Thursday, June 02, 2011

Drying your Clothes on a Clothesline - The Old Fashioned Way

Save money, cut carbon emissions and extend the life of your clothing - all with a few bucks' worth of rope!

Drying your clothes - old school - outside on a clothesline.  There is no reason to use your gas or electric dryer when there is a perfectly good heat source right outside your back door.  It's called the sun and it is FREE of charge!  I love that fresh outdoors smell on my clothes.

Hang a clean, strong rope securely between two trees or poles.  It could stretch out over time so you can buy a tightening mechanism at your local hardware store.  This will prevent having to untie and retie the rope to get the slack you are looking for. 

Make sure the line is high enough so your heavy wet clothes don't brush the ground.  This will also help the clothes to dry faster.

Keep your eye on the weather when you have clothes on the line.

Know your fabrics.  The sun can fade bright clothing.  Hang sun-sensitive laundry inside out or in the shade if possible.  Certain fabrics can stretch or show puckers where the clothespines were clipped, so those items should be hung on plastic hangers and then clip the hangers to the line.

Towels are always a big load at my house and usually take longer then one cycle to dry so these are perfect items for the line.  However, they are a bit crunchy when I bring them in off the line, so I will toss those few problem items into the dryer just for a few minutes - set on air fluff - with a couple of clean tennis balls to soften them up.  It really works.

I remember hanging clothes on the line with my mother when I was growing up.  I am so glad to be continuing this forward thinking by being more dependent using these simple resources that are available to me everyday.  All while saving money, and spending more time outside and in the fresh sunlight.

I hope you give it a try.

6 comments:

Maryann said...

It's funny, I've been seeing more and more people in my neighborhood using a closthesline.

Amy said...

Beautiful day today. I have my towels on the line right now!

KELLY said...

I NEVER REALIZED HOW MANY PEOPLE IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD USE A CLOTHESLINE. I WAS WALKING MY DOG YESTERDAY AND SAW ALOT OF THEM. IT IS A GOOD IDEA. I AM HAVING MY HUSBAND PUT ONE UP IN OUR YARD THIS WEEKEND. THANKS FOR THE IDEA!

CreekSide Naturals the Soapy Side of Bubble said...

I wish we had a line I do dry alot of stuff on hangers. I also love how white shoes or whites get. We have propane here so I am not a fan of the dryer or even hot water ha.

"Cottage By The Sea" said...

Ahh. Don't think I can go for this one. I do too many loads of laundry a day to hang clothes on the line. I'd never have time to blog!

Stephanie said...

I dried my clothes on the line all summer! We had record heat this summer so I thought I would take advantage of it. My sheets dried in about 5 minutes, seriously =) I found the chore relaxing and I loved saving money and energy.