I am watching the neighbours

[rpms]

I am looking at Mrs Davidson's old house, she is long gone. I was always envious of her clothes line door.
As you can see, the new owners have no idea how to properly hang out laundry. Mrs Davidson was a Laundry Diva. The great thing was, the line went inside another 4 to 6 feet. The cat walk was above the garage. Even in winter, she could still hang up tea towels and dainties, without opening the door. You will also notice that low budget laundy soap pail that has been on the lawn for about 2 years.

 

[sudsmaster]

the new owners have no idea how to properly hang out laundry

In what sense?

At least they are choosing the most environmentally friendly way of drying laundry.

As for their method, I usually hand pants by their legs, although maybe not so much at the very cuffs. I find they dry faster this way, if the waists are allowed to flap in the breeze rather than being constrained at the line.

Shirts? Looks as good a way as any, especially if one has Joan Crawford shoulders ;-).

The t-shirts and undies could be done up a bit nicer, I agree. But then usually all I dry on my line are: towels, bed sheets, throw rugs, blankets, bedspreads, and jeans, weather permitting. The small stuff goes into the dryer - espec. the whities that have been rung dry already in the Miele at 1600 rpm.

Right now with the heavy rains California is getting, the gas dryer is monopolizing the laundry scene here.

 

[rp2813]

What Rich said about the rain.

 

I'm looking forward to being able to line dry sheets again.

 

[pushtorelease]

tsk, tsk

clothesline 101: hang the tops from the bottoms and bottoms from the tops.

which are words to live by in most aspects of your life when you think about it...

 

[yogitunes]

At least they are using an actual clothes line.....not the neatest, but they did put some effort into it....maybe he didn't want to show off the undies, sometimes were just glad he wears, and washes them!

I used to have neighbors years ago, would hang clothes over the fence post!....

When I lived in Princeton, we were not allowed to hang clothes outside, no A/C's hanging out the windows, no toys on the lawn after 5pm, garage door only opened to get the car out/in....... was washing the car one day, and hung the car mats over the fence, and got a 25.00 fine......keeps the neighborhood nice, but sometimes they carried away with this stuff...

 

[petek]

What a neat idea, a clothesline that comes right into the house.. never heard of such a thing

Here in Ontario I think the courts struck down those bylaws and builder covenants disallowing clothes lines in some subdivisions

 

[rp2813]

I'll put a spin on what John said.

 

Hung tops are always good regardless of how it hangs.

 

[thomasortega]

@martin

"When I lived in Princeton, we were not allowed to hang clothes outside, no A/C's hanging out the windows, no toys on the lawn after 5pm, garage door only opened to get the car out/in..."

RT Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? What the hell do they have to do with the way you dry your laundry, the kind of A/C you own, the time your kids can play at the lawn and why or for how long you keep your garage door open?

What if you're working at any project in the garage, like restoring a washing machine or vaccuming you car, should you stay closed in there without enjoying sunlight and breathing fresh air?

I have no Idea where Princeton is. I'd hate to even visit a neighborhood like that.

Don't they also have a rule that you can watch tv only 1 hour a day, have lunch only between noon and 1pm, sleep only 8 hours a day and your children must wear only blue or pink clothes?

I'm sorry, it chocked me.

 

[jerrod6]

clothesline 101: hang the tops from the bottoms and bottoms

 Umm wjhat dose this mean.

 

I should hang shirts from the bottoms and hand pants from the waist?

 

Like Yogitunes mentions most families in my neighborhood never hang anyting out to die so we star stuck wit driers

 

[supremewhirlpol]

It's good that they are putting the clothes line to use. I don't really see people hanging their clothes out to dry anymore. I'm not an expert at hanging clothes on the line, but I manage to do it.

For those that know how to properly hang and dry clothes on a clothes line, would you mind giving us slow/stupid people a tutorial on how to do so? I'd surely like to know.

 

[petek]

Quiz:  What do you call it, that little thingamebob that you affix your clothes to the line with?  Clothespin or Clothespeg

 

[laundromat]

My grandmother taught me to hang tops from the bottom and bottoms from the top.She also showed me how to hang sheets,towels,socks and underwear.My neighbors in Baltimore,Florida and now,Hawaii, always make complements on how nice my wash looks hanging out.I told them that if they think it looks nice,go and grab a dry bath towel on my line and take a whiff!! some of them do and the site is too funny. You'd think it was a real commercial being taped for "Gain" detergent.

 

[foraloysius]

What's that called? Hanging your laundry inside out? lol

Thanks for sharing that picture!

 

[ronhic]

Tops from the bottom and bottoms from the top...

I love it!

 

...and that's EXACTLY the way it should be done - No if's and no but's.....

 

[jeb]

Line drying

at one time, in our state there was a rule that if you were a teacher you had to hang you "underthings" in side a pillowslip or under a sheet so children could not see their teachers unmentionables. Jeb

 

[sudsmaster]

hang the tops from the bottoms and bottoms from the tops

Oh, fiddle-de-dee!

Rules are made to be broken.

Bottoms dry faster if hung by the bottoms.

Tops, it doesn't really matter.

For a while I used to dry shirts on plastic hangers - the hangers were attached to the line. But it was too difficult to keep the hangers from sliding down the line (it's at an incline from the porch to the garage rooftop) or even popping off and dumping the shirts on the ground.

Usually I hang the shirts from the bottoms - but I really don't think it should make any difference except to those who do the laundry. Nosy neighbors should tend to their own beeswax, lol! You're as bad as those who ban line drying altogether!

 

[westingman123]

Well, that must have been a pervasive line, because I remember being trained just that way. "Hang the bottoms from the tops and the tops from the bottoms! It makes ironing easier." This from the woman who ironed EVERYTHING, and trained her children to do so as well. Ah, nostalgia.

 

[yogitunes]

Thomas

Princeton is somewhat a ritzy town, home of the Ivy League College.....

but more or less rich snobs!

and most area residents were just nibby people who should mind their own beeswax.....but they didn't want any riff raff or anything that would blemish their little area of town.......

paybacks are a BITCH!.....and I can be one too!......
shovel the dog doo into the trash can, uncovered, and leave off the lid in the summer, they said I had to pick it up, no one said it had to be covered...
blast your car horn every time you open/close the garage door, especially when I had to leave at 4AM for work...
hang your undies from a miniature clothes line inside the window, put a spot light on them from the inside...
find a roadkill, or dead bloated skunk, toss in the back of the pickup, and then heave it over the fence into their pool!

and I have done worse too!

car washing was allowed in the driveway, garage doors kept closed, but they did call the police, because the water ran down the driveway, into the street, and past their homes into the gutter........I asked the cop what happens when it rains?.......

don't get me wrong, a beautiful area, grand homes, lovely landscapes......but they take things too far sometimes....for stupid reasons....fight fire with fire....don't bother with me, and we don't have any problems....

 

[3beltwesty]

Hanging method here depends if windy or hot!

in my backyard, BLUE JEANS dry quicker when *WINDY* if upside-down and the breeze has them moving all over the place. There is so much wind that the bulkier waist/belt area moves around more the air dries the pockets quicker.

in my backyard, BLUE JEANS dry quicker when the *AIR IS STILL* is still if hung by the belt/waist. In this case with no wind the water drops by gravity and the waist area dries before the leg/foot/bottoms. I can tolerate damp feet area of blue jeans more than damp pockets.

Interesting is I learned this from my Grandmother; who passed away back in 1963.

Right After Katrina many of us had NO clothespins; nor did ANY store once they opened.

THUS many of us just placed our clothes at the center of gravity!

 

[richardc1983]

I was always told to hang t-shirts from the top because if you hang them from the bottom when they are wet the weight of the wet material can pull it out of shape.

I was getting tops that were going out of shape and since I hang them from the top this doesnt happen anymore.

 

[retromania]

Oops!

Didn't know there was a right and wrong way to hang laundry, but since my clothes line is mostly for looks, I guess it doesn't matter. I have a laundry rack in the guest room that gets a workout! It's about to fall appart. It's wooden and I can't find another one like it anywhere.

 

[franksdad]

Clothes rack

Andy, have you tried K-mart? That's where I bought mine. Of course that was about 10 years ago. The Container Store has some really nice drying racks. I am probably going to need a new one later on this summer so maybe a day trip to Hotlanta and The Cheesecake Factory (as well as the Container Store) would be in order? Don't forget, you, Kim, and I also have plans to go to Mary Jo's! Jim

 

[polkanut]

I was finally able to hang laundry out for the 1st time today.  I washed our bed linens using 1 1/2 scoops of Omo Small & Mighty 2x, 1 cup ammonia, and 1/4 cup Bluette bluing.  In the rinse I used 1/2 capful of Fluffy Apple Blossom fabric softener.  Our bedroom smells absolutely wonderful!

 

The Omo, Fluffy, as well as a box of Drive & Radiant were sent to me by Mattywashboy in a US & AUS detergent swap.

 

P.S., I left everything on the line for about 6 hours.

 

[ronhic]

Richard...

...if you over-hang the bottom of the t-shirts by 3 to 4 inches, they won't go out of shape....but will actually dry in-shape...

 

[tolivac]

"Fluffy Apple Blossum"- can't resist sounds like a smoothy mix in you would see on the VM or Blendtec sites.sounds interesting to try.

 

[retromania]

Thanks Jimmy!!

You know, I forget about K-mart. I will give the a look. In the late 1990's White Jones Hardware was still selling well-constructed wooden drying racks and ironing boards with the stapled on heat resistant covering under the brand name of Modern Maid. They were manufactured by a company in NC or VA I believe.

 

[retromania]

...and yes!

Looking forward to our trip to Mary Jo's Fabrics.

 

[jamiel]

Another vote for the best local independent hardware store...I splurged last year and spent $40 on one from the hardware store in Grosse Pointe...very chi-chi type of an Ace, I believe. You might ask if they don't have one of the quality you need to look at their catalogue. The one I bought was already assembled (the ones which you have to assemble are not terribly satisfactory in my experience)

 

[retromania]

Jamie...

White Jones Hardware was an independent and then it became part of Ace Hardware. How did you know?

 

[westie2]

Andy

Try Sears they have lots of the drying racks. Link below

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/search_10153_12605?keyword=wooden+drying+racks&i_cntr=1302363031657