Hell HAS Frozen Over! (Clothes On The Line)

[frigilux]

LOL! The most important thing I learned yesterday was to hang towels/sheets/tablecloths on the out lines and my shorts on the inside lines. Now that I've actually taken the plunge and become a line-dryer, I wonder why it took me so long. Funny how it took a financial pinch to spur me on.

I'm also finding it easy to get along without A/C so far. I open all the windows at night, then close the house up tight and pull all shades/blinds in the morning. The house stays cool til about 4:00-5:00 in the afternoon when the sun hits the front (west side) of the house. But by 8:00 or 9:00 I can open the windows again and repeat the cycle. This should get me through at least the first half of June. By July it doesn't cool off much at night and the humidity is way too high to keep windows open most nights. I've usually always turned the central A/C on the first day it went over 75 degrees outside. I've already saved three weeks' worth of A/C costs.

 

[lavamat_jon]

Clotheslines are still really common in my part of the UK - everyday you still see things on the line . To be honest you can't beat line dried laundry, except for towels - they ALWAYS go in the tumble dryer no matter what . Tried all that fluffing for 20 minutes and doesn't seem to work as well as tumble drying fully.

seems like even in hot weather, people around here are more inclined to use a dryer.

Unfortunately, some people (even myself at times) don't have time to hang out washing so a dryer is a must in a summer at times... unfortunately some people are too reliant on their dryer.

Jon

 

[hoovermatic]

Personally, I don't find it takes long to hang out washing so would always prefer to do that. I almost always line dry towels and bung them in the dryer on hot for 20 mins and it has always worked for me although they are not AS soft as fully tumble dried. However, I will not use the amount of energy required just for a fluffier towel. I quite like the slight roughness on the skin but could not use a purely line dried towel, unless I was going for an all over body peel!

Getting into a bed with line dried sheets and duvet covers is bliss and the smell from the pillowcases is one of those fragrances I wish they would bottle and market as an air freshner, instead of some of the stomouch churning fragrances that we are supplied with!

 

[washboy2005]

I like to tumble dry during the winter months however... In Summer and even spring and autumn(fall) ill hang out if its nt damp...

I really hate to use the tumble dryer when its nice weather, I just think its pointless and very wasteful.

I also have indoor lines which are used fairly heavily too!

Jon - It's very peculiar, when I line dry towels theyre always fairly soft... Maybe theres a difference in our water hardnessess or something?

Pic below shows in order from closest to the camera:
Whites
Darks
Whites & Coloureds
Towels

 

[vintagesearch]

hanging clothes...
well its the only way we can get our laundry dry! my parents refuse to get a dryer(then again look were im from LOL) ;P so i just wait for a nice day like this weekend and hang everything up. I hang everything from the bottom never from an elastic as they stretch, certain things on hangers and boxers on a drying rack out in the sun. As for towels well i use downy and dont really have a problem with them being stiff they come out pretty good, next time i'll post a pic. And sheets 8 clothes pins on each and stretched out all over the clothes lines! pillows, comforters, and all LOL.

 

[washboy2005]

My Indoor lines jammed full!

 

[lavamat_jon]

Dan - nice to see your garden again . Your mum said to me when I was up last that you've always got a wash on the line, good on ya! Have had to use the dryer constantly for the past week or so though with those horribly miserable weather we've had! Have to say I've also noticed that your towels were quite scratchy compared to what I'm used to, maybe I just like really soft towels lol.

Paul - Glade used to make an air freshener (I'm not sure they still do it) called Clean Linen I think... was about the closest smell to line dried laundry you could get from an artificial air freshener. But yes - nothing beats the smell of a bedroom when you've put line-dried sheets on the bed!

It takes me about 5-10 mins to hang out a load of washing depending on the size of the load... when you're at college 5 days a week and work at the weekends, and wash in the evenings unfortunately the only option is to use the tumble dryer if you want to keep caught up with laundry! I always use low heat anyway, so it doesn't use as much energy, but still not as green as hanging out on the line. Though, I do schedule to wash a couple loads on a Monday night so that I can hang them out on my long college break on Tuesday, and I always manage to get a load or two out on a Saturday before work... so I try to save as much energy as I can, but yes it does annoy me when I'm round somebody's house on a nice summer's day, breeze blowing in the garden and they've got their tumble dryer on non stop!

The most annoying thing is when I'm not in, and it starts raining or something and people won't take the washing in... which means having to wash the load AGAIN. Sometimes it feels as if I'm the only competent person in the house at times

Jon

 

[lavamat_jon]

I forgot to add...

Has anybody else noticed that the line dried smell is at best in early spring/late autumn?

Jon

 

[kirk280980]

I don't have a clothesline in my garden - not because I don't want to, but because there's nowhere really suitable to string one up - so really ought to get a little bit more inventive and try to find a way of having one. While I do like the finish of tumble dried laundry, even that doesn't justify running a condenser dryer during the summer and having it dump heat into an already stuffy house, not to mention the energy costs. Line drying can indeed be quicker on a good day as Hoovermatic already mentioned, plus it's also a far more suitable way of drying starched laundry.

As a compromise I do use folding drying racks, which I can either set up inside the utility room on wet days, or outside on the patio if the weather is pleasant. Also have a tripod-like device from which clothes can be dried on hangers, which comes in handy when ironing too. Not perfect, but still better than my old habit of putting everything in the dryer all year round. Now try to use the dryer only for bulkier items such as bed linen and towels, until I find a better solution for hanging those up to dry too.

Cheers,

Kirk

 

[hoovermatic]

I had one of those retractable line thingys in the house but it broke so I bought a washing line and made one myself which gives me about 100 feet of indoor drying space and swear by it. I can never be arsed to hang out underwear and socks so I dry all that stuff indoors all year round and give it 10 mins in the dryer to air it all off and then it goes straight in the drawer. I hate ironing with a passion and will do anything to avoid it.

As a child, my Mum used to iron socks and underwear and even towels. It has taken me years to get her out the habit but I think with persuasion, I may have convinced her what a waste of time and effort it is.

 

[lavamat_jon]

Airers

We've used clothes horses for years to dry the non tumble dry stuff in winter - have to say that they seem to leave everything relatively crease free - they do leave a line where the wire on the clothes horse is but if you shake out the laundry they come out pristine and not needing to be ironed - hold the fabric conditioner smell in well too - and gives the same effect an air freshener does to a room.

I've also found using the stairway banisters is great for drying heavier items such as jeans or even duvets - I think the airflow in stair wells must have something to do with airing the laundry much better than normal.

Jon

 

[kirk280980]

HM,

One of my aunts irons towels, bras and everything else in between, and I do sometimes wonder to myself how she finds the time. Only things I iron are shirts and sometimes polos, and everything else looks fine as long as it's hung or folded promptly and not left in a heap somewhere. Must be working, because nobody can seem to tell the difference.

Jon,

The upstairs landing banister is a great place to dry duvets, usually they're ready to use again within a couple of hours. With the central heating on you can sometimes feel the warm air currents rising up the staircase from underneath the hall ceiling, so in effect I guess it works on the same principle as a drying cabinet.

Cheers,

Kirk

 

[intuitive]

Sun kissed washing....

Nothing beats freshly sun dried washing.... Our local council are trying to make all new developments (units & town houses) install clothes lines spaces. Personally I dont want other people being able to get at my smalls !!!! I have a big timber deck in our courtyard & we manage to get most washing on the Mrs Peggs line...It can easily hold a FULL 7.5kg load from the Fisher & Paykel. it will dry in a day & sometimes I can get two separate loads dried in a day!!

http://www.mrspeggs.com.au/