Line Drying, I Give Up..

[ronhic]

I just don't get it....

All this fuss with long lines, poles etc when there are very good, actually excellent, rotary or building mounted clotheslines available. Ok, in this country anyway.

An Australian home without either a wall mounted or rotary clothesline is really not an Australian home some would say....and a 10 year old can raise or lower the line (if they can reach) with the non-galvanised rotary ones even removable from the ground to free up the yard.

http://www.hills.com.au/Products/clotheslines

 

[chuffle]

I'm a hybrid...

...as I dry "on the line" and in the dryer every washday.

I've got a number of acres of woods between me and the next farm, and the one house that I can see in the other direction is owned by folks who are rarely outdoors. Mowing and farming dust is never a problem here. Jeans, tea towels, underwear, socks, and sheets (I inherited a huge stash of white cotton sheets from my grandmother and parents, and they smell so good when line dried) are all hung on the line. Towels, cotton work shirts and t-shirts are dried in the dryer.

If I have an itty-bitty wash, I usually dry it on an eight arm wooden wall dryer in the mud room, an idea that I picked up from my Amish friends.

Joe

http://www.lehmans.com/store/Home_G...te_Eight_Arm_Wall_Clothes_Dryer___65FCD#65FCD

 

[appnut]

I have NEVER had the desire or wanted the hassle and burden of line drying and hanging out clothes.  I take asn automatic clothes dryerr any time!! 

 

[lotsosudz]

I dry outdoors any chance I have! I have an umbrella clothesline. Here in Sacramento,
the summer heat can be blistering. Quite often within 15-20 minutes, they are dry and ready to take off. Usually May to October is pretty safe around here. I dread when the rain starts.
Hugs,
David

 

[bosch2460]

I will never give up line drying. I do so year round. I might use the dryer once or twice a year when the weather does not cooperate. I, personally, feel there are A LOT of advantages to NOT use the dryer. I do, however, tumble all clothing and towels in the dryer on "Air Fluff" for 10-15 mins BEFORE I hang my laundry out. I find it does wonders to remove wrinkles and soften items. Even wihout softener. Bird poop and rain showers are the norm for drying outside. It really is not that big of a deal. Poop washes out, rain dries. I am not surrounded by farms, of course, which makes it easier on me. When it comes to occasionally having up to 12 loads to wash and dry quickly, I find line drying MUCH faster. With two washers and one dryer, I constantly have back up. Line drying, there is no waiting. Clothes come off as soon as they are dry, and replaced with wet. And who wouldn't like to spend time out in the sunshine, smelling and looking at all of your clean laundry with pride?

 

[polkanut]

Chris,

Here in the US clotheslines that are attached to poles/posts is something that we here have become accustomed to because for the most part our yards are big enough to accommadate such setups.  I suppose that if our yards were more compact, then we'd have rotary clotheslines as the Aussies and British do.  It's all a matter of what a person is used to having.

 

[ptcruiser51]

Always, Always

Whenever I get the chance to use my sister's clothesline. Since I live in an apartment with coin-op, I use a metal drying rack for underoos, pillow cases, hankies and knit things. Shirts are hung on hangers on a separate rack. Only thing I put in the commercial dryers (which can also double as incinerators) is pants, sox, sweats, and sheets/towels. I make the point of telling my dryer-happy friends that it's >your clothes< that you're taking out of the lint trap! I don't know if it's the case anywhere here in the Garden State, but my friends in Ohio tell me there are places in the state where line-drying is forbidden by law! Can you imagine?

 

[gansky1]

I dry outside as much as possible in good weather. Bedding, etc. and everything but towels and rags for work. Towels are ok on very windy day, and we get those regularly on the open prairie, but big loads of rags are tedious and time consuming to hang one by one.

We took this picture two years ago when we had our annual New Years celebration, this was Dec. 31 - we had a breezy, 60 degree day - perfect for laundry on the line.

 

[gansky1]

Here is the clothesline today - with the drought and low humidity, everything dries fast!

Newton is our clothesline guard dog, he diligently keeps watch over the wash. Kind of funny really, he never leaves the line unattended - won't even come in until the wash does!

 

[polkanut]

Nothing like having a laundry guard dog.  You go Newton!

 

[maytagbear]

Not just in Ohio, pt Charlie--

but developments and condominium communities can, in their Codes, Covenants, and Restrictions can ban (or at least try to ban) outdoor drying. Another silly thing is that many of them also insist that the condenser for the central air conditioning be hidden by plants or a low solid fence.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[fnelson487]

The CC&Rs In My Neighborhood

Don't allow clotheslines.  That doesn't stop me.  I have a lightweight aluminum unit that pops in a hole in the ground and disappears very easily.  I don't always line dry, but try to when I can.  I swear the sheets smell sweet all week long when they are hung out.  Here are the clothes hung out.

 

[fnelson487]

Here is the Unit

All closed up.

 

[fnelson487]

Then I Pop It Out

And put it in the basement.  (I have outside stairs.)  This is what is left.

 

[ozzie908]

I use both..

Obviously depending on the weather which until lately was not very dry at all !! But hey thats the good ol UK for you. I do not have a garden but a small yard that catches the sun most of the day. I have 2 lines that reach to the shed and back to the house I can get most of the washing on them. However I will not and never will hang towels out as I never use conditioner on them so they go in the dryer also I just can't be bothered hanging socks and undies out so they go in the dryer too.
I gave away my indoor clothes rack away as all they do is add even more moisture to a already damp house and as I abore mould on windows and walls I will not use an indoor airer. I have been known to bring things in and throw in the dryer for 15 mins on warm just to finish them off then everything gets ironed including the bedding as it just looks so nice and that is my laundry regime and has been for a long while My poor old Mum goes hairless when I use her dryer in the summer but as was mentioned above who wants a cardboard towel to dry your soft gentle skin with lol

Austin

 

[dirtybuck]

If Al Else Fails...

And you should happen to live by a beach, do like this woman did (but keep an eye out for seagulls).

 

[polkanut]

Greg,

I see that you're an overlapper too when pinning up laundry.  Glad to know I'm not the only one.  I'm also on the lookout for a nice vintage pinbag like yours whenever I'm at a decent estate sale. 

 

[whirlcool]

I thought there was supposed to be some law prohibiting HOA's from outlawing clothes lines? If I recall it was because they are considered "energy saving devices".

I'm willing to bet that woman on the beach with Tide had to shake all the sand out of her clothing before wearing them. If you have a beach house, sand get's into everything!

 

[launderess]

Summer Here So Far Has Got Nothing On Mobile AL. *LOL*

It has been hot and damp pretty much since June so there is no point in trying to dry laundry indoors. For one it probably will moulder before it's totally dry and the other reason not to is it adds yet more moisture to already horrible indoor humidity. Cannot even use my Kaltmangel for linens as items simply will not dry for days afterwards.

Since the idea of going to a hot laundromat when it's already >85F with humidity between 60% and near 100%, the little Whirlpool portable is getting quite a workout this summer. Between the final spin in the Miele then perhaps few minutes in the spin drier for heavier things the average load is *hot* dry in about 20 to 35 minutes depending upon fabric. Heavy flatwork such as vintage Pequot muslin bed linens are also extracted further in the spin dryer before going onto one of my ironers or presses. Am also using more of my fine older linen sheets that are lightweight to cut down on all that extracting since linen dries quite quickly.

The other worry is because of all the rain, heat and damp moes are all over the place. You cannot remain outdoors long without being attacked, especially around and after dusk into the night.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I remember summer mornings before we had a dryer hanging out laundry in Atlanta after it was spun in the 58LK. I remember running the white rag down the lines to clean them before hanging stuff. I liked the colored platic clothes pins, especially the clear ones. During some very hot weather, the first load would be dry by the time the second one was ready to hang, but that was including time for the mandatory second rinse. It was hot work. I have an oak folding drying rack that I bought for mom decades ago. Sometimes, if something is damp when the rest of a dryer load is dry, I throw it over that, but as Bob says, I have no time or energy to hang laundry outside. I have all cotton shirts that I spin on slow speed and tumble for 5 minutes in a hot dryer to relax the wrinkles and then I stretch them and pull the seams tight before putting them on hangers to dry, but that is about the extent of it.

A friend's daughter lives in DE and according to the rules of the development, she cannot even have a folding rack of drying clothes on her screened porch.