Does anyone still use a clothesline?

[dermacie]

I had to remove mine two years ago and I have been thinking about setting up a new one outside this year. I have one inside in the laundry room that I use for shirts that I put in the dryer for a little while.

Do any of you still use a clothesline?

 

[scoots]

I was using a clothes line up to 9 years ago when I moved. There are a pair of steel "T" frames in the back yard of the new house and I've already purchased laundry line to thread between them.

Frankly, I miss the smell and stiffness of towels dried in the sun - also line-dried bedding. Since I kept all my line accoutrements (cloths pins, pin bag, laundry tray on wheels), it should just take me a few minutes to get back into the swing of it.

 

[foraloysius]

I have a drying rack that I use on my covered balcony. Mainly duvet covers and poloshirts that first get "ironed" in the dryer for a while. My new dryer has a special shirts cycle for that purpose.

 

[philcobendixduo]

I have one.....

.....of these and LOVE it - allows me to hang out 3-4 loads of washing in a small space. Very well made - in Latvia! Brabantia is the brand name. It even comes with a cover to keep it clean when folded.

 

[davidblazor]

On my covered patio I have one

I use the clothesline in the summertime for the bedding. According to the rules of the park where we live we are not supposed to have one but a few neighbors and I have one. I use it to help lower the power bill so I can save for the winter months. I can put out 3 loads in a day and it is all dry by evening.

David

 

[passatdoc]

Wooden drying rack in the garage, where my machines resides. For drying delicates.

 

[wayupnorth]

I have 2 pulley lines and have 2 loads drying on them right now.

 

[gizmo]

these are an Australian institution.

Just about everybody here has one. People who own a dryer tend to use it occasionally, for a few urgent items, not a whole load. I live in a very rainy area (it is rainforest...) but don't own a dryer.

we have 3 methods to dry:

1. an outdoor clothes line, image below.
2. 5 lines strung up in our greenhouse - still gives reasonable drying in damp weather.
3. clothes horses in the house, for final drying off.

The "Hills Hoist" was invented in Australia, and was manufactured not far from where I grew up. They have a crank handle so you can lower it to hang up the clothes, then wind them up higher to catch the breeze and get the clothes out of reach of mischievous dogs. they rotate in the breeze so all the clothes dry more evenly.

the photo below is the same as mine, but isn't mine.

http://www.hillshome.com.au/our-products/clotheslines/

 

[liamy1]

I have...

Exactly what Philcobendixduo has, a Brabantia “Lift-O-Matic” as they’re known here. I also have a smaller one at other end of Garden.

Here in the U.K., line drying was never not a thing, even though in Northern England/Scotland it seems to do nothing but rain!! so line drying days are limited (good news, today is lovely).

Our energy prices are some of the highest in the world (calculated off US dollars for you guys, we are the 3rd highest only coming behind Italy and Germany) so its costly to run a dryer (my $275 a month energy bill confirms this).

I REALLY should use my line more, but it’s so damn convenient to use a dryer, especially as I live in the wettest region in the U.K.

 

[frigidaireguy]

When I moved into the house 10 years ago I had two steel poles made and have 4 lines. I don't dry everything outside but drying my sheets outside is an absolute must. When I was growing up we hung everything outside (even though we had a dryer) except in extremely bad weather. My Mother thought it was a waste of electricity to run the dryer when the sun was shining. How times have changed.

Bob

 

[rp2813]

I have a vintage retractable clothes line that I use almost daily (as conditions permit) for bed linens and sometimes for shirts and shorts.   I like the ability to make it disappear when entertaining outdoors or on days when the gardener comes.  New versions of this type of clothes line are available, but the cords they use aren't as thick as the vintage ones.

 

[mickeyd]

Nearly Daily,*

For most of my adult life, sometimes even at least the sheets in winter because of the smell. With practice and experience, you'll come to appreciate differences in textile textures produced by wind, sun, humidity. For example, a warm, windy, humid day makes the towels dryer-like; calm hot days make the white T-shirts starched and pressed.

For Easy Assembly: screw in hooks and green wire line from Valu, takes only minutes. The green wire is less vista-obstrusive than thick white rope, and you can leave it up.

* since retiring; before the, as the spirit moved me.

 

[mickeyd]

Duh! before "THAT" ;'D

Classic "Mundee Warshday," from the other day. My car mechanic's load: now, he's hooked, can't believe the finish and the scent. When you make a cool pile of the clothes as they come off the line--already organized and so easy to fold-- all long and flat, it looks impressive enough to wrap in brown butcher paper and pretend you're running a laundry.

 

[twintubdexter]

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">It's comforting to know people still value their clotheslines, sort of like people canning fruits and vegetables or making their own jam. My mom had a huge line and hung up everything even though she had a very early Apex dryer (you had to light the pilot every time you used it, not with a match but with an automotive spark plug). And mickeyd...if I had a view like that I'd be hanging stuff on the line all the time. Very nice!</span>

 

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">PS...Clotheslines are verboten where I live but what the HOA can't see won't hurt them. Even a thick king comforter dries fast when it's 120+ degrees outside. </span>

 

[mrsalvo]

Hi Derek!! Yes, I have a clothesline that I use every week. There's no shortage of hot sunny weather in south central Texas. I feel guilty using the dryer when the temps are 100 degrees. Clothes dry faster outside than they do using the dryer, March through Oct. I cut our electric bill by a solid 1/3 every month doing so, been doing this for 18 years. Have saved thousands of dollars in that amount of time, they paid for themselves the first month. I had a collapsible clothesline that kept falling so I found a local mom & pop hardware store that carried real clothesline poles, they weren't easy to find, even back then. Love, love the smell of freshly dried clothes, and don't mind the stiffness of the towels and jeans at all, in fact I prefer them....I know they're clean. Dark clothes I hang on clothes hangers and often hangg them up in the house to dry to keep from fading. Feel fortunate that I'm able to use them, it would be a different story if we lived in a cold climate. Need to install some new lines though, they can start sagging after a couple of years and need tightening. Also think hanging the clothes outside is very effective in dissipating any strong smell from detergents, more so than using a dryer, they just smell clean.

Clotheslines.....ALWAYS use them.

Barry

 

[wayupnorth]

I just got those 2 loads off the lines and the black flies want to lug you away. You always move fast outside Mothers Day until Fathers Day and then the mosquitoes start, but thankfully only at dusk and dawn.

 

[michael]

I still use one

I have a Brabantia wall mounted four side washing line that I fitted to the chimney on my flat roof.That way, the washing isn't dangling in my postage stamp size London garden but is blowing merrily on the second floor!

 

[iheartmaytag]

Yes

I dry well into the winter months, and even then on better days.

I especially do my bedding on the line. I prefer the fresh smell of line drying, and the ability to "Air Out" the comforters and sheets.

My dress shirts do very well on the line, with fewer wrinkles and less fuss when placing on hangers.

I don't really like my towels on the line, but will dry them, but usually toss in the dryer for a few minutes when I bring them in to soften them up a bit.

Not to say, I don't still use my dryer. but short answer, Yes! I still line dry. I can't find the clothes line that my dad used to use when setting up lines for my mother. It was an aircraft coiled steel. What I have found that works Pretty well now is the nylon clothes line. I have to replace it about every two or so years, but it isn't that expensive.

What I do when stringing the nylon line/rope. I wet the line so that it stretches. Then string it up as taunt as I can pull it. When it dries it is very tight and my heavy items don't sag. I have turn buckles on the end that can still be used to tighten the line as it ages and stretches.

Remember: It's our right to dry.

 

[gansky1]

Newton guarding the wash

I use mine regularly - with no worries of pilfering by the neighbors with my ever diligent guard-Pug.

This was an especially windy day a few weeks ago - he hangs out there under the flapping laundry all day and usually won't come in until the wash does.