Hanging Laundry

**mommamoody** · 01-19-2008, 08:35 AM

I wanted to start hanging my laundry to save energy (Tightwad Gazette), but our backyard doesn't get any real sunlight because of the trees. Would it still be a good idea to put up a line in the summer? Would the heat (we live in the south) still do the job? Would it take longer?

I have been to England where they hang dry a lot of their clothes, indoors, but they felt crunchy and gross. I don't want to make the effort and have it wasted. Also I have a basement for the cooler winter, would it be a good idea to hang stuff there? (no room in the house). Maybe I could do a half and half. Hang dry it and then fluff it for 10 minutes?

Thanks for your hanging tips.

**Darlene** · 01-19-2008, 08:50 AM

Sure it would work. Both inside & out.
We have an outdoor dryer that does't take up much space and and lines strung in the basement. I don't dry indoors in the warmer months because the basement is too humid.
Many people do the mostly line dry & quick whirl in the dryer thing.

**Ceashels** · 01-19-2008, 02:16 PM

A cool breezy day without sun would still dry your clothes. My clothes hang off the bed rail without light but with the ceiling fan on and they dry. I will by purchasing an umbrella line style this spring.

**Marie78** · 01-19-2008, 02:21 PM

I don't hang clothes outside, since we live in an apt. complex and aren't allowed to. I do hang clothes from doorknobs and our shower curtain rod and the heat from the house drys the clothes just fine. I am investing in a folding dryer rack to hang even more clothes to dry in our office area. I think clothes will dry almost anywhere, even if it's a humid spot they should dry if there's a breeze.

**miss_thrifty** · 01-19-2008, 04:10 PM

When u hang your clothes just make sure you dont overuse too much detergent or softner. It will make them hard. And then i take my jeans and towels and put them in the dryer for a minutes with soft. sheet to soften them up. they smell good and are still soft to wear pants plus towels arent hard anymore.
I make sure though my sheets, towels, etc are always on the hottest settings since I air drying, then dryer for 3 -5 minutes to soften and kill any dust mites that mite still stick around lol

**mommamoody** · 01-20-2008, 07:57 AM

Awesome, thank you thank you.

**mommy4ever** · 01-20-2008, 10:33 AM

I have an umbrella clothesline in my back yard. It's near the house, and our backyard is on the northside, so gets a little sun in the morning, and some in the evening. But everything dries fine.

We are bringing one to our campsite this summer..lol. We have a seasonal site and always have towels everywhere, so we'll be setting that up to hang towels, swim suits and anythign I hand wash while we're out there. I'm contemplating finding an apartment size washer to bring out there for when we spend more time out there, as driving into town and paying for laundry is pricey.

**ZenTherapy** · 01-20-2008, 11:59 AM

Using a dryer is so American, like the $4 daily latte

Italy is not always (or everywhere) sunny, but hanging clothes is the norm. When it's cold and foggy outside you hang them in the bathroom or basement. Anyway it's nice to be naturally frugal in this at least, lol.

**Siebrie** · 01-21-2008, 05:09 AM

I am not allowed to hang my clothes on my balcony either, but I still do it, at night, and bring them in in the morning. Then, I hang them in the bathroom, over the bath from one of these foldaway lines. (it's actually 5 lines, and they are neatly wrapped by some mechanism on the 'feet' side of the bath, and I can pull the lines out and lock them behind two screws at the 'head' side of the bath in one movement.) The dealer is Leifheit, maybe their website has some pictures to illustrate what I mean.

**Momto2Boyz** · 01-21-2008, 07:48 AM

For most of the day, 1/2 of my line is in the shade and 1/2 in the sun. They dry at pretty much the same rate. The shady side takes maybe an additional hour more to dry. I would actually prefer to have it all in the shade.

Twice I have left clothes on the line too long, and ended up with clothing that has faded (just slightly) from the sun!

Go for it...it shouldn't matter that it is in the shade! And there is nothing like the smell of line dried clothes!

**rainbowgc** · 01-21-2008, 08:37 AM

we live in Florida and in the summer our garage is a natural dryer from the heat in there. In winter it takes a little longer but since we do a load as soon as we have a full one it doesn't really matter.

**Christa** · 02-09-2008, 08:09 PM

I live in Portland, so hanging outside is out for most of the year. I have a couple of dryning racks in my garage in the corner next to the furnace & water heater, and hang as much as I can there.

**dolphin** · 02-10-2008, 01:02 PM

I'm sure you could still dry your clothes outside even with the trees. When I lived in MO we had trees around the house and shade even over the clothes line and it worked great.

I will by purchasing an umbrella line style this spring.

Oh I had one of those until last spring when it was loaded with clothes and the desert wind (actually called a "dirt devil" around here) came up unexpectedly and broke it!

Some day I hope to have another one because I really enjoyed it.

A friend was moving and gave me 2 garment racks (the plastic kind). They are great for the t-shirts and blouses. I have them in the garage and I use them pretty often.