Comments on: The Fine Art of Line Drying Laundry

By: Lisa

Lisa — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:34:42 +0000

Forgot to mention, I DO use a mini spinner to extract excess water from clothes before hanging them out to line-dry. At 82 watts, our solar capacity is not even dented! Cannot encourage young people enough to at least give it a try..save $ and get a bit of exercise, and as others have said…the smell of fresh laundry and the great outdoors are a PLUS!

By: Lisa

Lisa — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:28:25 +0000

I do my laundry by hand with the “breathing mobile washer” which is a re-do and definite upgrade from the “plunger”. Use homemade soap, and also line dry. At my age, I don’t worry about what others think…it’s all about economy and comfort, and the wonderful benefit of being green! We also live half the year or more on solar power alone. Also cook in a solar oven, all fun, all easy!

By: jen

jen — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 21:27:24 +0000

One more benefit – in nice weather, I really enjoy the 10 to 20 minutes of quiet private time spent outside hanging the clothes. Noticing the color of the sky, hearing the wind in the leaves, smelling the sunshine on the grass… Laundry is still a chore, but once started, hanging clothes can be a pleasant respite from a busy family indoors.

By: MelBel

MelBel — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 02:13:56 +0000

I found a Umbrella Clothesline that folds when not in use. It works wonderful. Each line is straight across and not like most umbrellas that go round. I can fit two to three loads of wash on it. It has a ground pike that holds the clothesline up with out cement. When it’s time to put it away for the winter you just pull out of the ground and it stays folded in your shed or garage. You can also swing the clothesline around to get to the back side of it with out moving from the spot you started from. Turning it is also great for trying the other side if the sun goes down half way drying them. I Hide my underwear and bras by putting them behind bigger clothes or towels on the line since there are 24 lines that go straight across on the umbrella. I also use only one clothes pin for each underwear, bra and I do one or two socks on one pin.

I also found a basket that clips easily on the line that works great too.

I found that vinegar works. Softener works. But nothing works for towels except dryer for a few minutes. I don’t do the dryer thing so we have scratchy towels. My clothes are never stiff and scratch though.

I remember doing laundry when I was a kid but I just started a month ago as an adult and loving it. Its a great relaxing exercise, and I love enjoying nature and my puppy at the same time. Funny thing is when I started drying my clothes on the line my dryer died. NO LIE LOL

Not everyone knows how to put clothes on the line. I know how and still looking for advise that might of worked for some one else. My husband did it the other day and I had to redo everything he hung because he had stuff falling off or bunched up lol

By: ....

.... — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:53:51 +0000

Well, congratulations to you! You’re better than the rest of us now.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:43:20 +0000

WTF I’ve been line-drying my whole life! Just don’t understand what the big deal is and people actually need instruction?!?!?

By: Tina

Tina — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:34:27 +0000

I hang mine much the same as Meganiiq, as I am also one of five:) I hang the shirts on hangers though and place them among the pants. I have four lines and try to squeeze in as much as possible in one day. Weather permitting, I try not to have to do any major housework on the weekends;)

By: Alicia

Alicia — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:07:53 +0000

just one comment, make sure to shake out your laundry as you are taking it down…my mom forgot to do this once and I ended up with a mad bee in the leg of my jeans…lets say it made for an interesting morning getting ready for school….I love the smell of line dried laundry!

By: R Thurston

R Thurston — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 02:36:58 +0000

I rarely rarely rarely fire up my dryer for into ‘full dry’ mode. I started line drying YEA

By: aua868s

aua868s — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:12:51 +0000

this is done all the time in Asian countries..

By: Meganiiq

Meganiiq — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:29:52 +0000

I hang my “unmentionables” by the side seam, instead of hanging them by the corners. They seem to dry just as fast, but the neighbors can’t get a “good look” at them. This also saves on clothesline space. I hang washclothes by the corner as well to save space. When you are a family of five, you tend to fill up the clothesline rather quickly.

By: Shelby

Shelby — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:24:52 +0000

For towels, try the “air” setting on your dryer for 10-15 minutes. It’ll work out the stiffness without wasting the electricity of heating.

I find it helpful to turn pants (especially jeans) inside-out to speed-up the drying of the pockets.

BTW, if you’re in a yard and misjudged your load and can’t fit it all on the line, why not just “grass dry” a couple of light things. I find that laying a light shirt or a couple pairs of underwear on the grass dries them just fine. Now, do be sure to shake them out when you pick them up, you don’t want any critters in your clothes. (I imagine the success of this varies based on the type of grass you have, here in Florida the St. Augustine variety of grass is so thick my clothes never get anywhere near the dirt of the ground)

By: Mary Tsolak

Mary Tsolak — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:20:04 +0000

Actually my cousin line drys stuff – in Wisconsin in the winter with snow on the ground. It does get dry even when the temp is around freezing.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:26:34 +0000

Why not do both? It speeds up the laundry if you line dry some items while you’re spinning others. I usually put large items like bed sheets outside, and smaller items like socks and towels in the dryer.

I’ve always had clothesline poles in the yard. I always keep them painted and the lines well maintained, and I’ve never heard anybody say they made my yard look bad. I think they give my yard an old fashioned homey look.

By: Barbara Maloney

Barbara Maloney — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:24:02 +0000

My towels are very stiff when I line dry them. I use fabric softerner in the wash. Any suggestions?