summer clothes line weather

[golittlesport]

Although one can hang their laundry outside to dry year round here in So Cal, I usually wait until late spring or early summer. That is probably because I was raised on the east coast where one used the dryer or hung in the basement in the winter and it wasn't until the weather got nice in the summer that mom would start hanging laundry outdoors.

I got the itch the other day when washing our white bed linens. Nothing smells as fresh as line-dried linens in my opinion. Or feels as good when you crawl into them at night. Soft, but a bit crisp, is how I would describe the experience. It's a bit more work, but worth the effort when one has the time.

Anyway, I always enjoy our clothes line threads so thought I would start one for this summer.

 

[combo52]

A Friend Sent Me This Picture

Of how he is saving power

 

[rp2813]

I’ll be washing sheets soon and will snap a picture. I have a retractable “Cordomatic “ reel but the stick I prop it up with failed under the weight of the damp king size comforter so I’m temporarily using an extendable fruit picker. I’ll try to find a new prop before I take a picture.

I agree that line dried sheets are the only way to go when conditions allow.

 

[petek]

Can't find my pictures of years gone past but we have a clothes line on a pully right off the laundry room door that stretches a good 45-50 ft and is attached at the far end to an oak tree about 15 or so feet up. I use it 90% of the time from spring through fall. I don't use it for bed sheets/ pillow cases until all the spring pollens are over and done with. Most days everything is dry in about 30 minutes. Everyone had a clothes line of some sort or other when I was growing up, even if they had a dryer which most people did. Mom would cart the laundry up from the basement and hang it out but I don't see too many in this neighborhood at all.

 

[ozzie908]

Have just installed a straight line

The length of my yard I fixed it to the shed over hang and then used 2 pulleys one high up the house above the living room window. I used a steel line that's covered in plastic as pulling string or rope usually snaps under the weight of the clothing, I should have taken a pic yesterday as dried 3x loads in our very hot spring weather....

Austin

 

[turbokinetic]

I have an honest question. It may seem like a joke or crude question but it comes from something my 78 year old mom said. They were delighted to get a dryer when she was a child. The main reason was because birds were perching on the laundry on the clothesline and depositing droppings onto the clean laundry. 

How do you successfully prevent this from happening? 

 

[ozzie908]

Ha ha that reminds me of my Mum

back in the day without a dryer the sheets hung on the line along with everything else and woe betide the neighbour who had pigeons if he let them out when the washing was on the line there was a lot of shouting and cursing.....

Austin

 

[whitewhiskers]

birds seldom a problem

Only one time a bird did its business on clothes drying outdoors. Can't say it won't happen but for whatever reason it's a rare event. My outdoor clothes dryer is a Juwel and works great. With daytime humidity around 20% now, clothes dry real fast.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I am so glad that y'all have the time to hang laundry to dry.

 

[chachp]

99% Humidity Today

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">If I hung clothes outside at this humidity it would probably take days to dry.  LOL.  I'll stick with the dryer.</span>

 

[iheartmaytag]

I hang out clothes as often as I can

I hate having to pay for drying when there is so much hot air outside that can do the job. I have been using the line since about March, unless it is raining. I have usually been able to line dry til late October to November in the past

Neighbors have a Mulberry tree, Been getting purple poop on the car, I hope they stay away from the laundry.

When Mom was alive she would say "I don't know why you carry that outside when you have a new dryer downstairs." "Because I can run the Air Conditioner for about an hour for what drying a load of clothes costs me.

 

[ozzie908]

Got the bedding on the line at last

As you can see the line is not that long but it is now high enough to miss the wall when the wind blows.

I fixed it to the house with a couple of pulleys that allow the line to miss the window but can be pulled taught when loaded.

Austin

 

[rp2813]

The Line Is Busy

I have some stuff in the way at one end after hosting relatives last weekend, so not all of the bed linens would fit.

 

I repaired the prop stick but won't use it again when drying the comforter.

 

And another picture posts sideways.  I know better than to try to fix it.  Sigh.

 

[maytag85]

It’s too dusty to line dry where I live and if I tried line drying where I live I might as well wash everything all over again plus I like the scent the UV/ozone bulb gives laundry in my 1963 RCA Whirlpool Imperial dryer

 

[gansky1]

Love using the clothesline, this is from last fall.  Sheets and a load of my son's hoodies, getting freshened up before the cooler weather.  

 

[chestermikeuk]

Line Drying

Nothing better than a line of washing blowing in the breeze as long as the pigeons are elswhere !!

 

[suds14]

love hanging clothes

Here are 2 pictures of my wash hanging on the line Saturday. One picture is from bathroom window, the other is from the alley. I have not used the dryer since the end of Feb.
David

 

[twintubdexter]

no clothesline anyway...

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #339966;">The weather report for tomorrow says a high of 119 F. The "high heat" setting sometimes shrinks things.</span>

 

[estesguy]

Also don't forget the 180 or so CFM of inside air conditioned air being lost every minute the dryer is running. Air being brought in from the outside, that has to be cooled and dehumidified

 

[DADoES]

 
My dryer is rated for 230 CFM including the airflow restriction of a typical exhaust duct arrangement (whatever they consider that to be).

 

[combo52]

Reply # 19

Hi Glen  what dryer has a rated 230 CFM exhaust ?

 

John 

 

[DADoES]

 
SmartLoad-AeroSmart.  The motor and fan run at 2,300 RPM.  Quoted from F&P documentation -- "In an average installation we would expect the airflow out the exhaust to be 230 cubic feet per minute (60 liters per second)" {in forward tumble direction, reduced by half in reverse tumble direction}.

I have no way to measure it for confirmation.  Perhaps you can test it on the one you recently picked up if you have an anemometer, or compare to other dryers you have?  I'd be interesting to know if their claim is valid.

 

[twintubdexter]

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #339966;">I've often thought about the dryer sucking out precious air-conditioned air. Because I am so cheap I have come up with a sort of solution. My laundry room is relatively small and the door into the rest of the house seals very well. So when the dryer is running I will close that door and crack open the door that leads to the garage. Of course this makes the laundry room very warm. I always keep the HVAC vent in the laundry room closed. It really doesn't need to be open for air conditioning or heating. I'm sure this helps a little bit as far as the dryer exhausting too much air conditioned air. The alternative is to have the the laundry equipment located in the garage as some of my neighbors do. My garage is heavily insulated but it is not air conditioned. I wouldn't wanna be out there doing laundry in the summer.</span>

 

[vacerator]

My bath rugs and

lightweight runners are out drying over the patio chair backs. Donna Karin bath rugs are 100% cotton and not dryer reccomended.

 

[yogitunes]

Laundry today, or Naked Tomorrow!

Line Drying.....indoors or out.....Laundry must get done!

 

[vacerator]

Nice

watercolor too!

 

[mrb627]

New Rules?

Has anyone heard of any clothesline rules being lifted recently?
AFAIK, drying clothes outside is still very taboo for most people living in populated areas.
Why isn't this a thing?!

Malcolm

 

[parunner58]

Ours down here in my development have not. We are still not allowed to hang clothes outside. HOA rules.

 

[petek]

Warsh day on the trail.. It's so humid out right now things might take a little longer.

 

[roscoe62]

Clotheline ban lifted ?

A lot of places, provinces, now have the ban on clotheslines lifted because it infringes on the right to using solar energy. Some places, like high rises, allow the ground floor to have a clothesline but not the entire building. I guess it wouldn't be cool to be walking past a high rise and have a pair of panties, or bra, landing on your shoulder from mid air.
A friend of mine put her underwear on a sweater dryer on the balcony one day, came back later to find nothing, everything blew away. I near died from laughing,and her, well, not so much!