Comments on: Line drying laundry — an update

By: Maite

Maite — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:15:44 +0000

I’m from Spain and here it’s very common to line dry clothes. In fact very few people own laundry driers, it’s a relatively “new” appliance here. I usually do laundry 4-5 times a week. I do it in the night, before going to sleep and hang it (in a drying rack in my case, as I live in an apartment) and leave it till the next day in the afternoon. Uusally it’s enought. In order to avoid stiffness of towels I use more softener.

By: Is gardening really frugal? An update

Is gardening really frugal? An update — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:12:39 +0000

[…] Karen on August 2, 2011 Since I wrote an update on how line drying is going and what I’ve learned from that last week, I thought I’d share how things are […]

By: Lisa @Granola Catholic

Lisa @Granola Catholic — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 21:30:14 +0000

I don’t know if you have tried it yet, but a little white vinegar in the rinse cycle seems to help the stiffness of towels on the line. This summer we have had a wasp problem near our clothes line and have had wasps found in dresser drawers. We decided to get a dryers rack to dry clothes inside with the help of the ceiling fan. The drying rack will come in handy when the rainy weather sets in too.

By: Mrs. Money

Mrs. Money — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 17:03:17 +0000

In reply to Karen. Holy cow! I'll have to try to work that in on weekends. There is nothing like sleeping in sheets that have been dried outside. I love that smell!

By: Kacie

Kacie — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 04:04:29 +0000

My washer and dryer aren’t that big in this apartment so maybe that’s also part of why I need to wash so often. ALSO the dryer takes all the ding dong day. It’s probably not vented very well. Looking forward to using my new machines!

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 22:43:44 +0000

I line dry as long as I can (I’m in NH, so from May to the end of October?). We have a fairly secluded backyard and an umbrella clothesline, so I hide undies on the innermost lines and put other stuff on the outside. I do keep an eye on the weather but if it rains it doesn’t really bother me–I just leave it out there till it dries. I sometimes fluff towels in the dryer for ten minutes, and it always makes them as soft as if they had been in there the whole time. I’m pretty careful with how I hang clothes so I don’t have lots of clothespin marks, but once in awhile I have to iron items. It’s just my husband and myself so there’s not too much stuff. I agree it takes some planning and getting into a system, but I think it’s worth it.

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 22:08:46 +0000

In reply to Mrs. Money. How long do you leave it out? Even in this absurd humidity the past couple weeks, I haven't had a problem as long as I leave it hanging out ALLLLL day. Like 10 hours. Maybe try that?

By: Mrs. Money

Mrs. Money — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 22:04:04 +0000

AHH THAT PICTURE. He is so freaking cute.

I haven’t been line drying our laundry because when I hang it out it doesn’t dry completely due to humidity. I wonder if there’s something else I could do?

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:46:28 +0000

In reply to Kacie. A load every other day = 7 loads in 2 weeks. So we probably have close to the same amount of laundry (probably a little less because we have one fewer kid than you!) I just choose to do it all at once instead of spacing it out. It would probably be much easier on me if I did it every day, but to be honest, with line drying I think it’s easier to do it all at once. It can feel like such an undertaking to hang everything. I prefer to reserve it for an every other week chore instead of getting out there and hanging clothes a few times a week.

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:39:28 +0000

In reply to Kacie. It's usually 5 or 6 loads including towels and jeans. Tony and I each use one towel per week, and we don't wash jeans after every wear. I also think I overstuff my washer. Eep. It's a big washer, though, so it can handle it. It's probably closer to 7 or 8 reasonable loads, though.