Does anyone else line dry their laundry?

kara_leigh

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I don't know why, but suddenly yesterday I decided to go to walmart and buy some cheap clothesline, clothes pins, and and a clothespin bag and line dry our laundry in the back yard. Lol. I tied 4 lines, two tall and two short, on our play set beteen main section and the end of the arm that holds the swings b/c I had no other options.

I started with a load of all of our dish towels and wash cloths. I was amazed at how fast they dried! They c.e out so much whiter than just machine drying them, also!!

After that I decided to try my hand at drying a load of clothes. These also dried super fast, but came out stiffer than I anticipated. Hubby HATES vinegar, and even though I tell him that the smell goes away when it dries he refuses to let me use it on our laundry. I went out last night and got some liquid fabric softener and made sure to snap the clothes well before I hung them as well as after they were dry, and they were just as soft as they would have been from the machine!


I want to ask for an early Christmas gift to be a rotating and removable parallel umbrella style clothes line, so I can do it properly and not look rediculous. It would be nice to fit an entire load of laundry at once also. Lol

I'm not sure if I "love" the smell of line dried clothes just yet. They remind me of being little and smell like my grandparents' house, but I'm not a huge fan of it. I just love how hanging the laundry and seeing it blowing in the wind is so relaxing!
 

carolina

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I do my delicates... I Brasil I did it all the time... It is definitely gentler on the clothes, that's for sure!
 

monaxlisa

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I don't, except for blankets sometimes (takes so much longer to dry them in the machine). I like using dryer sheets (no static) and having the dryer pick up all the hair on my laundry.
 
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kara_leigh

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Originally Posted by MonaxLisa

I don't, except for blankets sometimes (takes so much longer to dry them in the machine). I like using dryer sheets (no static) and having the dryer pick up all the hair on my laundry.
There's no need for dryer sheets with lined dried clothes. Static comes from friction, i.e. the clothes tumbling in the dryer, and the clothes don't rub together on the line.
 

sk_pacer

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Too much like work to haul it upstairs, outside, hang it and bring it back in to wash the bird poop off it, so it is dryer for me. Only thing I hang outside is the horse blankets - they get draped over the fence or flat on the grass to dry.
 

fwan

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when i lived in germany i only used the dryer to dry sheets and towels, but never clothes unless something was still not dry, i dry everything on the line here and it when its raining i have a indoor clothes line.

hardly anybody i know has a dryer here. and it uses up too much power!
 

carolina

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Yes, we do have indoor line hangers in Brasil too, like this:



You put it down to hang the clothes, and up so it gets out of the way while drying.
Usually you have a washer machine, and a couple of these to dry the clothes.
I bought one like this at Ikea for my apartment:

I use it for my delicates, and I fold it up and hide it in my closet...
 

missymotus

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Like many people over here I don't own a drier, so line dry everything year round. We don't get much rain so even in Winter I hang my clothes out.

I have an indoor clothes horse for when it does rain, kept locked away from the Ocicats


I use vinegar in the rinse and never have a problem with stiff clothes.
 

mrblanche

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Line drying is against the regulations of most newer neighborhoods in the U.S. Which is a pity; it could save some significant energy.
 

snake_lady

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Originally Posted by mrblanche

Line drying is against the regulations of most newer neighborhoods in the U.S. Which is a pity; it could save some significant energy.
here too. Although, I do believe recently it has changed, I will have to do some digging but I believe I read or heard that because of the "greener movement" we were allowed to have a regular clothesline now.

Prior to the above, we were allowed a umbrella style clothes hanger, but NOT an actual line. Which is a shame because I would have loved to install a line when we moved in 6yrs ago.

Now however, due to disabilities, I would not be able to use one


The good thing is, we are very conservative, and for a family of 4 we do 2 loads of laundry per week. (3 loads if we're doing sheets n' towels) We use a HE washer, and new'ish dryer (gas).
 

jupeycat

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Yup, we have a small rotary airer outside and if the weather's bad they get dried on an inside airer. We don't have a dryer and I'd never get one! I'm gradually trying to get as eco friendly as possible and am actually finding it fun and very interesting.
 

goldenkitty45

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Nope - the main reason is that we don't put softener in the wash but use the dryer sheets. When we were on the farm, we put towels out to dry on the line and by the time they were dry - they were stiff/scratchy. I like how the dryer makes them fluffy and soft.
 

gardenandcats

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I hang all my laundry out on the line ..Sure saves on the power bill. Go green hang your clothes outside to dry! I was amazed at how much it cut down on my power bill each month..
 

calico2222

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I love the smell of line dried sheets! Definitely takes me back to my childhood. I would love to set up a clothes line here once we get the back yard graded and our deck built. Soooo...it may be a while!


My second apartment didn't have a laundry room, so I splurged and got a used washer but couldn't afford a dryer. You could always tell when it was laundry day because clothes were hanging off anything available..even the ceiling fan (turned off, of course!).

I wish I still lived somewhere where I could dry clothes outside all year long. My mom would line dry clothes until about the middle of October, then it got to cold. I still remember one day when I was little, my mom hung out a load of clothes and the day was nice and sunny, but chilly. An hour later the temp dropped about 20 degrees and the jeans she put out were frozen! Somewhere I have a pic my dad took...jeans standing up by themselves!
Yep...a dryer is a neccesity here.
 

yam102284

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I live in an apartment so there's no place to line dry the clothes outside, but I do have a rack so I can hang them outside. I'm cheap, I don't want to spend another $1.25 when I can just hang the clothes up inside. The only thing I don't hang up is towels and sheets, but those wait to be washed until we go to FH's parents house. We have enough so we can change them out regularly and still wait until we make a visit.
 

cococat

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In some places that is against HOA and other regulations, lol

It is the green option though
 
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kara_leigh

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See, in most of our neighborhood it would be against the HOA, but we live in the small part of it from when the subdivision first started, phase one, and for some reason the HOA wasn't started until phase two. We are exempt from all of the HOA regulations.
It's kinda fun living next door to the HOA president, and he can't say didly squat to us about our clothesline. lol
 
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