Flapping in the Breeze.

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I envy you guys

with yards/gardens.

I don't have access to the rear yard, and if I hung my clothes out in the front yard, they would "walk" off. Especially the nicer bath towels.

I am seriously thinking of getting one or two of the folding indoor drying racks, however, and.......enjoying that "stiff as a board" feeling!

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
I used to LOVE the feel and smell of sheets fresh off the line, but I'm not allowed to do that here. Maybe, just maybe, once the house is officially ours (possibly late this coming week?) I'll get a little say in.... {whap!} OUCH!

What was I thinking? The dryer it is!

Chuck
p.s.- Rich isn't home, and didn't really slap me, but he might of if he'd been here! :-)
 
Here's my stuff flappin'

Queen size bedsheets (pale lime green if you can't tell) plus mattress pad. I hang it all, fitted with flat, it's all GOOD!

It's on a double-pulley 40' cable line stretching from a post at the side porch to a light column by the garage. Earlier in the day I dried three pairs of jeans, and aired the bedspread and cat blanket (they prefer the texture of the blanket).

It's actually a relatively windless day. On other days, the winds are so strong as to wrap the sheets around both lines, in which case I have to use a pole to unwrap them so I can reel them in. But it works, and the wind seems to help reduce wrinkles and induce softness.

4-26-2008-18-56-54--sudsmaster.jpg
 
Well, here in Florida (At least for me) the line drying season is coming to an end. The summers here are too hot and too humid to hang stuff out. I mean you can but you don't get that "fresh crispness" like you do here in the winter time which is like your spring days up north. Dryer got a real work-out today with six loads.
 
The very basic idea in clothes line hanging I was tought in home echonmics at school was that tops should be hung by their bottoms and bottoms are to be hung by their tops.I noticed some jeans were upside down as well as some tank top shirts.Didn't you girls go to home ec in school?????????????????Did you pass???????????---LOL
 
Bill

I did not use that box of Cheer. I got it today from a neighbor who is moving into assisted living. The box was never opened.

I used Kirland detergent with a bit of phospahtes to do the sheets today in the vintage Maytag.
 
Thank you Steve. I am glad to see that you are still using phosphates and a name brand detergent. Have you tried
Viva? I am sure you can get it at a bodega on Long Island.

Ross
 
The weather has been sh@#$y here the last 2 Friday's, so I haven't been able to hang laundry out, so I'm jealous of y'all. Nothing reminds me of childhood more than slipping in between line-dried bedsheets at night. Steve, Viva's smell isn't that residual if laundry is hung out to dry, you'll be surprised.
 
Toggles

"It was too big at first, so I had a few inches removed..."

Toggles, I've just opened this thread for the first time. I swear I'd never think in my life I would hear you say that...

Emilio
 
I am jealous of all of you who have the time and energy to hang wash out on the line. I have not hung clothes on the clothes line since I was a teenager. We had three walnut trees in our back yard, so as a child we would wake up with catipillers from the trees crawling in the sheets, find them in our dresser drawers...I as an adult vowed to never hang clothes on the line again.

Now with the price of fuel, I think I need to revisit that. I iron everything anyway, so it would be a cost savings I am sure. Lowes, I may have to check this out. Towels will still have to go in the dryer, I have never liked the stiff feeling of towels dried on the line.

Morgan
 
I hang my jeans by the bottom few inches of the legs - folded over the line and secured with pins. Yes, it produces a crease at the bottom but frankly I don't care. It's a lot easier than trying to pin the tops to the line, it's more secure, and the tops dry faster when they can flap in the breeze.

Shirts, I either put them on plastic hangers and clip those onto the line, or I hang them by the shirt tails. More often I've been drying these mechanically, though.
 
Glad to see that so many other people on this site also hang clothes out to dry. I also am a member fo Project Laundry List which is fight for the right to hang clothes out in all communities. I am glad to have found this site and to be able to talk with people with the same intrest, with out be looked at like I am crazy.

David
 
Morgan, if it's critters that concern you, just give everything a vigorous shaking before putting it in the laundry basket.
 
I had four loads of mostly bedding out today - the fresh scent is just amazing!

As poorly as this country has managed it's energy policies, it's no surprise that many developments and communities discourage or flat-out forbid line drying. I can certainly see being allowed to have restrictions on line drying such as days of week, type of clothes lines and/or locations - back yard, patio, etc. but to forbid it completely is just crazy. At .35 cents per load for electric and .30-32 cents for gas, is a savings of roughly $3 for the drying I did outside this week. That's nearly $75 for the "drying season" if you don't want to freeze a few digits in the winter. I saw a direct savings last year in gas and electric service costs, both of my monthly "Level Payment" amounts went down.
 
I think it's great to hang the laundry outside in the fresh air. Gives everything a wonderful smell. Hung some items out last week when it was warm and it was great. Have to stop right now as the tress are pollinating and the green and yellow stuff is flying in the breeze too. I don't want that stuff on my clean laundry or in the house. I will resume when it stops though. Love the warmer weather to be able to do this. Ah the clean smell of spring!
 
For some items, such as bath towels or throw rugs, I toss them into the dryer for a no-heat air fluff of 10 to 20 minutes after line drying. It does a good job of softening normally stiff line-dried items. Not quite as soft as doing the entire drying job in the dryer, but close.

Of course, here in California it's prime line-drying time from April to December. Little to no rain, lots of sunny days. Quite often I can put a load out on the line when I get home from work and it will be dry by the time it gets dark. This way it doesn't get faded from too much sun.

The only other hitch is that periodically during the year, depending on prevailing winds and market conditions, the local chocolate factory (I think) does a cocoa bean roast the releases a fair amount of particulates. These land on any cars that I might have exposed as little tan squiggles. And on any light colored items on the line as orange-tan splotches. One of these days I'm gonna have to collect enough of the squiggles to have them analyzed to see if they are cocoa-based and then ask the chocolate factory to respond. A taste test might be in the works, lol.
 
oh Emilio, you make me laugh!

You know my ethnic group...

ALL things in moderation! LOL

(OOOOOOH would you look at the SIZE of that thing! What am I supposed to do throw it over my shoulder and burp it? )

YUP 20 minutes in the dryer and finishing on the line does wonders for "the best of both worklds". Espsecuially when once considered that the last bits of moisture are the hardest and most expesnive to remove in the dryer.
 
~And yes, Toggles, you really do have a nice yard.
TYVM.

LOL oh you guys!

I'm wondering if a dryer in a hot arid place like Arizona used/located outside WITHOUT heat would make for soft AND good-smelling items. Perhaps an experiment is in order.....
 
New Dryer $30.00 Bucks

After reading this thread, I went to Homo Depot in Plymouth. I asked this really hot Young Man, If they had any "Umbrella Style Clothes Lines " He said "Oh yeah, right over there ". Then I asked him if they sold clothes pins and he said Aisle 16. I was very impressed. When I went to the check out the woman told me they have sold 3 today. Everyone is trying to save electricity so maybe ,hopefully , it's turning around. Coldspot said and interesting tip. Dry the clothes in a dryer for 10 minutes and then hang them out. I can't use Fabric Softner so I'm going to give it a shot
 
Toploader55,

It does help putting the clothes in the the dryer for 5 -15 minutes. Towels & Jeans need about 15 minutes. Putting the clothes in the dryer for even a few minutes helps the wrinkles to come out also.

David
 
vulcanchef, we have that type clothes line over here. I have one....no where near as industrial strength as yours...but it affords me the opportunity to hang up linens and such once in a while. It folds and stores away. I set it up using a cast iron umbrella stand. Works great if it's not too breezy. It tipped over one windy day.

5-2-2008-21-06-7--golittlesport.jpg
 

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