How to make clothesline clothes softer

[mickeyd]

Deck Drying

Mark, If you want to dry now, just get a couple of those 3 inch hand-screw-in hooks, and you'll have very heavy support in a few minutes. After 17 years of this, the experience is vast, and trust me on this, if you have wind and humidity, you really and truly do not need the dryer. And if you want the stiff scratchy towels Frank is talking about, hang out on a calm, dry day.

WINTER, (such as it was--hardly)[this post was last edited: 4/16/2012-11:37]

 

[mickeyd]

The Wind Pretending to be a Dryer

~

 

[mickeyd]

One hook is screwed into the tree;

the other is secured in the balcony and then a little extra for leftovers. I take the line down all the time, using the wrap around technique thumb to elbow, etc. like we do for long electrics.

 

[mickeyd]

Done

Bye. Don't want to get carried away, but I have more taken in an unexpected rainfall. .

 

[westingman123]

paradise!

Oh, to sip coffee on that deck and listen to the wind whip those sheets around! Love the cabbage roses, too. I think I have that set somewhere.

I swear, there is NOTHING like the smell of bed linens line-dried. Please don't get me started on the smell of line-dried pillow cases on the ironing board. Mike, you made my day. Thank you.

 

[mickeyd]

Thank you Keith, so much

Who doesn't love to be appreciated? Sharing what I have makes me feel wonderful. And you just made my evening. People who line dry experience a bit of heaven on earth. When I'm 90, I'll hire someone to do it for me.

 

[yogitunes]

Mickeys words...."like many of you, I hang out all year!".....you could get arrested for that.....lol....

Dryer first has always been the norm for me.....especially shirts.....in the dryer for a few minutes to release the wrinkles, and then hang, it could be inside or out.....

I think the idea came from my mother, her washer would only rinse in warm water, so the clothes always came out warm, ready to hang, and seemed to be soft at that temp, and evaporate faster, and if you had a good wind, most things were wrinkle free and dried fast....

when we got the Whirlpool, and the rinses were all cold, she hated the way the clothes would be stiff comming out of the machine, and the wrinkles would stay in if line dried.....so from then on everything went into the dryer, even if only for a few minutes to warm them up.......

 

[westingman123]

"When I'm 90..."

At that point, I shall be 80 and will gladly hang out your laundry for free. However, I suspect you'll be just fine on your own. Mama is 87, slowing down a bit, but still loves to "hang-out the warsh". (sic)

Where's Darren? I think the three of us are the line-dried fanatics around these parts. **LOL**

 

[cphifer5115]

well my mom always hung clothes out to dry and still does to today. she very rarely uses the dryer, she scared it will run up the light bill too high. she even would run an indoor line in the back hall way of the house during the winter months. but i don't hang clothes out. everything i wash goes right into the dryer. and i use liquid fabric softner int he rinse cycle. lately i've been using the gay dryer bar but i'm not too impressed with it. the package says it lasts 3 months but i barely get two months out of it.

 

[westingman123]

HUH

Um, "gay dryer bar"? Elaborate please. **LOL**

 

[mickeyd]

You know Keith, right after I wrote that

I remembered reading that over-your -head exercise is one of the best forms for over-all health and longevity. Indeed, it's really a work-out, hanging towels and flannel sheers, heavy terry robes, blankets, and the like, especially if spun in a WP/KM. So maybe if I keep doing this like your Mom does, I'll be slinging the loads at 90. Thanks. But if not, come on up. In 30 years, travel from St, Louis to Buffalo will probably take minutes, if you can't stay.

 

[cphifer5115]

sorry that was a typo, gain dryer bar.

 

[aldspinboy]

Laundress is right moisture is the key for towels and jeans.
Or anything that you dont want that might be stiff.
10 mins on medium heat or damp dry then hang.

Mike your line is the ultimate what a veiw.
And your looking good my friend ...
that burst of air through those shirts I'm sure was dry in no time.
The air just about Irons them.

If your in a hurry and the towels where not soften with liqued softner and you
put them out...
then I take them off the line and use a fabiric sheet for 10 mins of heat ..
which I dont like to use dryer sheets there bad for your machine.
Just very rare if I do.
But it works.

Keith I got a new one for yaa.
A wounderful morning at Mike's ( Dishwashercrazy ) home ..
He washed for his laundry service that morning and had the dark clothes at the
end. No sun at that end.
And sport T shirts in the middle with hangers.
Partial sun.
I did a load of whites T shirts washed at 130f in a Asko washer.
And had them at the end where the most sun was.
That morning was Zen for me.
Look at the sun burst through the trees.
Mike has such strong beautiful trees.
You really dont mind hanging here.

 

[aldspinboy]

Air.
Let it flow
Morning !

Darren k

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[aldspinboy]

White shirts.
With Swagger.
Darren k

 

[westingman123]

Thanks, D!

I should say, Zen! What a peaceful scene.

K

 

[suds14]

Mickey,

I love the view from you deck. Wish I had place like that to hang clothes. I have a nice yard to hang clothes in,but I don't hang out in the winter because of snow. If I had only had a deck. I am so glad I found this site, and their our others you love to wash and hang clothes out.

Thanks

David

 

[mickeyd]

Darren OMG--Literally!

The shot of the refracted, color-spectrumed sun rays is truly celestial. You should enter it in a photo gallery.

 

Thanks, David. Any line dryer is an instant friend.

 

Chorus: "How dry I am, How dry we are.... Nobody knows how dry we are."

 

Wonder just how many of us are out there?

 

[alr2903]

My Mom always had her clothes line on the west side of the house.  Sun fading and wind whipped were the least of her worries, raising 2 boys. We had jeans that  appeared to be  acid or stone washed long before it was fashionable,  quite a few rips too.  alr

 

[westingman123]

..before it was fashionable...

How funny! Grandma Agnes had loooooong lines along the vegetable garden and the chicken coop. No shade anywhere nearby. She had a Speed Queen wringer, and on wash days we'd fill all those lines up.

I'll never forget the smells of Oxydol and Final Touch. She started with whites, and there were a LOT of bed linens (big family), so I got to hang those first. Here it is, 40-odd years later, and I still love to hang laundry.

Funny, I don't ever remember stiffness in our towels at the farm. I guess it was the breezes combined with the extra water left from the wringer.

I agree with you, Mike, Darren's photos are almost always art. Even the funny ones!

K