Washing Day in Siberia - video

It may not seem obvious to hang out your washing in the harsh winter, but for many Siberians this is the perfect solution. The clothes can be frozen solid within minutes and later they are brought inside where they rapidly dry. The secret is that moisture evaporates even in the fierce cold.

Tatiana Ilyina, 30, from Novosibirsk, explained: 'When you have three months of bitter cold why not use it? Hanging wet washing outside saves space indoors - not everyone uses tumble dryers or owns washing machines with a drying regime. 

'Say I need to dry bedding for the family of four, it would make my tumble dryer go for half a day to make it dry. All I need instead is some space on the balcony, or outside - for people who have their own houses. Hang it out for a night and forget about it. 

'Next morning take it off and keep it indoors for a while to get rid of the dampness. It's a pure common sense to use what Nature gives us.'

Another woman Nadezhda, 50, from Tomsk, said: 'Our city has winters when night temperature can go as low as minus 50C. We live in a house, and I always hang washing outside. My mother did the same and my grandmother, too. 

'The ideal temperature is about minus 30C and windy, this makes the washing dry within hours. I usually ask my husband or my son to take it off as washing freezes to strings and one needs strong hands to separate them.' 

Vitaly, 25, says this type of drying leaves the clothes with a perfect smell. 'We live in a flat on outskirts of Novosibirsk, and my mother always uses the balcony in winter to hang clothes like tops, T-shirts, jeans and skirts. She never uses fabric conditioner in winters, because the 'defrosted' washing smells of snow and freshness.'

Maria, 37, from the same city, said: 'I've got no extra space in my flat and no tumble dryer, so I have to share space in the yard with several neighbours. I never even thought that hanging washing outside might seem unusual to people not living in Siberia. It's such a part of our routine. 

'We leave clothes and bedding outside overnight and it's ready to be ironed in the morning. I'm not scared of people stealing it. We're used to be doing it this way for years.'

Dmitry, 20, from Barnaul, told us: 'I once watched video how people in Yakutsk - the world's coldest city - wet T-shirts and take them out at minus 50C, and then break them in half or easily tear them. 

'We don't have temperatures as low as minus 50C in Barnaul, and I personally have a tumble dryer, but when I pay electricity bills at the end of the month I do wonder if it's better to use some outdoor facilities like Siberian freeze dryers?'