What is the phenomnon you speak of?

**Rebookie** · 10-26-2009, 09:41 AM

Line drying?!

Can you do it in the house?!

How do you keep your clothing from spoiling?

Any help would be much appreciated..

I've never line dried anything in my life. =D

**NikoSan999** · 10-26-2009, 09:50 AM

Mine is simple. I definitely line dry all tops, tee shirts etc to keep from shrinking. Certain other things also. Alot I put in the dryer, take out damp and hang. All the wet or damp are either hung on hangers and hung on a rod in laundry room or shower rod and damp is just laid out wherever there is room to finish drying. I wash and dry after 9PM and before 7AM as electric rates are lower then due to peak and non peak hours. In Florida the sun will totally eat your clothes and such. Fade them to nothing quick even just wearing them much less being wet and hot.

**WV_mom_of2** · 10-26-2009, 10:38 AM

I line dry everything...pants, shirts, towels, sheets, curtains, underclothes, etc. If it can be washed it can be line dried.

In warm weather I have a HUGE line in the backyard. I can put out 6 very large loads at once. I also have lines around the trees in the backyard for sheets, blankets, etc.

I live in an area that has very high wind in fall/winter. So I have 5 lines strung up under the roof of my front porch. I can put clothes out there if it's very windy or drizzly. They still get the breeze to dry, but the roof knocks the wind down so the clothes don't fly all the way to town! (I also live in the woods where noone can see my redneck line on the porch LOL). When dh and I first got married we bought a house in a subdivision. It had no clothesline the first year we lived there so I strung a line around the carport! I could hang out a load or two there!

In bad weather I dry in the house. I have a small spare room on the main floor. It has my two freezers, a bookcase, a spare bed, etc. I have lines strung across this room! I bought those metal hooks that you screw into the wall. I put them on both sides of the wall and then strung clothesline across. I can take the lines down any time I want to. I can put 2-3 loads in there. Then I use the shower rods in both bathrooms. I hang shirts on hangers just like you'd hang them in the closet. I hang pants on the hanger from the waist with clothespins. Between the two shower rods I can put up 2-3 loads. I will also put things on hangers and hang them from doorknobs, throw jeans over the top of a door, etc. to dry. In winter I do dry my towels and sheets in the dryer if I can't catch a nice day to do them outside. I have a furnace vent in the spare room and in both bathrooms and clothes will dry overnight.

I'm not sure what you mean by clothes spoiling?

**Rebookie** · 10-26-2009, 10:45 AM

SORRY!! Duh! geezz!!! I need to proof read! LOL

I meant Souring hehehe

**WV_mom_of2** · 10-26-2009, 10:53 AM

Originally Posted by Rebookie

SORRY!! Duh! geezz!!! I need to proof read! LOL

I meant Souring hehehe

Ok you mean smelling sour? I have NEVER had that happen with line dried clothes. If you hang them air is circulating around them and they shouldn't smell. If they are in a room with a forced air furnace vent then air is moving around them. Or you can use a fan or ceiling fan to move the air a little. I will even open the windows in the spare room and let the breeze blow in. I just shut the vent off in that room and shut the door so the cold doesn't come into the rest of the house.

And if you want to dry outside and are afraid of fading, hang your clothes up wrong side out!

**tracyq** · 10-26-2009, 10:57 AM

We hang ours in the basement on lines we have up in the non-humid months mostly. I want to work up to outside drying. We also have clothes racks downstairs too that we can just hang wet clothes on directly onto hangers, and leave to dry, and then they can just be put directly away in closets.

**vickilynn** · 10-26-2009, 11:02 AM

I wash a load a day, keeps the loads smaller. Hang on hangers or a folding rack. Sits near heater vent in winter or a turn a fan on it. Things are read to put away at supper time. Even sheets and towels. I'm beginning to wonder what to store in that dryer!

**Brat** · 10-26-2009, 11:24 AM

If you live in a very humid area use a fan to keep the air moveing and they will dry before they sour.

**sabrelvssammy** · 10-26-2009, 11:37 AM

i also wash different loads different days so that there are not so many clothes laying about everywhere....especially in the winter....

i, like wv_mom have stuff hung over doors, on hangers i have them on the hinges, doorknobs, decorations hanging from the walls...it's everywhere....i have tension rods that i can hang in the doorways but since i keep the majority of the doors shut in the winter it eliminates alot of good usable space...(but its a small price to pay for not having to heat the rooms)....the loose stuff (socks, underwear, etc) i will either hang from a dbl 'skirt' hanger or drape over the drying rack or side of the clothes basket and set out of the way...

if you add vinegar to your wash (where you put the fabric softner) then it helps pull the smells out too... i have noticed that i have more 'sour' odors from clothes that are hung outside than when they are dried indoors..maybe the sun has something to do with it????.....

towels i throw over the shower rod and then when i do day 2's other color (whites i use bleach-colors not)...then whatever load i have done that day i throw the others from the shower rod with them and dry all for about 10 mins and then hang....otherwise they are stiff and don't absord very well....

my dryer gets very little use and although it takes longer this way...think of the energy saved on utilities....plus the calories burned doing it the 'old-fashioned' way..... win..win....

**frugal is fun** · 10-26-2009, 12:32 PM

I also line dry everthing! I have a line outside that I use on nice days and I have a very large old fashioned wooden drying rack for inside when the weather isn't so nice. A friend of mine made me the wooden drying rack but you can buy drying racks at Walmart, Kmart, etc.

The house I just purchased actually has a clothes line built into the rafters in the basement. I've used this once but I found my clothes end up smelling like basement. This is why my drying rack is in the middle of my living room, in front of my window and heat.

I haven't had the sour smell often enough to pin point the reason.

**Libby** · 10-26-2009, 12:45 PM

I wear my clothes as much as I can before washing - saves on utility usage right there lol Plus my loads aren't going to be as numerous leaving me with nothing to wear...remember, not all your clothes get dirty at the same time

I wash full loads in cold, use less then the recommended amount of detergent plus my Downy ball full of vinegar (non HE washer) and then toss the tops and bottoms in the dyer - max 5-8 items at a time depending on size. The dryer stays on for about 1-2 mins max...long enough to heat through. Then as I take each piece out, I shake fiercely to get the wrinkles out and then hang on the drying rack. I can usually get two full loads of 'work clothes' on them. My basement is not humid so a solid 24 hours and everything is bone dry.

I do have one load for the dryer at the end - it sits in a basket until that load is ready to go in. It consists of socks, undies and a few stray items etc that can go in the dyer.

Towels get their own load whenever warranted - both washing and going into the dryer. I like soft fluffy absorbing towels.

You can always hang your collared shirts, sweatshirts etc on hangers on door jams, door knobs, shower rod, back of chairs and off of shelving unit poles (you know the corner of it lol). My dad hung two unused poles in the laundry room just for this reason

I prefer to hang my items indoors as I have allergies and outside pollen gets to me all year round

**sabrelvssammy** · 10-26-2009, 05:10 PM

Originally Posted by Libby

Towels get their own load whenever warranted - both washing and going into the dryer. I like soft fluffy absorbing towels.

you know i had to 'smack myself in the forehead' when i read this comment... we too like fluffy absorbing towels but i was just squeaking by with the 10min rule... its just dh and i so i only do a load of each (white/color) a week and there is only a towel or two each time coz we use and re-use over and over again and hang to dry each time... (hey- you're clean right?) so anyway....i have these huge stacks of towels under the sink that never get used anyway....why oh why am i re-using the same two towels and fighting to get them fluffy each week when i could just go through the pile (could take a month, but what the heck) and when they are all dirty...wash the entire load and use that one time as my excuse for running the dryer.... geez....such a simple concept for such a 'dingey-blonde' girl.....

thanks libby.......

**Libby** · 10-26-2009, 05:31 PM

Originally Posted by sabrelvssammy

you know i had to 'smack myself in the forehead' when i read this comment... we too like fluffy absorbing towels but i was just squeaking by with the 10min rule... its just dh and i so i only do a load of each (white/color) a week and there is only a towel or two each time coz we use and re-use over and over again and hang to dry each time... (hey- you're clean right?) so anyway....i have these huge stacks of towels under the sink that never get used anyway....why oh why am i re-using the same two towels and fighting to get them fluffy each week when i could just go through the pile (could take a month, but what the heck) and when they are all dirty...wash the entire load and use that one time as my excuse for running the dryer.... geez....such a simple concept for such a 'dingey-blonde' girl.....

thanks libby.......

Hahahaha - hey...whenever the epiphany hits you right? I think the thanks should go to Rebookie b/c she started this thread

BTW: Its just me, myself and I with regards to the towels. However having said that, I use a towel for home showers [plus hand towels, face cloths and kitchen towels], one for the pool shower and one for the gym shower. Once every 2 - 3 weeks'ish I do a full load towels.

**fixer** · 10-26-2009, 05:42 PM

We just started using a line indoors. It is in the basement and works great. I just finished bringing up a load. I hung bedspreads outside today. We dry socks and underwear, everything else hangs. We dry towels ten minutes before hanging. It reduces the feel from eighty grit sandpaper to maybe four-hundred grit. Sorry for the analogy, it's a guy thing.

**sabrelvssammy** · 10-26-2009, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by Libby

Hahahaha - hey...whenever the epiphany hits you right? I think the thanks should go to Rebookie b/c she started this thread

ok....
....thanks Rebookie for starting this thread....

....thanks libby for giving me the epiphany...

....thanks fixer for the vision of your towels and knowing that we are not alone....(i got it.....).....

....thanks to my kindergarten teacher for....well i don't know what for....but they always get thanked....so thanks to 'whatever your name was'......you probably molded me and made me the way i am today.....lol....