Clothes lines

strider3700 · Posted: Sun May 29, 2005 3:50 pm Post subject: Clothes lines

Ok this is s simple thing to do and use but I wanted to throw it up here just incase you hadn't though of adding one to your home. Being that it's sunny today became laundry day because I dry most of my clothes on a clothes line in the back yard. It's damn cheap $30 at walmart should get you the line and accessories unless you want a really long run and $2 in clothes pins from walmart and you're good to go. I also had to change away from using dryer sheets to using fabric softener so that was something like $4 for the ball and $4 for the liquid. Now I get free drying whenever it's sunny and I get off my ass to do it.

Like I said trivial to do now but If electricity starts getting tight you can bet it will be harder to get the parts later. I'm actually going to add another line this one in my front yard as it gets more sun and would be a longer run allowing me to do 5 loads worth of laundry in 1 day instead of the 2 I currently can fit on the line.

It's funny how you forget about the simple things, my neighbours kids where asking me what I was doing, apparently in 12 years they had never seen clothes being hung outside to dry.
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linlithgowoil · Posted: Sun May 29, 2005 5:14 pm Post subject:

i've absolutely no idea why people in the US do not hang their clothes out to dry. why do you all use dryers? i stayed with people in florida, and it was about 33 celsius outside, and they were drying clothes in a bloody dryer! not only that, an old dryer that made your clothes stink.

i live in scotland, and even though its usually cold outside, we always hang our clothes out - they still get dry.

KiddieKorral · Posted: Sun May 29, 2005 5:18 pm Post subject:

Andy · Intermediate Crude Joined: May 16, 2004 Posts: 519

Kiddie,

I have been to Florida and I am from a tropical island. Humidity is not a good enough excuse. Once the sun is shining, your clothes will dry even in high humidity, they may take longer but they will dry. I suspect it has more to do with vanity and apartment, neighbourhood regulations.

EddieB · Posted: Sun May 29, 2005 5:31 pm Post subject:

Just hung my clothes out today and I"m an American (some of us are up the task). It is vanity, neighbor-conciousness, and lazyness that keep my fellow country-people from hanging their laundry. If electricity is cheap it's easier to just throw it all in the dryer and come back an hour later.

uNkNowN ElEmEnt · Posted: Sun May 29, 2005 5:51 pm Post subject:

Dryers make you clothes softer when dried that way. Most people don't know that it also shortens the life of your clothes though. Otherwise they might just put up with stiffer clothes. I take my clothes line with me whereever I go.

Ludi · Posted: Sun May 29, 2005 6:03 pm Post subject:

I admit I'm still an electric dryer junkie. But I did buy some clothesline and need to get some more clothes pins, and then maybe I can kick the habit. Embarassed

strider3700 · Posted: Sun May 29, 2005 6:29 pm Post subject:

kelee877 · Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 5:43 am Post subject:

I am in northern Ontario and I have several clothes lines..I have hung poles over my gas heat vents in my basement, and in the winter I get a dual amount for the money I spend on heat in the winter..in the summer i have a line outside and days like today when it is raining I still hang the stuff indoors to dry..I also purchased one of those closet organizers from Zellers cost about 79.00 and installed it in the finished part of my basement..everything gets hung on hangers and then I just take the clothes to the closet they belong in and return the empty hangers for next time..saves a bundle on hydro..I have 4 kids and I am always looking for ways to save..

JR · Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 6:09 am Post subject:

I hang-dry my clothes all year long. In the winter, I have clothes lines strung in my basement for jeans and towels. And I have wood drying racks in an unpstairs room for smaller things. Even sheets. I drape them over the drying racks since their too big to struggle with in the basement. If it's laundry and summer and raining...I hang it all inside.

JR

TheTurtle · Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 6:23 am Post subject:

generikan · Tar Sands Joined: Feb 05, 2005 Posts: 54

its not about money or energy

Dryers suck - they shrink my clothes and ruin the quality of the fabric! 5hot

CarlinsDarlin · Moderator Joined: Jul 02, 2004 Posts: 1395

I've always used a clothes line when I was in a house. In an apartment, I often used drying racks, or put clothes out on a balcony or patio. I generally don't worry about what other people think - and would not live in an area where it was against the "rules" to hang out clothes. Those kind of rules are just nuts.

We have high humidity here too - 90% or more many days in the summer. But clothes do dry. I haven't found any problems. If there's a good breeze, the clothes, even without fabric softener, will come out nice and soft. It's only when they hang straight with little breeze blowing that they end up so stiff. You can also save money by using baking soda in wash instead of softener anyway. It does help.

Kathy

Riverside · Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 2:05 pm Post subject:

I normally hang my clothes out. In the winter I have lines in the laundry room, plus the shower rod and railing for the steps. I will admit that I used the dryer maybe 5-6 times last week, but two of my kids had a stomach virus so I had plenty of laundry. Times like that make me want to kiss whoever invented clothes dryers!

Carla

pea-jay · Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 5:00 pm Post subject:

I line dry in the summer here (April-October). It is so dry and warm, clothes will dry in less than 2 hours.

Winter is another story. Valley winters are cold and moist and nothing dries out. (The mountains trap the moisture for days and weeks at time). Heating helps a little bit but its still a wet time, even inside. I use the clothes dryer then.
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