Clothesline Rules!

[xraytech]

I use plastic coated steel cable for the clothesline and I have mostly the wood spring loaded clothespins, but I have some of the wood pins with out the springs, which I cant seem to find more of.

What are the pulleys on the clothesline for?

All of the clotheslines in our area are simply two poles spaced about 15-20 feet apart with a cross bar at the top making a "T" shape and there are hooks screwed into the crossbar for typically 3 or 4 lines.

 

[rayjay]

Sam, I am from Plymouth PA. Moved to Jersey when I was 3 but visited family quite regular. I remember my grandmother and really all the neghbors have a rust proof wire cable for lines. This was very strong and lasted a long time. You have to use the clip clothespins in order to keep the clothes on the line.

A pulley line is just that. A pulley attached to your house and the other pulley on the pole at the back of the yard. You did not have to 'walk" the wash, you stood in one place and keep hanging the clothes and pushing the line out till it reached the pole.

 

[toggleswitch2]

The pulleys are from the days when clothes-lines were found running from window-to-window within the same aparmtent or to a neighborng tree or fire-escape.

You'd add the clothes from one open window and send them further away by pulling the top line to you.

Obviously in this case you would not be able to walk on the ground to position yourself near an empty spot on the clothesline as you woueld with a fixed clothes-line.

 

[toggleswitch2]

NYC clotheslines.

There is a reason why they are associated with poverty and are considered to be un-aesthetic.

 

[polkanut]

Sam,

The link below will show you the type of clothesline set-up that I have. I have the 20ft. length version. I like this type because it can be moved around the yard quite easily, especially when mowing. It's next to impossible to tip over as well.

http://www.freudenthalmfg.com/clothes_line/

 

[chuffle]

Monday's washday here...

because it is my day off.

If the weather is decent, all whites (sheets and undies) plus the cotton tea towels go out for a good bleaching. Colors in the dryer, as my lines are on poles in full sun.

The thought of placing underwear in a place shielded from view never occurred to me. If folks driving down the road see it, so be it.

Clothes line is cotton rope. Clothes pins are wooden spring-type, and always come in at the end of the drying session. I do have a beef about today's pins however. They seem flimsy compared to the ones from days gone by. I have a good number of pins that belonged to my parents, and like those pins better. They are larger, and don't seem to slip apart like the new ones that I have.

I also have three aluminum clothesline poles that were my parents'. Wish that I could find some more of those, but have had no luck. I recall them in use when I was a kid, back in the 1960s.

Joe

 

[butch-innj]

FOR Chuffle (or Joe)
I'm thinking that you mean those poles that you put up along
a wide stretch of clothesline to help hold up the line so it
sorta remains straight instead of sagging from the weight of
the clothes.
If so.....I know the aluminum poles that your talking about.
I haven't seen any of those around in years, but, I got some
poles at Home Depot a couple of hears ago that I like even
better.
They are aluminum (not shiney) but are covered or painted a
dark green color plus they are adjustable for the heighth.
I love them.
I can't recall what I paid for them but I think it was like
$7.00 or $8.00 each

 

[whirlcool]

You can easily make your own pole by obtaining a 1x2 piece of lumber and cut a "V" notch in one end. This will hold any clothes line you choose. To adjust the height, you just change the angle at which it touches the ground.

 

[yogitunes]

in my neck of the wood we have alot of farm land and usually the imigrants hang their laundry on the fence post...it just seems odd to us...

 

[sudsmaster]

The pulleys are not just for clotheslines stretched between two windows.

When I was a kid we had a pulley clothesline. One end was at the kitchen back porch. The other end was attached to a tree out in the yard. That way my mom could put out and take in the laundry without having to leave the porch.

I have a sort of similar arrangement. One pulley is attached to a pole that I secured to the porch stair railing (sturdy steel pipe railing). The other end it attached to a light standard that extended about five feet above the garage roof about 40 feet away. None of the clothes on the line are really reachable from the ground, and besides that I'm using the area under the line for various dwarf citrus trees in large containers.

At one time a cowbird adopted our family and would come to the window to be hand fed. But sadly one day he or she was sitting on the clothesline and didn't fly off quick enough when my mom pulled it in. Hurt his foot or something, and he/she never came back after that.

 

[brisnat81]

Clotheslines here used Galvanised stranded wire. Now they are pvc over a synthetic fibre rope.

We have a 6 line pull out clothes line that runs the width of our courtyard. Its in full sun from 6am to 5pm most of the year round and stuff usually dries within 3-4 hours.

http://www.onlinedirect.hills.com.au/cattleprod/products/A1501ULT
The Rotating style clothesline has been the mainstay of the Aussie backyard since they were invented in the 40's. These days the Galvanised ones have been replaced with powder coated folding ones, but most familes have grown up with one of these here.

http://www.onlinedirect.hills.com.au/cattleprod/products/A1405SU5
We've got a fold out one in the garage. Its mounted on the wall and has a big rectangular frame that encases the lines. The whole frame folds up and down, however we've now mounted it up the wall higher and just leave it up always.

http://www.onlinedirect.hills.com.au/cattleprod/products/A1601PAR
I'm just about to finish my 4th load of wash in 5 hours and the line is just about full. The first load is ready to take in. Shirts, Darks, Towels and now Whites.

 

[chuffle]

Butch-inNJ :

Yes, the poles that I mentioned hold up the sagging clothes line.
Thanks for the tip about Home Depot. I'll be in the city tomorrow morning, and I will make a note to check the HD to see if they still have 'em.

whirlcool:

Thanks for the tip about the wood poles.

Joe

 

[bajaespuma]

Got this off of the web

Here's the clothesline pole I'm building(although my "green" buddies are telling me now that I shouldn't use pressure-treated wood{oh, Toggles}):

 

[iheartmaytag]

Shirts, Darks, Towels and now Whites.

NOoooo, That's a washday infraction. My mother always did the whites first, I do to. I think it was throwback from the old wringer days when you reused the wash water.
Whites first
Dark items that fade like Blue Jeans last.

 

[sudsmaster]

Ken,

I avoid pressure treated wood for several reasons...

It contains toxic chemicals that can leach into soil.

Sawing it releases dust that can cause respiratory problems (same toxic chemicals).

The cut ends are not protected from rot/decay so you should spot treat them with... more toxic chemicals.

If it were me, I'd get heart redwood or cedar instead of pressure treated pine or fir. It will last just as long with fewer environmental impacts. The natural tannins in heart redwood or cedar act as a protection against rot, insect attack, decay. But yes, such wood is significantly more expensive than pressure treated wood, and may be harder to find.

 

[ricky5050]

its the norm

over here even though we get lots of rain and often poor summers we still hang out clothes, it does feel good on a lovely bright sunny day to see whites on the line and if you lucky (or unlucky) to live in a windy area like me they come in very soft!

Tumble drying is a luxury, my mam still only uses her dryer to finish off clothes she has had several attempts at line dying first!

Richard