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Down Side To Drying Laundry Indoors

Is that it increases humidity. This may or may not be so bad depending upon several factors including weather and climate. However if the home is damp already drying laundry indoors isn't going to help.

Of course today we have air conditioners and dehumidifiers but then you are using energy. Might as well have chucked the wash into the dryer and been done with things.
 
With the warming temperatures, I am switching from drying indoors with the electric dryers to drying outside in the gas dryers. In the winter, the warmth and humidity are welcome, but now the warmth and humidity belong outside, not to mention that electricity is more expensive in the summer. I also don't want a vented dryer operating in the house during the summer or the winter because when a vented dryer is operating, it is pulling around 150 cubic feet of air per minute out of the house, air that has been heated or cooled and air that is made up by unheated or uncooled air that is pulled in from the outside.
 
It is time for line drying here. I did a huge wash last week in the Maytag wringer; hung it all out on the line and the wind was so strong that the wire line that I use snapped into and all of the laundry fell to the ground. We were not amused. Time to get a heavier line to use I think. Oh well, that's life.
 
Both of my grandmothers line dried year 'round either indoors in winter or outside in warmer weather.  In fact, my Grandma Baumann never owned a dryer.  In our dry winter climate line drying helps to put moisture into the air in the house. 
 
My grandmother never had a dryer. She insisted line drying was just fine and good exercise for her. I could see her point. With her set-up there was zero bending/stooping it was all upper body work. She had a chest high 3'x3' window that swung like a gate and allowed her to hang clothes on her 50' line without leaving the house. One end was mounted to the house and the other was mounted to a flag pole. Trees were far enough away that pollen, etc. were never an issue.

 

Parents' house had a line when I was younger but over time shade, pollen, debris, etc. made line drying more trouble than it was worth.

 

If I ever have a set-up like my grandmother's I'll line dry.

 

There is a compromise: a fold-up heated drying rack for indoor use. It's like a heated towel rack, but designed for clothes. A few even have available covers to speed the process a bit. I've run into a few people (not on aw.org) who've tried them. They cut drying time by a third to a half. I've attached a link.

 

Jim

 
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>Is that it increases humidity. This may or may not be so bad depending upon several factors including weather and climate. However if the home is damp already drying laundry indoors isn't going to help.

Good point, and why I pretty much gave up on trying to dry inside in winter, at least as long as I live at my current Undisclosed Location.
 
I was able to hang out the bedding this weekend.  Luckily the wind was only blowing 20-30 MPH.

 

Nice thing is the southern wind was blowing past the Lilac bushes and imparted a nice fragrance that followed the sheets indoors.

 
 
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