Household rubbish disposal

    • C4.1 Household rubbish disposal
    Community planning

    Community planning

    Landscaping

    Landscaping

    • C6.1 Landscaping
    Communications

    Communications

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Home > Health & Housing > Washing clothes and bedding > Drying clothes and bedding

B2.2 Drying clothes and bedding

Some houses do not have a place to dry clothes, bedding or towels. Drying in sunlight is preferable as the ultraviolet light can sterilise clothes and bedding and is also cost-free, unlike an electric clothes dryer that will use a large amount of energy.

Survey data indicates that 70% of houses have a clothes line and an adequate place for clothes drying. The  clothesline could dry clothes in tropical areas during rain, and allowed sun to dry the clothes to reduce dust-mites. There was a drying area adequate for the family size and safe and protected from the street.

Data show over 70% of houses had some defined yard area (and 47% of those houses had secure fences and gates) to help accommodate a clothes drying area.

At the time of survey, fine and sunny weather conditions at 71% of the houses favoured outdoor air-drying.  Air-drying costs nothing and takes advantage of sunlight’s ultra violet light to further sterilise clothes.

Whilst 87% of houses surveyed had at least one verandah, 55% of houses had a verandah on more than one side of the house. This would allow one verandah to be used as a general living area and still allow a covered place for drying clothes on another of the house’s verandahs.

Real world examples of problems

    Design and Specification

    Ensure

    • B2.2.1.

      there is an outdoor clothes drying area that is easily accessible from the house

    • B2.2.2.

      that in areas with high rainfall, clothes lines are located in covered, ventilated areas

    • B2.2.3.

      where clothes lines are in yard areas, a slip resistant concrete path or paving to, and around, the clothes line is made to prevent ground erosion and improve access to the clothes line

    • B2.2.4.

      that in flats or apartments there is an secure outside area for tenants to dry clothes and bedding

    Consider

    • installing robust clothes lines around the edge of the house or in the yard where it is accessible from the laundry and gets sunlight and breezes, but is not in full view from the street
    • locating the clothes line in a private, screened area
    • in areas with high rainfall, locating a second clothes line in a covered, ventilated areas such as a verandah, and providing clear roof sheeting over part of this area to help with drying
    • using a fixed clothes line rather than a rotary or folding clothes line to avoid failure of moving parts
    • providing lighting to the drying area and any access pathway
    • designing the path to provide access for people using a wheelchair or mobility frame
    • installing a lower level clothes line, or a line that can be lowered, for use by people with disabilities.

    Real world examples of Solutions

    • B2.2 001 Fence line clothes drying

    Quality control

    • the clothes linehas been designed, located and installed where specified
      SKETCH DESIGN
      COMPLETED DESIGN & SPECIFICATION
      DURING CONSTRUCTION
      AT HANDOVER
      FINAL COMPLETION
    • the clothes line is securely fixed into the ground or to a wall
      DURING CONSTRUCTION
      AT HANDOVER
      FINAL COMPLETION
    • the paths to and around the clothes line are accessible
      SKETCH DESIGN
      COMPLETED DESIGN & SPECIFICATION
      DURING CONSTRUCTION
      AT HANDOVER
      FINAL COMPLETION
    • the clothes lines are tensioned.
      DURING CONSTRUCTION
      AT HANDOVER
      FINAL COMPLETION
      TRADE TEST

    Maintenance

    As part of cyclical maintenance:

    • check that clothes lines are functioning and replace or repair main support structure
      Local Maintenance Team
      12 Months
    • tighten loose clothes lines and replace rusted or broken lines
      Local Maintenance Team
      12 Months
    • repair or clean any path to the clothes line, to avoid slip or trip hazards
      Local Maintenance Team
      12 Months

    Standard And References

    Pholeros, P 1991, AP Design Guide, Building for Health on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands, Nganampa Health Council Inc., Alice Springs, p. 35.

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    • Washing clothes and bedding
      • B2.1 Laundry design
      • B2.2 Drying clothes and bedding
    of houses have a clothes line or alternate adequate place for clothes drying
    Click here for more data on Drying clothes and bedding

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