Clotheslines

[Joie DeVive]

I need to find a place for one. How do you use it in Wintah?

It also depends a bit on where you live. I haven't had experience with this myself, but my parents grew up in Colorado and they swear that you can hang stuff out here in subfreezing temperatures and that it will dry. My father explains that you do want to wring things out well, but that they will still freeze stiff as a board, but then, because it is so dry here the ice will sublimate (that is where a solid turns to a gas, kinda like evaporation, but for solids). Both parents swear it works, so I will take their word on it.

 

[PA Dancer]

I have a garment rack in a spare room of my house for line-drying sweaters and dark clothes (so they don't fade). Then I just fluff them in the dryer for a few minutes.

I avoid hanging them out doors because of allergies. (Pollen will attach itself to the clothes) Altho I really do like the scent of clothes than have been line dried outdoors.

 

[Miss Brill]

Clothesline clothes smell awful around here. we have too many factories to have fresh air.

 

[PeeWee]

Clothesline clothes smell awful around here. we have too many factories to have fresh air.

Gosh..that's too bad. Some places you can't use one, and some places don't allow them. I can't imagine being without one. My wife pulled some sheets off the line this afternoon, and I know that I'll be sleeping extra good tonight

 

[Big Man]

We've always had a clothesline in the back yard. When I was first married and we started keeping house, my parents gave us a clothesline as a housewarming gift.

I recall my grandmother not only using a clothesline (she never had a washing machine or dryer), but draping clothes and sheets on the bushes along the drive.

 

[Miss Brill]

Gosh..that's too bad. Some places you can't use one, and some places don't allow them. I can't imagine being without one. My wife pulled some sheets off the line this afternoon, and I know that I'll be sleeping extra good tonight

When I was younger you could hang clothes out, and we always did. My mom & grandma used an old wringer washer to wash & then hang the things outside if the weather was good, or on lines in the kitchen if it wasn't. I miss it, clotheslines clothes are a fond memory of mine.

 

[J.S.Udontknowme]

We always had a clothesline when I was growing up. My grandmother had one in the yard and one on her back porch. I put one up when I first got married and we used it to dry everything for a while, then we started using the dryer some to save time and finally just stopped using the clothesline.

I don't remember what they were called, but did anybody use the metal frames that went in the pants legs before hanging them on the line?

 

[CharlesB]

alas, it's been so rainy in my corner of the southeast lately that if I did use my clothes line my items would never get dry.

 

[PeeWee]

I don't remember what they were called, but did anybody use the metal frames that went in the pants legs before hanging them on the line?

I remember those. We had a neighbor that used them on bluejeans. Her boys always wore nicely pressed and creased jeans to school. "Pants stretchers" is a name that comes to mind, but I could be wrong.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

alas, it's been so rainy in my corner of the southeast lately that if I did use my clothes line my items would never get dry.

hahah.....try living in the amazon and drying clothes on lines in the -wet season-....lol


after a while, you just get used to everything you own having mildew in it...and in fact the smell of long dried mildew...flicks me back there in an instant.

 

[CharlesB]

hahah.....try living in the amazon and drying clothes on lines in the -wet season-....lol


after a while, you just get used to everything you own having mildew in it...and in fact the smell of long dried mildew...flicks me back there in an instant.

that fills me with dread

 

[PeeWee]

When I was younger you could hang clothes out, and we always did. My mom & grandma used an old wringer washer to wash & then hang the things outside if the weather was good, or on lines in the kitchen if it wasn't. I miss it, clotheslines clothes are a fond memory of mine.

I have my grandma's cast iron wash pot in the backyard. My aunt said it was given to my grandma on her wedding day. She also said there must have been a million pairs of bluejeans washed in that old pot. It became my daddy's and now is my backyard charcoal grill. We must have cooked a million chickens on that old pot

 

[KittyT]

We have a clothesline out back and I've never seen it used in the 2 years I've lived here. I figured I might as well give it a go, since I have a washer, but no dryer anyway, it's a nice day, and I didn't feel like schlepping to the laundromat.

Do any of you have rules that you use when hanging clothes to dry? Do you hang shirts from the middle, or from the shoulders? Do you have heavy items near the end of the line? I'd love to hear your little tips!

 

[Foofoogal]

Have a bag that slides with the pins is helpful to move quickly.
I used to as a child help my mom hang clothes.
For shirts we would hang at shoulders, pants hang at waist.
Sheets hang over line and put one pin on each end and one in middle.
Since we have hot weather in Texas and I live in country I could have one but I personally love the smell of fresh hung laundry but sheets and towels end up like cardboard so I don't have one. Other items ok I guess though.
Don't hang under trees or you know. lol

 

[KittyT]

Have a bag that slides with the pins is helpful to move quickly.
I used to as a child help my mom hang clothes.
For shirts we would hang at shoulders, pants hang at waist.
Sheets hang over line and put one pin on each end and one in middle.
Since we have hot weather in Texas and I live in country I could have one but I personally love the smell of fresh hung laundry but sheets and towels end up like cardboard so I don't have one. Other items ok I guess though.
Don't hang under trees or you know. lol

Thanks! Do colors tend to fade from line drying? If so, does hanging them inside out help prevent fading? Or is it not a problem at all?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I hang cotton dresses folded over the line at the waistline -- keeps the shoulders from getting distorted. Blue or red items are most prone to sunfade, so those I'll dry inside out.

Sheets I fold double, and then drape them at the midline, and pin -- keeps them from hanging too low, and also keeps them from flapping too much, which causes wear.

You *will* need to iron cottons, so be ready. If I think of it, I'll bring mine in for ironing when they're still slightly damp.

 

[Nick D]

How do you use it in Wintah?

My great-grandmother hung out towels in the dead of a northern Michigan winter, then brought them in and broke the ice off.

The first place my wife and I lived I strung a line between two trees. When we moved into my grandparent's house I took the old rusty wire off the clothesline my grandpa put up decades ago and replaced it with modern nylon line.

Now we've got a clothes rack and no dryer. There are some things I like a dryer for, but there's no denying it saves on the electric expenses!

 

[ShoreRoadLady]

I have a clothes rack, but not a clothesline. Most of my clothing needs to dry flat or at least well-supported (no hanging stuff from the shoulders! Bad!). I use a metal one, because I found that the wooden racks left lovely little stains on my clothing.

Do any of you have rules that you use when hanging clothes to dry? Do you hang shirts from the middle, or from the shoulders? Do you have heavy items near the end of the line? I'd love to hear your little tips!

Anything knit should either be dried flat or from at least two supporting points, in my experience. (Such as, two bars on a rack.) You don't want to hang them by the shoulders - they'll stretch out. Cotton knit *anything* will stretch out if you hang it by only one point. Wovens are more stable, and I wouldn't have a problem hanging pants on a clothesline. But instead of clipping a woven top to the line, I'd suggest drying it on an appropriate hanger. Clip the hanger to the line if it has to be outside.

 

[shortbow]

Inclement weather is the rule where I live, so sometimes I can use the clothesline, but often, I use an antique wooden rack on pullies, the kind that was always seen in kitchens back in the old days. This hangs over the wood stove, and drys faster than an electric dryer. My method of hanging the clothes, sorta the approved bachelor method, is to pile a bunch on, move it around till most of it is flat, and wear as washed. (The original wash and wear.)

 

[Foofoogal]

(no hanging stuff from the shoulders! Bad!).

lol

I assumed anything knit or sweaters anyone would know to lay flat. I have a plastic drying rack for that or lay it on a towel on top of my freezer which happens to be in my laundry room.
I meant everyday cotton play clothing or I was probably hanging polyester as a child which is basically bomb proof I think.
If polyester would come back in great style every single vintage clothing dealer would be wealthy. lol