Last week I saw the above photo on my friend Jane’s Blog. She was talking about simplicity.
Now I’m not allowed to have a clothesline in the neighborhood I live in, and there is no way on earth the HH would approve of a clothes line in our backyard either, but some part of me wishes I still could have one. When I was younger, my grandmother line dried a lot of things–I loved the smell of the stiff towels after a bath. A little nostalgic, I know, but there is something basic about towels and sheets blowing in the breeze out on the line.
Memories aside, which method do you think is better? On one hand, line drying prevents the inevitable shrinking that repeated machine drying always brings, but on the other, the clothes end up a bit stiff. Throwing clothes into the dryer takes seconds, while taking them out to the line requires mild weather and a time commitment. Line drying costs next to nothing after initial set-up, while it is estimated that drying clothes in a dryer will cost approximately $1500 plus over the course of the life of the dryer {Holy Cow People!}. Line drying is also definitely more environmentally responsible. Still, many neighborhoods, like my own, do not allow clotheslines.
So with that “laundry list” of pros and cons out there, what do YOU prefer?
~Mavis
Christina says
I like the wood dowel clothes racks — but I use them inside. Drying clothes outside is not good for allergies. Most of my clothes would be ruined in the dryer anyway. Thick wood dowels don’t leave marks like clothespins/lines. I didn’t buy mine from the store listed below but mine looks just like it. It folds up so you can hang on a hook on the wall when not using it.
https://www.lehmans.com/p-2488-economical-floor-clothes-dryers.aspx
Angie says
I loved to use the line to dry bedlinen especially, the smell of the sunshine (!) and fresh air is wonderful. However the high winds up here do mean that I have to use a clothespeg every inch or so and the last time I pegged out laundry I returned from shopping to find the line broken and some of the bed sheets had to be retrieved from the next field and rewashed.. So it is the dryer now for me!
Stacey says
I had a similar experience after moving the the Southwest desert from the northeast. I started out hanging everything on the line. Sometimes during the summer, the heat would dry the first things I hung out by the time I finished hanging up the last! The thrill ended a few years later when I had to rewash yet another load of laundry because a big old dust devil blew through. That was the last straw, and I have used my dryer ever since. I would rather use the clothesline, but practicality dictates otherwise at this point in time.
Cee says
Alas, I have indoor and outdoor allergies so I cannot dry outside or use an indoor clothesline. It’s the dryer only for me 🙁
Krista says
I love the smell of line dried clothes! We have too many birds to line dry here, though.
I can’t believe you’re allowed to burn brush at your house, but you can’t have a clothes line. What a weird neighborhood code.
Debby says
I prefer the dryer, but sometimes the bedding just doesn’t dry when it tangles in the dryer and the closeline is the best option. It simply drys faster on the line. We will dry on the line, then put in the dryer for 5-10 minutes to take the stiffness out.
cptacek says
Line drying in spring, summer and fall. I’m not going out there in the snow, though!
Have you thought about trying to gather support to ask the city/HOA if the ruling can be changed?
Jennifer Jo says
Just bought our first dryer today! (I’m a clothesline woman, but with 9 1/2 feet of rain a year here, and no inside heat, line drying just isn’t going to cut it.)
Mavis says
Ummm I think you made the right choice for Guatemala JJ. You need to post more. It makes me nervous when you don’t write for a few days.
Connie says
Absolutely prefer clothesline drying ….. we dry some things on a wooden clothes rack to keep them from shrinking but use the clothes dryer for everything else. I do have a clothesline for summer drying tho’.
Sherle says
I use the clothesline in my backyard for quite a few things. However I dry in the dryer items that would require ironing and my undies and socks load. I always miss the smell of line dried towels and sheets in the winter. I love using a clothesline!!
Lauren says
I’ve found that line drying works almost as well as ironing. I hang all tops upside down from the bottom hem with 4-5 clips to keep the item pulled taught on the line. I didn’t have to iron any of my husband’s button-ups last season.
Elizabeth says
That is so sad that you aren’t allowed to have a clothesline 🙁 Yes to chickens but no to fresh clean clothes? Bizarre. I’m 50/50 on what I use. Being from the Northeast I can only use the line for about half the calendar year, but when I can I definitely do! The only thing we don’t line dry are sheets/pillowcase for seasonal allergy reasons. I don’t prefer the crunchy feeling of clothes or towels from the line but knowing how much $ I’m saving more than makes up for it. I also remind myself that sun is the most natural disinfectant there is!
Heather T. says
That is what I was thinking they let you have chickens but no clothesline, what? They just passed our town having chickens and its all kinds of crazy rules to having them, but who cares about lines, I think every yard any where near me has them. I live in Wisconsin so there are a few months that I can’t use it but I have a line in the basement and you can get a vent for your dryer that allows the warm air to stay inside so we do that and I hang the shirts. They estimate you save .75 cents per load by hang drying with a family 6 that adds up fast.
Cyntha says
The smell of line dried clothes just can’t be beat. While I use both, it’s sad you don’t have the option.
LaToya says
They’ll let you have chickens, but not a clothesline?
I’m so bummed. We decided since our house faces the wrong direction to get a decent garden going, that we were going to raise chickens. Got it all planned out, mapped out, costs planned, etc. And our blasted CC&Rs don’t allow us to have chickens. Maybe I’ll put up a clothesline and hang my panties out there instead – ha!
Mavis says
Ahhhh but if you look closely LaToya, they may allow you to have “caged birds.” 😉 A chicken in a “coop” is a caged bird. Right?
vickie says
I use the dryer all winter- as soon as spring breaks (soon I hope) – I’ll be drying them on the clothes line. I do cheat a little though – I put my clothes in the dryer for a little while maybe 5 minutes or so then I hang them out. Saves a lot of complaints about hard towels!
karen says
Really? No clothes line, but chickens are OK? That is curious! What would happen if you dug up your front yard for more garden area? Is grass/traditional landscaping a requirement?
Mavis says
We have deer, bears, and coyotes that roam through our neighborhood so a front yard is not an option although I think it would be rather cool.
Debi@ACountryGrandma says
Could you string lines in your garage or on a screened in patio? We did this for a while when we lived where we couldn’t have an outside line. Or maybe use drying racks on a patio. We went 3 years without a drying in Northern Illinois — used the line even in the winter time. Also had drying racks in the house during the winter months to help keep the humidity level up without the need for a humidifier.
Lauren says
I have honestly never heard of someone not being allowed too have a clothesline. In Australia most people don’t have dryers and those that do only use them occasionally.
Susan Reid says
I know Lauren, I have never really given it much thought. Everyone hangs their clothes out. I dont know anyone that doesnt have a clotheline, it would be “Un-Australian” not to!
Tai Tai Johnson says
It was the same when we lived in China … A clothes dryer was a rare commodity! It made a line dryer of me when we returned to North America. I probably hang dry 3/4 of our washing on inside lines or in the summer outside.
Katelyn says
In Vermont, we have a law that condo and homeowner associations are NOT allowed to prohibit clotheslines. Striking a blow for line-dried underpants freedom!
Steve says
I’m frugal. I have an indoor clothesline in the basement that I can use year around. The dryer is only used for bath towels, kitchen towels, blankets, and sheets. Don’t pay for electricity if you don’t have to.
Lynn says
I love line dried laundry, but unfortunately, my daughter has so many allergies that I can’t do it. The pollen get on the clothes and set off her allergies. I miss the smell of sheets dried on a clothes line…
MonicaB says
I do not personally have a clothes line, but my grandma does. Hers are never really stiff, I’m not sure if she uses extra softner in the wash. The clothes smell the best ever when being line dried and if you have a stain on something she says its nothing a little sunshine won’t take out! And it does work like magic! I wish I had one of my own!
Linda M says
I do both. If we have the heat on and it is damp outside….clothes can go on a rack. If it is nice outside, we have lines on our screened in porch. But, I sometimes just like the convenience of the dryer…that can come in so handy if you get behind or need things pronto. If I line-dry or dry on the rack, I put in the dryer for about ten minutes and that keeps the clothes from being stiff. But! I have allergies, so for a period in the spring and fall…if it won’t dry in the house on the rack….it is definitely going in the dryer. What a luxury to have a choice.
Jules says
We once had a clothesline in our backyard, and I loved using it. Then our Boy decided he and the friends should use it as a toy. And somehow broke the metal post that held it up. So now we have to use the dryer. And really, in Oregon, the amount of time I am able to use the sun is pretty minimal, between rain and allergy seasons.
Lisa says
I live in the Pacific Northwest and last summer our dryer broke, so I started hanging the clothes outside to dry. I loved it! I enjoy doing the laundry so much more and in my mind it just seems easier and more fun than using the dryer. Once the rain started I just hang the laundry in one room of the house upstairs. I actually hang shirts on a hanger in the bedroom doorway and when they are dry I just transfer them, hanger and all, in to the closet! I don’t notice that anything is stiff, except the towels and my teenagers complained at first, but then realized it wasn’t a big deal.
Cindi Myers says
I love my clothesline. In the winter I have a rack I hang clothes on to dry them in front of the wood stove. If you don’t use too much soap your clothes won’t be stiff (though very hard water might contribute to stiffness.) I enjoy hanging out the clothes — it’s about the only household chore I could say I look forward to. And I seldom have to iron, either. I have a dryer that I use for my husband’s work jeans and when I just don’t have any time to hang out a load that has to be done that day.
Sherry says
Your neighborhood will let you turn your yard into a beautiful garden, yet they won’t let you have a clothesline? Well, rules are rules, I guess. Still, it’s sad.
I love hanging out clothes and the smell of air-dried towels and linens gives me pure pleasure. I rarely use the dryer in the summer. Yes, it’s a little more time consuming, but it also saves money, money I can put to good use in my garden!
lemniskate says
I air dry everything except towels and socks. everybody’s mentioned that it saves electricity but it also is less wear and tear on the clothes, and especially if you’ve washed in cold, any stains don’t get set and you can keep working on getting them out. And I hate to fold clothes; hanging everything i can on hangers saves a LOT of folding!
Mary says
All my life I’ve hung my laundry out to dry. In the winter, I uses the collapsible racks for shrinkable things, but use the dryer for towels, sheets, socks, etc. When we moved where we are now, our neighbors were appalled and called us “hillbillies”. Thank goodness we don’t have HOA rules like some do. Nothing smells better than line dried, sun infused, fragrant clothing. IMHO
Jenn says
I have a clothes line that I love, but the only thing I dry outside is my towels and sheets. I’m not to fond of stiff jeans. It is a commitment to have one because I live in the south during the summer we almost always have afternoon showers, so I have to make sure that I will be home just in case a shower does pop up so I can run outside a get everything off the line.
Laura at TenThingsFarm says
I live in the country and I can line dry when I want, but it is very windy here on the prairie, so when it’s too windy I use indoor drying racks in my basement. It works great and costs nothing.
Shelly says
I love clothes line drying…I’d do it allyear if I could, but the winter months here put a hamper (no pun intended) on it.
Melissa says
I have always hung my clothes out, which is pretty easy in SoCal. It makes me happy to watch my clean laundry flapping in the breeze.
Rachel says
Hi Mavis!
I’m 25 and love doing things “the old fashioned way” and, I LOVE your posts. I rush to my computer in the afternoons to see what gem of a post you’ve sent me for the day – so thank you for being a bright spot in my afternoon!
I live in Indiana, so I can only line dry outside some of the year, but I LOVE IT. I make my laundry soap, and I use vinegar with essential oils (whatever I feel like that day!) for softener and they don’t turn out too stiff. I’ve noticed that if I dry my clothes in direct sun, they turn out stiffer than when the line is under shade. It’s peaceful too, there’s just something about being in the great outdoors and caring for your family in a cost efficient, healthy way, that gets a girl excited. But you know what I’m talking about!
Cheers~
Gwenn says
When the weather isn’t frightful in WI, I line dry most of my laundry EXCEPT towels, I just can’t handle rough towels and no matter how much downy (I’ve tried vinegar in the rinse water too) I put in they still don’t get soft on the line. Love, love, love putting blankets on the line, even in the winter, to freshen then up and line dried sheets….well, there is nothing like crawling into a bed that was made with line dried sheets and a fresh aired blanket! It would make me sad to live in an area that didn’t allow cloths lines.
My town doesn’t allow chickens but cloths lines are ok.
carol says
I line dry most of our laundry from May-Sept. Along with Cindi’s advice on soap, I’d like to add that with knit items, if you throw them in the drier for just a few minutes and pull them out, they will be softer and wrinkle free after line drying. The heat from the drier helps with de-wrinkling. We look forward to our scratchy towels and fragrant sheets every spring. Nothing beats the smell of line-dried laundry.
Catherine Foster says
I think those HOA rules were made at a time when clothes drying on the line meant poverty and no other option. Now that it’s environmentally friendly, maybe those inflexible rules need to be looked at again and perhaps changed. Mavis, I bet you’re not the only one who feels like you do. Gather them up!
Richard Wilbur even wrote a poem about this. (It’s long, sorry).
Love Calls Us to the Things of This World
Richard Wilbur
The eyes open to a cry of pulleys,
And spirited from sleep, the astounded soul
Hangs for a moment bodiless and simple
As false dawn.
Outside the open window
The morning air is all awash with angels.
Some are in bed-sheets, some are in blouses,
Some are in smocks: but truly there they are.
Now they are rising together in calm swells
Of halcyon feeling, filling whatever they wear
With the deep joy of their impersonal breathing;
Now they are flying in place, conveying
The terrible speed of their omnipresence, moving
And staying like white water; and now of a sudden
They swoon down into so rapt a quiet
That nobody seems to be there.
The soul shrinks
From all that is about to remember,
From the punctual rape of every blessed day,
And cries,
“Oh, let there be nothing on earth but laundry,
Nothing but rosy hands in the rising steam
And clear dances done in the sight of heaven.”
Yet, as the sun acknowledges
With a warm look the world’s hunks and colors,
The soul descends once more in bitter love
To accept the waking body, saying now
In a changed voice as the man yawns and rises,
“Bring them down from their ruddy gallows;
Let there be clean linen for the backs of thieves;
Let lovers go fresh and sweet to be undone,
And the heaviest nuns walk in a pure floating
Of dark habits,
keeping their difficult balance.”
Patrice says
This is one of my favorite poems. I have a framed version hanging in my laundry room.
Pat G. says
All through spring, summer & fall, I use the clothesline since we have no restrictions here (we live on 8 acres at the end of a 600 foot driveway). However, in the winter, I use the dryer except for hats, mittens, scarfs, coats, etc. ~ those are dried in front of the woodstove. To stop the rough towel syndrome, I use liquid fabric softener & then hang out the clothes. When I use the dryer, you can definitely see our electric meter spinning like crazy and it kills me to think of all of the extra money going to the Fat Cats who own the electric companies.
gloria says
Does your HOA prohibit all clotheslines? My sister’s HOA prohibits permanent clotheslines, so she installed a retractable line to the side of her house.
Mavis says
Nope. My HOA does not allow one. 🙁
Miriam Kearney says
Wow! You can keep chickens but not hang out your clothes to dry. Amazing. In our town it’s the opposite – no one would think to complain about clothes but chickens are a no! no!
That being said – I do hang clothes during good weather and use the dry the rest of the time. Yes it takes more time but it’s nice to slow down a little and just hang laundry. There’s something so “domestic” about it.
Marian says
I grew up with line dried clothes, never thought of it as poverty, just sweet smelling towels and sheets! I have done the same my entire married life. My dear friend used to say my diapers, yes I used cloth on my four wonderful children, were whiter than her flour sack dish towels. I figure the sun bleached them white. My white clothes are just that, very white. I have hung diapers out in freezing weather, they freeze-dried, so to speak. My married kids now come home when they can and do their laundry just to hang out their clothes! Sometimes I wash my linens twice a week, just to crawl in bed to that sweet smell. I would just die without my clothesline!!
Elizabeth says
We live in Southern Nevada where the summer sun can dry a load of laundry in about 20 minutes, so we use our clothesline as much as possible. With mild winters, we can get about 9 months of use out of the year. I couldn’t find any definitive rule on whether a clothesline was legal when we moved here. So we just went for it and have never had a problem. Our backyard sits lower than the yards behind us, with massive walls that run the length of the road. So the chance of anyone actually looking in our yard is low because they would have to do so deliberately; they can’t see into our yard unless they climb up to look over the wall. We figure if we ever got a complaint about our clothesline, our response would be why they felt the need to scale a wall to peep into our yard. =)
Heather says
I live in a cold northeast climate so I can’t line dry during 5 months of the year, but when I can I do. Not only do you save money, but the job is just so much nicer when you can do it outside. I don’t line dry towels because I don’t like them to be stiff, probably my suburban upbringing.
Ronni says
My house was built in the ’60’s….. I recently removed my clothesline and gave it to my inlaws…..I sure miss the smell of lined dried towels!
Brandi @ Savvy Student Shopper says
Clothes line all the way!! I love it. The smell, the freshness, the saving energy. 🙂
When we use the dryer (in the winter of course) we use wool dryer balls. Love them!
Pat B. says
I have hung out my clothes since I was a little girl. I use the dryer when it rains or is just too cold to hang them out but the exercise, fresh air, and sunshine (Vit. D) you get hanging clothes out is well worth it. The only draw back is that my washer doesn’t get the lint off my clothes and I may have to put them in the dryer on air to get some of the lint off.
Maggie says
Ah, nothing is so sweet to my soul as clothes flapping in the breeze, chickens pecking on the ground and fresh bread baking in the oven.
Ursula Haigh says
I dry everything except bath towels on my AGA year round. I don’t even iron anymore as it steams out the wrinkles on my husband’s jeans, t-shirts, boxer shorts, pillow cases, tea towels! I bought a thingamajig at IKEA with clothes pegs on it that resembles an octopus and attach all our socks and unmentionables to hang dry. 🙂
Can’t imagine living anywhere that would dictate how I choose to do my laundry!
Wendy Phelps says
Almost everyone (apart from apartment dwellers) have clotheslines in Australia. We have mostly Hills hoists, invented by a guy called Hills back in the 50s. they are a rotary line. I have a dryer for those wet days but there is nothing better than the smell of fresh laundered towels and sheets from an outdoor line
jubob says
we line dry all year round except in the winter the line is the doorway of the utilitiy room. saves alot on the electric bill and the dryer will last alot longer. 5 to 10 minutes in the dryer to fluff and then on hangers whether outside or in. less folding and handling.
Carmen says
Why not dry your clothes on a clothes horse/rack and place it outside (on a patio for example) when the weather is suitable? I imagine you have a spot where no-one would even see it and technically, I doubt it violates your neighbourhood code.
I line dry in Summer (can’t beat the smell or softness of the towels!) but rack dry inside the rest of the year. I have two large racks that each hold a load of laundry, set up in the spare bedroom.
Tumble drying is so expensive in electricity use (let alone its effect on reducing the life of clothing), that I can’t justify it to myself. I know it’s the norm in many households in the US (I’m a Brit), but it’s a modern convenience/luxury that I don’t see any value in personally.
LYNDA Kling says
I wouldn’t want to live somewhere that regulates your life! Places even tell you what colour Christmas lights you must use or what colour curtains or what colour to paint your front door….
Inside drying racks are great, and clothes hanging out last longer..all that lint is fibers that the dryer is beating out of your clothes…in reply to one of your reader’s comments, a friend of mine was not even allowed to have a drying rack on the patio….
Cynthia Skelton says
I love to line dry clothing. It’s a relaxing, enjoyable activity. Mainly I do it to reduce my impact, and also to save a bit of money.
I hang everything to dry either outside on the line or inside on racks in my laundry room. Then, after the items are almost dry, I toss the jeans, socks, towels, etc into the dryer for a few minutes to fluff them up. Works fine for me.
Becka says
Our homeowners association does not allow clotheslines so DH strung a retractable line in our garage so I can dry rugs, comforters, etc. I also have a shower bar above the washer and dryer where I can hang things on hangers or across the bar itself and I have a little device with about a dozen clothespins attached to it which is great for small items.
Helen in Meridian says
My dad bought my mom a clothes dryer the day I was born, almost 66 years ago. It worked for 25 years until I was engaged to Chazz. My 1959 rambling ranch house came with one of those umbrella type clothes line. I occasionally hang the whites out to dry, more to bleach from the sun. The only problem is I worry about the neighbors seeing my Big Berthas (white full cut cotton undies).
Mavis says
I love it! I have never heard anyone call their underwear Big Bertha’s before.
Kim says
Although I have a drier, I hate paying all that money to dry clothes. I hang year round but a bit different. I tumble the clothes for about 5 minutes to remove wrinkles and then immediately put just about everything on hangers. I have a rod in the basement to hang them on to finish drying. When dry, all I have to do is transfer to the closet (shirts, & pants). I use clothes pins to put my socks and under clothes on the hangers and take them off to put away when done. I usually get 5-6 pair of undies per hanger.
For towels I do the opposite. I hang to dry and then tumble to soften for 5 minutes before folding and putting them away. I orginally started doing this out of necessity about 30 years ago and just kept doing it so I don’t have to pay.
Penelope says
Line dry in the heat of summer and fall. Seasonal allergies make it hard to dry in spring and early summer. We are hot and dry enough to dry faster outside than the dryer.
Lauren says
I LOVE my clothesline. The house I’m renting came with a “vintage” 4-line with those big metal “t’s” at either end.
I’m in Longview, WA and am able to line dry between March & October, depending on rainfall.
I consider the extra time investment to be Me Time, I can think about whatever, in the quiet yard, alone, with my shoes off for the Earthing benefits. I get a tiny bit of vitamin D while I’m at it.
As far as stiff clothes, I put 1/2 cup white vinegar in the softener cup of the wash, and that made a huge difference. Even my towels were noticeably softer, of course you could still tell which were line dried.
I noticed that my white dishclothes stayed whiter while drying in the sun as opposed to the last few months in the dryer due to weather.
You could always line dry til done, then throw a load in the dryer for 5 minutes to soften them up 🙂 I can’t wait to buy a home and install an indoor line somewhere.
amberlynnlane says
It rains here often in the Northwest, but ever since my first cloth-diapered baby I’ve been line drying using a rack like this: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80233128/
I LOVE it. It holds tons of clothes and I can fold it away or adjust it to what I need. When it can’t go outside we’ll set it up next to a heat vent, window, or fireplace. Line drying doesn’t take up THAT much extra time, and worth the environmental/financial savings.
Meg says
Hi! How do you know about the rules in your neighborhood? For example: that clotheslines aren’t allowed, that you can’t have a rooster, or how many chickens you’re allowed to have? I know my city has a limit of 3 chickens (not fair) but I don’t know the other rules that may effect me.
Thanks!
Mavis says
A lot of times when you move into a neighborhood you have to agree to the bi-laws of the neighborhood here in suburbia.
amy says
we get bucketloads of rain where we live, yet i still can’t imagine not having an outdoor clothesline to dry on! i think it’s so wrong that clotheslines are banned in places- it’s so environmentally irresponsible
Lindsi Vining says
We were dryerless for about a year as ours broke and I didn’t want to replace it. I was holding out for the washer to go to so that I could get a matching set… I know. Anyhow, I hung them outside during the spring and summer days and inside during the fall and winter. I would hang them from hangers in the doorways or even on a make shift line that the hubby put up in the bathroom shower. It was great! And on the plus side, it cut down on folding time. I hate folding laundry but when you HAVE to do it to get the next load up you really don’t have a choice. Hense no big pile of clothes to fold on Sunday afternoon!
dblee says
I line dry – I have a dryer… silly me bough a set… it is not even hooked up… really!?!??! What was I thinking… anyway I dry small loads inside in the winter and I wait for a nice sunny day to do the linens… we are outside of city limits so no silly rules… I can do whatever I want pretty much (except have chickens???? Really you can keep chickens but not hang laundry outside – weirdness!? ) anyway, we just have to be careful about hanging stuff out in the fall on days when people are burning leaves (not that they are supposed to be doing that) I don’t get the stiffness either – I think that is from using too much soap, not from line drying…. I use ECOS Laundry Detergent about half of the recommended amount per load. The most impressive thing I think is how much longer our clothing lasts without the wear and tear of machine drying.
Lauren says
During the Australian summer we get stiff towels when the temp is 105f and over. On these days the washing is dry by the time you have finished hanging it out.
Carol says
I have permanent lines strung in my garage for the warm weather (no bird mess this way, AND I don’t have to worry about getting the items in at night). In winter, I have a series of wooden drying racks that I line up near the wood stove. Everything dries lightning fast!
Qin Tang says
I prefer clothesline drying, I do it whenever possible, outside when the weather permits. I use the dryer for a few minutes before I air dry the clothes inside. I think banning clothesline is a very silly rule. People should be encouraged and allowed to do so.
Ken says
Banning clotheslines, dumb, now if they want to ban the trampoline and the rusty swing set and the old playhouse next door I’m all for it. 😉
I line dry outside whenever the weather permits. I dry some things on the lines in the basement in the winter.
Here is why:
1. Saves money
2. Saves on wear and tear on the clothing, dryers are very hard on clothes especially those things with elastic
3. I actually enjoy it. yes I’m a man but I actually enjoy hanging out the clothes. It’s my grandma’s fault.
4. I find the clothes blowing in the wind relaxing.
Numerous comments about pollens settling on clothes and family members having allergies. When my grandson was born two years ago on the first trip to the pediatrician he told her to dry Chases bedding outside. Let the pollens settle on the bedding and let him sleep on them to help build immunities to the pollens.
My son couldn’t wait to tell me this. My DIL thought the doctor was nuts. I told her what do you have to lose. It certainly cannot hurt anything and if you think about it, it makes sense. So she went out bought a drying rack and dried his bedding outside quite often especially that first spring. He was born in March. Now if he doesn’t develop allergy’s we will never know. I think the doctor made sense. He also said that if the temp was 75 degrees or higher open the kids window and let him sleep in the fresh air.
Jane says
I have a portable clothesline that opens up like an umbrella. Super convenient, small and light weight. I can take it anywhere, and I can quickly carry it inside if it starts to rain.
Mavis Butterfield says
I LOVE clotheslines!!! 🙂
Carol says
I’m in a no clothesline subdivision so my back screened in porch often looks like a makeshift laundromat and my bathroom has clothes hanging on laundry days, but I try to have everything put away b4 hubby gets home. I do put things that wrinkle easy in the dryer for 5 mins b4 hanging up. If I’m expecting company I will dry towels in the dryer. We have saved quite a bit of money not using the dryer.