An unusual insight into laundry...

Problem 1: children.
When I was little, in a rural part of the UK (where people had gardens) we had a washing line tied between our house and the shed. Our neighbours and family had these more high-tech contraptions (below left). 

In both cases, we used to try to swing on them. I don't know why, as the obvious outcome was that a child would be too heavy, and thus break the washing line. Which we often did!

Problem 2: outdoor access.
In London and high-density city areas, it is very rare that you have a garden or balcony to house a real washing line. Only ground floor premises normally have access to the garden if there is one attached to your block. So you usually dry laundry indoors. This is done either with an electric dryer machine - hugely expensive on electricity, and can shrink clothes; or naturally on an indoor 'clothes horse' (above right) - which can take serious time even in summer.

A nifty solution to both problems: the SE Asian way!
If you are upstairs in a high density housing area, with no garden access - you can still hang your washing out in the breeze / sunshine to dry ...using handy bamboo poles. AND it is extremely unlikely your children will want to swing on them and break them. (Let's hope!)

Actually, in my other childhood (in Malaysia) we used to see high-rise blocks festooned with hundreds of these poles, with pegged washing merrily swishing away in the tropical heat. I am not sure if it is still common practice in all parts of Malaysia and Singapore now, but some people still use that method, as I discovered today. It's cheap, and effective. What's not to like?

Clothes horse image courtesy graceandgloryhome.co.uk