Clotheslines

[newsman]

We have one! And it's been used a lot in the last few years. It saves money. Besides I've had to fix the dryer a couple of times and...until I can fix it...the clothes line works just dandy.

 

[Shangas]

We have a drier, but we only use it in emergencies. In all other instances, we air-dry our clothes.

 

[ChrisT]

we had a drier but today we only use clothlines
I had the feeling that my shirts are now more... less... Don't now exactly why but I prefere them now.

 

[EliasRDA]

Used to have a clothesline, both when I was growing up in SE CT & here, until about 15 yrs ago. Cant use it anymore for several reasons..

1- Mom got diagnosed with lyme disease from the ticks that are rampant in the woods surrounding our house. I have it undiagnosed.
2- Pollens from the pines, & field weeds kill all 3 of us now, so cant put them out.

3- To the house east the woods are thinner & border a 500 acre field, the current owners like spreading chicken manure in the spring on hot windy days 3 or more times, lime on hot more windy days.

IOW, they will spend 2 days spreading the first batch, then come back about 2 wks later & spread the 2nd batch over the same area, then about 2-3 weeks later come back & spread the 3rd batch in the exact same area. About a month later they come & spread a batch (2 batches last year) of lime.
Now mind you, my mom grew up on a family farm & she tells me they are torching the ground by putting so much ammonia down in the litter so thats why the past 5 yrs the owner gets USA govt subsidy because his crops fail. Hmm, I flippin wonder why the crop wont grow. 8P
And this is a guy that lives in a mcmansion in an expensive area of Lewes while running a gas station & a home delivery gas company so he really doesnt need that subsidy. But thats something I shouldnt get into here, heh.

I remember & liked the smell of my clothes from outside but not when they smell of chicken sh... 8/ but it can be so bad that we have to be careful of drying clothes when they are spreading because the vent faces that way. And the east & north windows can not be opened, both storms & inner windows have to be batten down, & then we can still smell it lightly sometimes.

So, nope no clothesline here & wont be again for many years. Depends if the idiot sells the land out for a large development or finally put in the burrowpit he threatened us with & got permission for about 7 yrs ago from stupid County Council because of his name only.

 

[LuvMyMan]

Clothes lines can work for most people, but then when you have a horrid location for using one, stick to any other way. In our home, we have a very large long bathroom, it has a separate tub and shower, over the tub is a long rod we hang clothing to dry on hangers.

There is a lot of "wear and tear" on clothing that is washed and dried in machines. The if you iron anything, that also adds to the wear. However you can help keep shirts looking much better and not have that "frayed" look on the collar and cuffs if you hand wash and hang to dry and them iron only flat. Never iron the top of the color on the crease edge of it, and never iron in the folds in french cuffs not regular cuff shirts. Just iron the total collar flat and then when it is cooled off, fold the collar with your fingers but not with the iron.

When you look at a dryer that has a screen filter on it, just look at what comes off your clothing by washing it in a machine and then drying. See all that "stuff" on the screen of the machine the filter.....

 

[Claudio]

I never have met anyone in my 23years in Italy, with a dryer. Same thing here in Spain. Of course the weather is mostly nice here, but we do get 4 seasons and in winter, clothes will be dried in a warmer room. Dryers consume alto fo energy and are not good for most clothes.

 

[WifeyRobinson]

Just put up our first clothesline...was probably more excited than I should have been lol. Then made my first discovery...we need a second one!! Lol so the man of the house will be hanging a second one ASAP!! But as I took my first load down I smelled the clothes and got the lists full return of the scent of my homemade laundry soap and sunshine....sheer delight!!

 

[GoetzManor]

I keep trying to convince the wife that it's a brilliant idea, but I'm thinking about just putting one up and seeing how it goes from there.

 

[tomtom42]

Hi there,

I'm living in an appartment building and we have clothlines in the attic below the roof - in summer denim jeans are dry over night (in winter the same pair takes about a week though...)

I don't have a dryer and use these all the time,
br,
T°M

 

[LizzieMaine]

Hi there,

I'm living in an appartment building and we have clothlines in the attic below the roof - in summer denim jeans are dry over night (in winter the same pair takes about a week though...)

In winter, run a line across your kitchen, as near to the stove or a heat register as you can get. You'll be amazed how fast things dry.

 

[tomtom42]

In winter, run a line across your kitchen, as near to the stove or a heat register as you can get. You'll be amazed how fast things dry.

Hi Lizzie,

thats a great tip, I am using the "de luxe" version of this in winter: some years ago I bought some kind of drying rack made from wire that is clipped to one of the radiators for central heating Works well, but obviously takes up space - which is something I like to avoid living in an approx. 550 square feet appartment...

br,
T°M

 

[2jakes]

When I want a super starch on my jeans, I wash & hang them on the line.
It helps that the water is very hard.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Conversely, if you don't like that stiffness, a quarter of a cup of white vinegar in the rinse water will eliminate it.

 

[2jakes]

Conversely, if you don't like that stiffness, a quarter of a cup of white vinegar in the rinse water will eliminate it.

Thanks.
I’ll have to try that on my undergarments.

 

[Bushman]

I used to string up a clothesline between two big corkscrew willows in the summer, but then my father and I built that area into a rose garden for my parent's 50th. So, I just use the gutters.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The problem with tying a clothesline between trees is that they grow, at different rates -- and eventually your line gets lopsided. Mine goes from the side of the house across to a metal road sign post driven three feet into the ground on the other side of what's left of the junkyard fence. Sturdy, and it doesn't sway in the wind. Plastic-sheathed line gives best results -- cotton rope will rot thru in a couple of years and may break in a strong side wind.

 

[hatsRme]

I've always said that if I were to win the lottery, I'd have someone line-dry my bed sheets daily.

Like you, Lizzie, I also remember standing towels by the stove or register to thaw and dry them. Longjohns, too!

 

[BlueTrain]

I do my own laundry at home and the shirts, socks and some pants are hung up to dry. If the weather's okay, which it hasn't been lately, I put them on the deck, draped over lawn chairs. Otherwise in the basement on clotheslines. Some things dry very quickly even in the basement provided either the heat or the A/C is running, even when the weather is wet. I don't worry much about wear and tear on clothes but the shirts seem to have more body when line dried and none of the seams pucker like they would in the dryer.

As I mentioned elsewhere, my father was working for a laundry in the 1950s. They had a service where they would just wash things and send them back damp or wet, which sounds, pardon the expression, screwy. But dress shirts and stuff like khaki pants would come back stiff, especially khaki pants, in a way that cannot be reproduced at home. If you went through the army before wash and wear fatigues came along, you know what I mean. Even wash and wear clothes needs to be ironed if you're finicky. I guess if you send your dress shirts to the cleaners, it doesn't matter if something is wash and wear.

Some people who start hanging things out to dry for the first time complain about how the towels are rough when they're dry. They will be to some extent and I have no suggestions.

 

[2jakes]

When it is very cold in the morning going to work. I put my clothes in the dryer for a few seconds.
Although they remain warm for just a short while, it’s enough time until the car warms up & I’m good to go.

I mostly use the clothesline when I have items that have been stored for long periods & need to air them out.

 

[Paisley]

Some people who start hanging things out to dry for the first time complain about how the towels are rough when they're dry. They will be to some extent and I have no suggestions.

You say rough, I say exfoliating.