I don't know about ya'll but I just love hanging clothes out to dry. I remember back in the day when we had a wringer washer in the basement and I hung the clothes out. In the winter, we line dried them inside before my parents even got a dryer. Even once they had one, it wasn't used very often as it was just a lot of money to spend on electricity (my, how some things don't change).
Nothing beats the "April Freshness" of line dried towels or sheets. The first night sleeping in bed after the sheets had been dried out in the pure air was amazing. I love that smell, don't you?
Line drying also gives you that "sun bleach" and when doing the load of whites it always made things look cleaner.
You also have to think of the fact that the clothes actually last longer. How is that possible? Think of all of the lint that accumulates...that was part of your clothes at one time and another bonus of hanging clothes out is the fact that there is no shrinking. I am sure that it has happened to all of us at one point in our lives.
Dryers do have their benefits, I mean, if you are in a hurry and need your clothes right off it is more convenient for that. If you work in an office and have clothes that need to be ironed if you don't put them in the dryer, I opt for the dryer (I HATE IRONING), but as a rule, I don't buy things that need to be ironed.
Rainy days and winter months it may work well for you too. I guess it all depends on your preferences and your budget. If you like using a dryer and can afford the higher electric bill, that is your option. For me, I will use a dryer on occasion but very rare. I love having the clothes hung out to dry and in the winter or rainy days, I have a rack that I put them on or put them on hangers and hang on the shower rod. It may be a bit more work but it saves so much money and I just love it.
What do you do? Do you do a combination of both? Hang in the summer, dryer in the winter?
As of now we don't have a clothes line but it's gonna happen. So I mainly hang what I can possible thru the house & off porch railings etc. it works for us. I love fresh air dried sheets. I look forward to saving money from not using dryer near as much.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how expensive it is to run a dryer! I guess I was raised hanging them out and so was my husband so it is normal for us. We do use a dryer on occasion but VERY rare!
DeleteI love our clothesline. But I don't use it for every load, little things and under things stay inside.
ReplyDeleteLove, Love, Love hanging my laundry. Nothing like it!!!
ReplyDeleteI use both. I put my towels out to dry, but I don't like the "crunchy" feel of them, so not every time. It does cut down on heat and cost during the summer though. Socks and underpants also feel "crunchy", so I always use the dryer for them. I found your fun read at Frugal Days Sustainable Ways.
ReplyDeleteI have learned if I put my towels or anything for that matter in the dryer for 10 minutes and then hang them out they don't get that crunchy feeling. I know it cost a little for the dryer but over all it saves us money.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing you can do is put a cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle and hang them, you won't have that "crunchy" feel as much
ReplyDeleteI love, love, love my clothes line. I finally nagged my husband enough into building one for me and I use it to hang my blankets, sheets and towels out. I haven't done our acutal clothes yet, because even using fabric softner they are still rough. But the way I look at it, the few loads that I don't use the dryer are saving money and energy.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree....but see what nagging gets you! LOL
ReplyDeleteI'm with you...love hanging out my clothes on my clothesline too and I did a post on my blog about it recently to prove it :)Not only does it save money, it also saves my sanity as I get outside and get a breath of fresh air and a healthy dose of Vitamin D throughout the day. And yes, I love the scent of line-dried clothes, too!
ReplyDeleteDo you mind sharing your blog? I would love to check it out!
DeleteHi Lori, Love for you to stop by and say hi...www.teresa-patchesofbluesky.blogspot.com!Teresa
DeleteI was raised hanging laundry to dry. For a huge amout of people too. We lived close to my grandparents (in a mobile home in their back yard) and from a young age it was my job to help with laundry for all of us. My grandparents ran a 'nursing home' from their huge home. There were 12 adults in the house, and 7 of us who lived in the mobile home. All laundry was done in the 1 washer and hung to dry. I was a busy girl. I remember doing 4-5 loads most days and 2 times a week there were 12 loads as we changed sheets.
ReplyDeleteNow, I am a 60 year old grandmother myself. I still enjoy the clothes line. I love the smell of clothes, I love the feel of jeans just off the line, and I love to see my wash flying in the breeze to dry.
I am 40 and the youngest of 6. I remember when I was about 10 we had the wringer washer in the basement and I would do the laundry and carry it up to hang out. My mother was not able to go up and down the stairs and my brothers and sisters were either working or moved out. Lots of work but such fond memories!
DeleteI love hanging clothes out on the line! I had been wanting a clothesline for quite sometime but there was always something else that took priority. That is until the dryer "went up". The hubby got me a line put up in just a few days. I tried the vinegar rinse & still had "crunchy" clothes. So I hang everything out and just throw the stiffer clothes in the dryer for about 10-15 minutes for a fluff. We are still saving money because we aren't using 60-70 minutes for one load of clothes & not all loads are getting tossed in the dryer. And wouldn't you know it, the first load to just get a fluff, a huge wad of lint came out of the vent & the dryer works again! LOL
ReplyDeleteLOL...I know a lot of people that don't like the "crunchy" feeling, but it also depends on if you have hard water, that will affect things as well. For sure, 10 to 15 mins instead of 60 mins is definitely cheaper. For me, it is just how I grew up!
DeleteI live in AZ. I would love to hang some items out to dry in the summer so I don't run the dryer and heat up my house. Unfortunately we have very hard water and clothes don't just get crunchy they get board stiff. The sun while killing bacteria will also fade colors and blacks.
DeleteI LOVE my clothesline!!!! I even string up clotheslines in the house for the winter time. I love how the clothes smell so nice when they come off the line too. If it wasn't for my daughters allergies to dust and dust mites I would hang all the clothes on the line. The high temp on the dryer does help to kill dust mites so her clothes do have to go in the dryer.
ReplyDeleteWe have a rack that we put up and use or hang on the the shower rack on hangers. Yes, someone else had mentioned allergies, I didn't even think about that.
DeleteI love clothes lines! I think one of my most memorable sights when I drove through Indiana was seeing all of the Amish clothes on the clothes lines, hung up in order, on every single house! It was a beautiful sight! I live in an apartment, but I do have a balcony now, and I try to hang things up (although it's a little squishy with my "garden pots" ....). I find that if I use my homemade laundry soap along with the vinegar "fabric softener", my towels aren't that crunchy. I used to hate crunchy towels at my Mom's, and her dryer rarely worked for a decent amount of time - winter or summer, so we constantly had crunchy towels. Very hard water too didn't help matters lol. I find in the summer time, if clothes are on an actual line, it takes the same amount or less time to dry them as in the dryer. Depending on the sunshine & breeze, of course. I can't wait to have my own clothes line!
ReplyDeleteIt is funny because no matter what I always made sure I hung my clothes. In an apt, I use a wood rack and hangers on the shower pole...where there's a will, there's a way!
DeleteI will be getting my first outdoor clothes line soon :0)
ReplyDeleteAs of right now we hang our clothes in the basement to dry. We have a couple drying racks. As far as sheets go they are just to big to hang dry in the basement, so I use the dryer for now.
Note: we make our own laundry soap and when you add borax to your wash it takes the crunchy out and makes the laundry soft as it dries.
That is great. I make my own detergent too and I use borax in mine as well. I think it depends on if you have hard water as to whether you have "crunchy" clothes.
DeleteI hung my clothesline under my porch because we do get alot of rain. I love seeing the clothes hanging to dry its really pretty! I love saving the money too, even though we have agas dryer it still costs more than line drying them!
ReplyDeleteI love that too. The saving money part is just a bonus!
DeleteI've found that when my garage door is open, I can hang 2 loads of laundry on hangers on the door. If it's rainy outside I have 2 shower rods in my laundry room where I can easily hang a load. I just have to spread out my loads to wash over several days.
ReplyDeleteWhere there is a will there's a way! Love that. I use the shower rod often!
DeleteI don't own a dryer! Not for 10 years and save lots of $.
ReplyDeleteCrunchy clothes, useing less detergent usually fixes that, and do not use fabric softener, unless, of course you have a great all natural recipe.
My clothes line blew down this summer and i do not have the money to buy a new post. The clothes line has now been strung up in the open bay of the shed, which works really well, as it does not get dew, frost, snowed or rained on.
But for most of the winter the wet clothes are hung on hangers on door jambs and curtain rods or on racks in front of the fire :)
I will see what I can find for a recipe for fabric softener...you can put in a cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle and that works great.
DeleteLove it, but don't do it year round; also, when the pollen is bad (or to soften up those "crunchy" towels) I throw the stuff in the dryer for about 5 minutes after taking it off the line.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I am one of the very few, but I LOVE my crispy towels! So invigorating after a shower......instant exfoliation!
ReplyDeleteI had my husband install a retractable clothesline last year for my cloth diapers. Sunning the diapers gets stains out easily. I started using it for regualr clothes and now hang my wash whenever we have enough sun. It was 95 today and each load dried in about an hr. WOW. Loved saving the money and enjoy the fresh smell. Also suns stains well out of regular clothing, works better than stain spray.:)
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