Hanging Clothes to dry

**Cymbaline** · 05-09-2008, 02:41 PM

I have tons of trees where I live so I don't have any sunny place to hang clothes outside and even if I did have a sunny spot there isn't a place where the trees couldn't dump pollen and debris on the clothes so I'm thinking about hanging clothes inside the house. I have some clothes racks I could use to hang the clothes but I'm wondering how effective this would be. Has anyone tried this? I'm worried the clothes will not dry well during the day and end up moldy smelling.

**vigilant20** · 05-09-2008, 03:24 PM

I live in a small apartment and dry all of my clothes on a drying rack with no problem.

**rebecca** · 05-09-2008, 04:02 PM

I hang my clothes on a drying rack and when I run out of room on the drying rack I hang my clothes and my daughter in their closets and they don't smell. I didn't want to buy another hanging rack because they are so expensive. I can't hang dry my clothes outside due to allergies my youngest daughter and I have. I bought my first drying rack at a rummage sale for $4.00. Cheap compared to the ones you have to buy in the store.

**vigilant20** · 05-09-2008, 04:27 PM

You can still find them cheap if you shop around. I found one at Big Lots for $8, which was pretty good.

Originally Posted by rebecca

I bought my first drying rack at a rummage sale for $4.00. Cheap compared to the ones you have to buy in the store.

**AmyBoz** · 05-09-2008, 05:41 PM

I hang dry my clothes on a clothesline in my basement. No foul smell or anything.

**mombottoo** · 05-09-2008, 08:46 PM

When my kids were little I used to put a clothesline up in my basement during the Winter and it worked quite well. They did take a little longer to dry, but I didn't have any issues with things smelling bad.

**Lady_V** · 05-09-2008, 09:02 PM

Hmmm... would a screen-house keep pollen out? If it does... check out freecycle or even a thrift store. I know Kmart has cheapo ones, and it has to cost less than using the dryer.

**PB&J** · 05-09-2008, 09:42 PM

I hang all my boys' tshirts on hangers, then hang them from the door frames or the upper bunk on their bed. I have a clothesline in our yard, but we have lots of laundry so it fills up quick. Plus when I put the wet shirts right onto hangers, they are ready to go into the closet as soon as they are dry, instead of ending up in a laundry basket that my boys will dig through everyday instead of just putting the stuff away. lol

**zazenist** · 05-14-2008, 09:45 AM

I dry things on hangers and racks indoors all the time. I hang some things from the shower curtain rod and others on racks (I have three). On sunny days, I put the racks in front of windows to help them dry. I've never had any problems with odor. If I had a basement, I'd do the indoors clothesline. My parents have always done this, and it works fine.

**pkellyc** · 05-14-2008, 09:58 AM

I hang shirts on plastic hangers and then hang them on my curtain rod in my laundry room with the top half of the window open. The rest on a rack. I put them in the dryer after they are dry for 5 or 10 minutes with a dryer sheet just to soften them up.
We have the same problem as you do. My maple trees are loaded with pollen this year.

**Marie78** · 05-14-2008, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by vigilant20

I live in a small apartment and dry all of my clothes on a drying rack with no problem.

We live in a fairly small apartment and I just got a drying rack, I used to use the shower curtain rod to dry clothes on (but it took a couple of days to dry because of the moisture in the bathroom) and we had to move the clothes when someone needed to take a shower (pain in the butt). I now use my drying rack and I love it, if I wash in the morning the clothes are completely dry by the next morning. I am even considering getting a retractable clothes line. We could attach it to one side of our office wall and then it could extend to the opposite wall when we want to hang clothes on it. My fiance was very against the wall clothesline, because he didn't want our wash hanging in the middle of our office space, so we don't have one yet. If I had a laundry room or a basement I would definitely buy a retractable clothesline, so that I can air dry more clothing.

**Hannahs mom** · 05-14-2008, 10:20 AM

I always have a shower rod full of clothes! I always hang DD's clothes, because they shrink too much. It is a pain in the butt to move them, so I've started hanging them first thing in the morning after my shower or after DH's shower at night. They're usually dry by the next shower time. I love my outside line, but have using the cheap drying racks from walmart too. I put them inside of my tub because I really don't have the room to have them sitting out in the open.

**englishcottage1** · 05-14-2008, 11:27 AM

I can usually hang our clothes outside during the warmer months, that would be about 5 months of the year, I invested in a retractable line for in the house use, it was about $19, I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend that much but because my laudry room is long and narrow and because my basement was unfinished and always seemed damp, I didn't want to use a line down there. I like the retractable line for many reasons, being able to use it for all the winter months and rainy days and holds up to a towel hanging, I have had it now for about four years, so actually it's been about $5 a year so far. I usually hang shirts on hangers and then on the line. For jeans and towels I usually put them in the dryer for about 5 minutes to help soften them up.

**zakity** · 05-14-2008, 12:38 PM

I have heard of people putting those tension rods down their hallways, putting the clothes on hangers, and hanging them on the tension rods.

**kate68ii** · 05-15-2008, 04:05 PM

We hang laundry in our basement as well. I dont have enough room down there to hang up a full load, but I use it for the comforters, sweaters and things that can't be hung outside (because of fading) or things that can't go in the dryer ... our basement is damp at times too, but it works great.