My grandmother had a clothesline. Once when I was about 6 years old, I remember asking her why she would choose to dry her clothes – or her “drawers” as she called them – out in the open breeze, when it would be so much easier to toss them in a machine inside the house. Her response was classic: “If it was good enough for the pioneers, then it’s good enough for me!”
{Not that we can trace our family lineage to any pioneers but – that was Granny fer ya! 😉 }
But she did make an excellent point; drying laundry on the line is something that was done for countless generations. It not only saves money, but considerably extends the life of your clothing as well. {Don’t believe me? Check out your lint trap! I could weave a whole new set of washcloths by using my dryer lint alone. Yikes!}
A few other benefits:
- The sun acts as a natural bleaching agent, giving your whites a boost of solar whitening power! (Hmm. That almost sounds super hero-ish, doesn’t it? Hee hee)
- Naturally fresh, open air scent
- Makes a great “hide and go seek” spot for little ones (especially when draped with bedsheets)
- Teaches older children appreciation for today’s modern conveniences (mwwa ha ha ha)
- Great for Little House on the Prairie reenactments
If you’re concerned about “crispy” (as in “not fluffed in the dryer) clothes, try a bit of liquid fabric softener in the wash cycle. That should take care of it. 😉
Do you or have you ever used a clothesline to dry your laundry?
About Karrie
Food is my love language. But so is saving money. So I like to combine the two a lot and make thrifty make ahead and freeze meals to save time. Because life is busy, and freezer meals can come to the rescue for all of us. And yes, they actually CAN taste good. Read more...
Comments & Reviews
Erin says
I love to line dry.Nothing like the smell of fresh line dried linens.I prefer to hang my darks inside because they fade faster in the sunlight.If you take a quick run over your towels with your iron it makes the towels soft again.Also vinegar is a natural fabric softener.I feel sorry for people that have HOA’s I love the freedom I have without one!!
Cara says
My family has always line dried their clothes when the weather permits, my husband’s mom as well. Here’s another reason to line dry in the sun when you can: UV sunlight kills the bacteria that’s lurking in your “clean” clothes. I heard about this a couple of years ago…here’s an article on it:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/washing-machines-loaded-bacteria-dirty-clothes/story?id=10751420
kris says
I use drying racks occasionally (folding type-orderd online-we have 2 big ones)…but it’s kinda hard to do with socks (takes forever to hang it all up)…but way easy to do with Towels…however I really hate crunchy towels so I put them in the dryer for 2 minutes after they have mostly lined dried…to make them less stiff. If it’s sunny-ish(pnw), I put them outside, if it’s not, they go up in my livingroom…
Lynn says
My family lives in rural Nebraska and has always hung clothes out to dry in any kind of weather except for snow. When we moved to our new home 7 years ago my husband but a clothes line up on our upstairs deck. I have used it off and on over the years but since I started couponing earlier this and have been more cognizant of saving money, I have used it regularly. I love the fresh air smell.
Kari says
I hang my clothes to dry all year long, mostly indoors because I live in rainy Eugene Oregon! I purchased 4 folding clothes racks (tripod type) from QVC, I just put the clothes in the dryer for 10 minutes to get out the stiffness and wrinkles! Our electric bill is 100kw less per month! We have two boys 11 and 16 so we are washing a lot of clothes and a load of jeans takes forever to dry in our dryer!
Jens says
Our HOA wouldn’t allow clotheslines either–otherwise I would use air dry the clothes in a heartbeat. As a kid growing up, we always used a clothes line. Come to think of it, it must have saved my parents a heap of money on their electricity bill!
Karla says
I love my clothesline!!!! I only machine dry towels, socks, underwear, and the occasional t-shirt that stretches or dries funny when air-dried (except in the winter when it is impossible). I use vinegar in place of fabric softener, for the same effect (no vinegar smell residue and it helps clean your washer). Just fill your fabric softener compartment with the vinegar. Also, just a couple of hints: the longer you leave your clothes out in the dry heat, the crunchier they will be. On these hot summer days, and especially if there is a breeze, 1-2 hours is plenty to dry completely. And, make sure your sprinklers are timed so as to not re-wet your clothes. 🙂
Shelly says
Our dryer broke a few weeks ago. Luckily the place we moved into has a clothesline so I hung the clothes to dry. Since then we have fixed the dryer but I still hang the clothes to dry and will continue to do so until it gets too cold to do so! Can’t wait for the next electricity bill to see what the difference is 🙂
Jenn says
I wish! My Homeowner’s Association strictly forbids clotheslines 🙁
I do dry hang-dry most of my shirts, though…women’s clothing just isn’t made to last anymore and air drying definitely helps. I put a shower curtain rod up across my laundry room and use that to hang clothes to dry.