6 Tips for Line Drying Your Clothes
One of the projects on my husband’s honey do list for this summer is to install a collapsible clothesline in the backyard. I have always adored seeing clothing drying on a clothesline and now that we are done with living in HOA neighborhoods, I will finally be able to get one.
The benefits of line drying are vast. In addition to the all the obvious energy savings, clothes dried in a dryer shrink, have the fibers breakdown more quickly and wear much faster than line dried clothes. Plus, line drying costs next to nothing after the initial set-up, while it’s estimated that drying clothes in a dryer will cost approximately $1500 or more over the life of the dryer. Wowza!
Over the years I’ve gleaned a few tips for drying clothing on a clothesline, and here are just few.
6 Tips for Line Drying Your Clothes
- Shake, shake shake. Before you hang your clothes up, give ’em a good shake. It will not only fling off any excess water remaining, but also shake out the wrinkles.
- Brightness matters. If you are drying darks or bright colors, avoid direct sunlight as they’ll fade and become sun bleached quickly. Direct sunlight is perfect for those crisp whites you want a little whiter!
- Flip it upside down. Unless you want dents in the shoulders of your shirts from the clothespins, flip shirts upside down and hang them by their hem.
- Soften those stiff clothes. Even if you use a fabric softener, you’ll often notice that line dried clothes are a bit stiffer. You can help prevent or fix that by either adding some vinegar to your load {I add about 1/2 a cup} or tossing the clothes in the dryer for a minute or two. Much less than a full cycle so you’re still saving money!
- Dry inside and out. If the weather isn’t ideal, you don’t have to miss out on that line drying fun! Invest in an indoor drying rack and you still reap the benefits on line drying. Place that drying rack near a vent a fan, or or even a wood stove and you’ll have dry clothes in no time!
- Pull out the pockets. This is especially important when drying jeans. They’ll take so much longer unless you flip out the pockets. Stuffed down in the jeans means they’ll likely stay damp long after the rest of the jeans have dried.
I am so excited to finally be getting a clothesline!
Do you love line drying? Any tips you use that I missed? Do tell.
~Mavis
Katelyn says
Here’s a fun fact for you about Vermont: we have a Right to Dry law that prohibits HOAs/condo associations from banning line drying. They are allowed to prohibit permanent structures but they aren’t allowed to tell you that you can’t have, for example, a retractable line across your back deck to use for line drying your clothes.
Google tells me other states have this, too, including Maine, Florida, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, Oregon, and California.
Happy Friday!
Diana says
About the vinegar: Are there any clothes that didn’t do well with the vinegar? Is 1/2 cup the amount for a front-loading washer?
I love the process of clothes-line drying. But yes, the line-dried towels are hilarious, like a piece of stiff sandpaper. I always shake and put up with the initial roughness (it softens quickly with use). I’d be interested in testing the vinegar effect, though.
Heather says
The scratchy towels meant we were at grandma’s house…..miss them!
Diana says
I love it!
Janet says
I use about ¼ cup vinegar and pour it into the rinse container of my front load washer.
Robin says
I love the look and smell of clothes drying on the line too, but we’re unable to do it due to allergies. Drying outside means anything in the air ends up on the clothes – tree, grass, and ragweed pollen; mold spores; air pollution; etc.
Alice says
I love clothes drying on the clothesline as well. I also suffer from seasonal allergies so we can’t hang clothes out until the pollen count diminishes. The older I get the worse the allergies are. My hope is to get back into clothesline use later this summer.
Tammy says
My husband and daughter have spring and summer allergies so I can’t really line dry either. I love a good crisp towel though! I miss that.
Tara says
I dry outside and have horrible allergies so we toss clothes in dryer w dryer sheet for about 5-10 mins. smells good and gets pollen (or lil buggies that want to come in off)
Kim says
Not exactly a tip but—-
Before we had a washer and dryer, we’d drive 15 miles to the laundromat in town. That gets expensive. So, in the winter when we had the heat running in the house, we’d hang all the lightweight items on hangers. We had two bookcases that allowed us to run a long closet pole between them, yet out of the way. We just hung everything— from t-shirts & shirts; boxers & panties, dish towels & washcloths and other items.
Lisa Millar says
I am excited for you that you are finally looking to get your clothesline!!
Clothes dry so quickly in summer here, especially if there is a bit of a breeze.
Because I have never used a drier I just don’t notice any stiffness in clothes or towels – maybe its something you just get used to?
Fresh air dried sheets….mmmm divine!
Even in winter I will hang clothes outside if its not bucketing down with rain – amazing how far along they get before bringing them in to finish up on the fire.
Next I would like to invest in the metal clothes pegs – I don’t think they are cheap but they would last forever and would save replacing the plastic ones. The wooden ones that you buy nowadays just don’t seem to do the job well.
Laura in Texas says
Buying wooden clothes pins (with the metal spring) from estate sales is the way to go! Lots of estate sales have them so keep an eye out for them. I prefer to buy some items from estate sales because they were made better back in the day! My heavy duty stainless steel tongs are a perfect example. Stainless steel bowls also. Happy estate sale hunting!
Lisa Millar says
I went to my first estate auction last week and loved it! Not sure around here if they will have the really old good ones but certainly something to keep my eye out for!!! Thanks for the tip!! 🙂
Deb says
I have the stainless steel pegs and love them! I joke that my daughter will inherit them. They cost about $1 per peg but have a lifetime guarantee. They also hold heavy items with no problem. They won’t ever rust or get icky like the wooden ones or deteriorate like the plastic ones.
Charleen says
We turn our clothes inside out and hang upside down when line drying. This helps keep the pin marks on the inside. When my kids were little, we started to hang the clothes outside during the late spring to early fall to help reduce the electricity bill.
Stacey says
I used to love drying our clothes on the line when we lived in Arizona. I had to get them out early before the wind started and dust devils kicked up dirt that would settle on the clothes. On a hot desert day, clothes at the start of the line would sometimes be dry by the time I finished hanging up the rest!
Kris says
That dry time is amazing!
Dale Ann Widen says
We got rid of our dryer and have been line drying for over 30 years now. It’s how my mom and grandmothers always dried their laundry.
I use wood clothes pins when hanging them out, and learned long ago to use only the newer pins on my whites. So I have two clothespin bags. One with older grayed pins for the darks, and the other for the newer non grayed pins for lights and whites. The grayed pins will leave dark marks if used on the lighter or white laundry.
I also shake out the dried laundry before putting them in the basket to bring in. Here little spiders like hanging out on the lines, and every now and then try to hitch hike on laundry to come in the house. Not a pleasant surprise to find one in your shirt or pants when putting on later. :0)
Lesley says
I second the tip about turning clothing inside-out. It helps with fading, with the marks left from clothespins, and with the pockets drying faster in jeans and other pants. So many reasons to turn inside-out!
And there is nothing better than lying down at night in a bed made up with sheets that were hung outside all day.
sandy says
yes, lesley, those sheets are fantastic to sleep on- what is it about that special smell that makes you sleep better?
E in Upstate NY says
In my community, it’s illegal to run a clothes line from the house to the garage. An old law not repealed from when car fires were common. Figure if my neighbor who is a fireman, does it, I’ll do it too.
Jeans get hung from the waist, allowing gravity to help dry them. Dress pants get hung from the cuffs, following the crease line for folding. Things like underwear and t shirts are overlapped at the clip. Who cares if a clothes pin mark is on them, and it saves on both line space and clothes pin use.
For long line runs, use a pole to keep the line from sagging and long clothes from dragging. When cleaning out my parent’s house, I snagged the two poles my dad had made. My hubby challenged me on taking them. Worth it! They are cedar 2x2s, 10 ft long. Dad drilled a hole in the middle, about 2 inches down and cut to the hole from the corners. [A V shape with the bottom point rounded.] On each of the pointed end sides, he installed a bent metal strip. This allowed the clothes line to have a secure yet easy to remove place to be. With this in place, winds can’t remove the poles.
Using these poles, my line could be lower, for ease in hanging, and yet long items still could be hung.
If you use the cloth/plastic clothes line, do expect the line to stretch over use, so develop your knot tying skills to allow a way to easily snug up the line at one end.
jana says
I learned this one from an Australian children’s book – using an umbrella clothesline, put the items you don’t want the neighborhood eyeing on the inside and hang sheets or blankets on the outside to block everyone’s view! I know it sounds obvious… but it never occurred to me until I read that book to my kids.
Diana says
That’s what I do. 🙂 I also use sheets and towels to shield things I don’t want to get faded by the direct sun.
Cindi says
I love line-drying clothing (and drying on a rack in front of the wood stove in winter.) There’s something about the physical act of hanging the clothes that forces me to slow down and be more aware of the world around me. I second hanging clothing inside out. Also, if your clothes are really stiff, it could be due to very hard water (try adding a scoop of baking soda along with your detergent) or because you are using too much detergent. I use about half as much laundry detergent as I used to and my clothes are clean and not too stiff.
Carrie says
If you leave a line up outside all year, make sure you wipe it every month or before using. It gets dirty and will leave a dark line of dust on your lighter color clothes. 🙂 I have been using folding racks for years since I don’t have a good spot at my current house for an actual line. The metal folding racks hold up so much better than the wooden ones. I found one at Aldi last year for $6 but I paid $20 for one at Target before that. I still dry my sheets and towels in the dryer but I may have to try the vinegar trick for softer towels!
Lolly says
When we had a line outside and hung all our clothes to dry, our electric bill was reduced by $30/month! Wow!
I no longer have a line….I should mention to dh that I want another….but I do hang alot of MY clothes. My jeans + jean skirts, and then so many of my tops have some rayon in them….and I don’t want them to shrink! I hang dd’s jeans + dresses. I just have hangers and hang them in our laundry room, from a shelf we have about 7′ up, along 3 of the walls. Sometimes I’ll put a wooden clothes hanger in my kitchen to dry things….and I guess I COULD put it outside on the back deck!
auntie says
Regarding the use of vinegar — My understanding is that vinegar will eventually ruin the pipes of your washing machine. You might save money drying your clothes outside, but you’ll need that money to buy another washer, so I’m not so keen on the vinegar route.
Angela D. says
I have seasonal allergies, too, so I only hang clothes to dry in my basement. My husband and I are planning to build our retirement home, and there are many beautiful first-floor laundry rooms to see on the internet. While I would love a first-floor laundry, the square footage would have to be enormous to fit all of my drying racks and lines. When I see photos of fold down racks or a short, 3-foot clothes bar, I just know that wouldn’t be large enough to dry many loads at a time.
Drying in the basement, I never have to watch the weather or worry about insects hitching a ride….no sun to fade my clothes, either. It’s been a huge convienence to be able to leave things hang until it suits my schedule to take them down– sometimes DAYS later.
Laurie Lasala-Tuttle says
I’d also like to get one Mavis, and will be curious to see which one you choose!
Linda Sand says
X2 on being sure to run a damp cloth down each line before hanging clothes. When I line dried after not having done so for several years I forgot that step and had to rewash clothes.
Chester says
I hang all of my washing on a line under the carport. Firstly I put all the items on hangers which reduces creases and the on clips designed with a hole in them to place the hangers. Works a treat allowing clothing to dry and then be taken straight to the wardrobe
Christine Hagen says
Love hanging my clothes out. As far as hanging items upside down you really have to watch that you do not stretch things out at the hem: tshirts are the worst. I hang mine at the shoulders. Those puckers work out easily.
Becka says
We live in a neighborhood with an HOA which prohibits outdoor clotheslines. My DH installed a retractable line in our garage so I have a place to dry comforters, rugs, etc. We are planning to move in another year and hope to purchase a house without a HOA.
Deb says
I wonder if there’s a way to verify whether vinegar will ruin the workings of a washing machine. I have used
white vinegar as a rinse for just about every load of wash for years. Our previous washer lasted over thirty
years this way. I’d love to know.
Kris says
I don’t see why it would. Bleach is corrosive and the pipes are meant to handle it. I am still going on my mom’s vintage washer. I have rinsed vinegar down it at least once a week for thirty years and it is still going with no leaks.
Veronica says
Quite a few people have already said to turn things inside out. I do this with anything that I don’t want to fade and anything with pockets.
Love how the sun bleaches out poop, vomit, spit up, urine, and other stains. Such a great thing with babies, kids, and a husband!
Vicki in Birmingham says
I am surprised that I didn’t see one comment about how WONDERFUL line dried clothes smell! That is my favorite part! So clean and so fresh!
Tracey Ledger says
http://classicamericanclothespins.blogspot.com/
Best ever pins. Heirloom quality! My daughter has already called dibs on the pins when I eventually find myself without a clothesline LOLOL
Emily says
When do you add the vinegar? Does it go in the main load or in the “bleach” dispenser? Thanks!
Diana says
Vinegar goes into the fabric softener dispenser. It’s used to remove any remaining soap in your clothes. The soap is what makes the clothes stiff. I’ve been using it for years ( I use a baking soda/vinegar mix) and my clothes are soft and there is no vinegar smell.
Sharon says
Online you can search for clothespins made in USA & find some handcrafted ones made with love that will last you a lifetime!
Karen says
I put shirts, tee shirts and jeans in the dryer for 5 minutes to soften them and get the wrinkles out and then hang them up to finish drying. They are ready to put in the closet with no ironing needed
Christy L says
We live in an hoa community with no clotheslines and permanent items, so for christmas one year my husband got me a portable umbrella drying rack. In good weather it goes on the deck, in bad weather it goes in the spare room. Some might say this wasn’t a romantic gift but it was- he knew i hated having to use the dryer for everything and the hated the hoa rule so he researched options and found this for me!
https://www.amazon.com/Household-Essentials-P1900-Portable-Clothesline/dp/B001H1GUXW/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=umbrella+drying+rack&qid=1558828774&s=storageorganization&sr=1-5
Amanda says
I tried the collapsible clotheslines for a few summers and absolutely hated them. Any time I would try to hang something heavy or bulky, like a load of jeans or sheets, any bit of a breeze would crumple the clothesline. Didn’t matter how carefully I spread the weight out between the four arms, or if I purchased a cheap clothesline frame or an expensive one, they all were destroyed within a week. Granted, I live in the middle of a cornfield and I have absolutely no cover from the wind anywhere on my property, but that got expensive fast.
There was a set of simple iron poles on the property when I was growing up; they had been there 30+ years before one finally rusted away at the bottom. Three lines on the poles, strung about 15 feet apart. We would always hang bulky items out towards the street to hide the intimates….and nothing smells as good as a sun dried sheet, allergies or not!
KCMama says
I air fluff for a few minutes to eliminate some moisture and wrinkles. I then take out and shake clothing, put everything on hangers and hang to dry from the molding around closets or drying racks for shorts, casual T-shirts, bras…..I take care to hang each persons clothes in front of their closet so when dry they quickly go into the appropriate closet. I use the dryer for towels, sheets, socks, and underwear to hopefully preempt any bacteria or fungi. I grew up with line dried clothing and do not like it at all. I don’t like the smell nor the occasional bug, or bird poop incident, nor the rush to grab clothes off the line when a storm pops up (I live on the prairie where this spring has seen lots of tstorms, tornadoes and floods). Give me nice, soft fluffy towels and bed linens every day. I am so over stiff and scratchy☺️ But, as they say, to each his/her own!
Sarah Packer says
My son is buying a lot of new clothes, so I wanted tips and advice on washing them properly. I didn’t know you should avoid direct sunlight when hang drying your clothes because it’ll fade the colors faster. I’ll have to keep that in mind, so my son can keep wearing his favorite brands longer, thanks to this post!
Forrest says
Dryers age clothes so much quicker and shrinks them as well. I live in Michigan so we have a long winter. I have installed a clothes line in my basement. And I have an oscillating fan that I turn on. By the next day my clothes are dry.
If I have too I toss the towls in the dryer for a few minutes. They soften right up.