Clothes Dryers and Laundry Lines

[Cataholic]

I have often wondered about this issue. When I moved into my house, I bought a clothes line to hang clothes to dry (in case some of our younger PTers didn't know). I hang my clothes from April to November. The comments I have received range from "How Earth Friendly/Cool" to "Is your dryer broken"?


Do any of you hang your clothes? Why? Why not? I would like to hear the reasons behind why you do, or why you don't!

[Aspen and Misty]

Of course, and I'm a younger memeber!!!


I hang everything but my personals (just can't do it, lol) I love hanging my blankets out, they smell so much more clean then when you dry them with a machine. I also think they are softer :D

I acctaully wash my blankets morei nthe summer then the winter cause I love the fresh smell of them when they are brought in from the line mmm. I'm gonna go wash my blanket.........


Ash

[slick]

I'm in a condo so I don't have that luxury. I cat-sit for a retired couple who go away frequently and they have a house with a clothes line. I take every opportunity to use it during the good weather. There's just no comparison with the way the clothes smell. Plus it's an energy-saver.

[Pam]

Neat thread! I always used to LOVE to hang things outside. I did it for years! There is nothing like snuggling in bed at night under sheets that have that heavenly clean crisp smell of the great outdoors! Unfortunately, though, I have accidentally brought a few ticks in on the clothes over the years so I gave up my clothesline. I really really do miss it though. :(

[binka_nugget]

I do a bit of both. I hang it up if I don't need it right away but being me, I usually wash and dry my clothes at the last possible second when I need them.

[rg_girlca]

I LOVE hanging my clothes outside. They smell and feel so good when you bring them inside. It seems to be an old trend that is dying out these days. I don't see clothes on the lines as much as I use too. In fact I don't see that many clotheslines anymore.
I think people are just in too much of a hurry these days or just couldn't be bothered. Who knows, but each to their own.

[puppygrrl4eva7]

We used to hang our clothes to dry outside all the time when we first moved in this house. But when we brought in the clothes sometimes there'd be some bugs on our laundry. We don't hang Laundry out to dry anymore.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Since I live in a condo I can't hang anything outside. I do hang dry a few items in my bedroom or bathroom though.

[lizbud]

My house had a single clothes line when I first moved in
and yes, I've used it many times. Mostly for throw rugs & the
heavier items that I don't want to machine dry. It really came
in handy over Labor day weekend.Indy had 7 in. of rain in just
24 hours & most basements flooded. Since I had a zillion rugs
scattered around the basement & family room, I hung them all
out to dry out till washed. Then hung them all out clean to dry
again. My neighbor says she's jealous of my clothes line.:D :D

[mugsy]

I don't hang things out. I'm lazy and hate carrying laundry all over the place. I'm weird because I don't like line dried towels and am not crazy about sheets other than the smell. I like soft stuff and line dried stuff is too scratchy for me. Hey, at least I'm honest!! lol

[wolfsoul]

We did until Timber found it fun to tear the clothes down and drag them across the yard. :rolleyes:

[Cookiebaker]

Nope. No Way. Uh-uh. Not gonna happen.

I *refuse* to hang my clothes outside.

Why do I feel so strongly?? Because my ENTIRE life at home was doing laundry and hanging it out for FIVE people. In 110 degree weather to -15 degree weather. If it started to rain, I had to lug it in, only to have it clear off 20 minutes later and have to go hang everything back out again. The part that really burned was that my two older brothers were allowed to go out and play, but because I was a "girl" I had to do their laundry. Same thing with ironing.

Sorry...I'm off my soapbox now. :o But thanks for asking!! :D

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

I NEVER use the dryer (except to fulff towels). Its so hot here in summer that the stuff dries an about 20 minutes:D

[ChrisH]

I don`t have a dryer, they are quite expensive to run and as there is just me with a little planning drying isn`t such a big problem. I love hanging washing out in the warm weather, not so much fun in wet weather and the winter though! :) I have an pulley clothes rack in my kitchen that I use then.

BTW, my washing machine broke down two weeks ago so I am washing by hand! :( I`d quite forgotten what NOT fun that is!:D Can`t call the repairman out until this coming Friday (pension pay day) but keeping my fingers crossed it can be repaired yet again (it is 15 years old!:D)

[ChrisH]

Originally posted by rg_girlca
I LOVE hanging my clothes outside. They smell and feel so good when you bring them inside. It seems to be an old trend that is dying out these days. I don't see clothes on the lines as much as I use too. In fact I don't see that many clotheslines anymore.
I think people are just in too much of a hurry these days or just couldn't be bothered. Who knows, but each to their own.
Here in the UK you will see lots of them, most people still line dry their washing even if they do have dryers, especially in the warm weather.

[Pam]

Originally posted by Cookiebaker
Nope. No Way. Uh-uh. Not gonna happen.

I *refuse* to hang my clothes outside.

Why do I feel so strongly?? Because my ENTIRE life at home was doing laundry and hanging it out for FIVE people. In 110 degree weather to -15 degree weather. If it started to rain, I had to lug it in, only to have it clear off 20 minutes later and have to go hang everything back out again. The part that really burned was that my two older brothers were allowed to go out and play, but because I was a "girl" I had to do their laundry. Same thing with ironing.

Sorry...I'm off my soapbox now. :o But thanks for asking!! :D

This is very similar to how my husband feels about raking leaves!! When he was a young boy at home there was a HUGE tree in his yard. Four or five people could hold hands and make a circle around that tree. That's how big around it was! Well hubby, being the only son, got the job each fall to rake those leaves! :eek: To this day he absolutely HATES leaves. In fact I am basically in charge of the leaves but it's not so bad with a leaf blower (something that wasn't invented way back then :) ) and we now have a new mower with an awesome mulcher so our work will be even easier! :) (Sorry to go ranting off about leaves in a clothesline thread!) :)

[anna_66]

Originally posted by mugsy
I like soft stuff and line dried stuff is too scratchy for me. Hey, at least I'm honest!! lol
Ahhh, I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. I think the towels and jeans expecially are to hard & scratchy even with fabric softner, so I use my dryer (even though it's 15 yrs old and takes an hour to dry:eek: )

[Tonya]

We had a clothes line here when I first bought this house. We took it down. The main reason is because my dogs would have a field day with my clothes. lol. Also, I think the sun tends to fade the clothes faster. And, I live in a freakin dust bowl. Nothing feels clean around here in the summer. :p

[Miss Meow]

I hang my clothes out on the line if it's not raining and I like to air pillows and quilts on the line. I use the clothes dryer in winter, and give the bed linen a quick blast in the dryer to make sure all the cat hair is out :rolleyes: It does a better job of fur removal than that lovely sunshine!

[lovemyshiba]

I can just see my yard if I hung my clothes out--with these 4 dogs they would be all over the place:D

We often did it growing up, and my parents still do.

I guess living in dorms for a couple years and then apartments for another 7 makes me use the dryer just out of habit. I'm too lazy anyway--often I'm praying for the dryer to finish 5 minutes before I have to leave for work, and every article of clothing I need is in there!

[Cataholic]

Originally posted by Miss Meow
I use the clothes dryer in winter, and give the bed linen a quick blast in the dryer to make sure all the cat hair is out :rolleyes: It does a better job of fur removal than that lovely sunshine!

I do that, too! I always dry the duvet and the blanket over the couch that way...

[micki76]

I line dried for years until my doctor suggested not doing it for a bit and seeing how my allergies did. Well, 6 weeks later I was nearly allergy free. When you line dry, you bring in all the pollen and other allergens. I no longer even have a clothes line. :)

[mugsy]

Originally posted by micki76
When you line dry, you bring in all the pollen and other allergens.

OH GOODIE!!! Now I have an excuse not to line dry. Mike has allergies!! lol

[Felicia's Mom]

When I was living at home, my mother hung clothes on the line in good weather. I also hung them out when I was married and home all day. We don't have a line here, I do have a wooden rack that I sometimes use. That is the closest I come to line drying.

[Nomilynn]

I have a wooden rack that I use in the house for shrinkables, but I don't hang things outside. It seems every time I do that, I bring my clothes in with a bug on them!!! :eek: Also, I don't like my clothes to be "crispy".. I'm with mugsy and Anna on this one.. give me warm, fluffy laundry any day!! :)

[Rachel]

Originally posted by Felicia's Mom
I do have a wooden rack that I sometimes use. That is the closest I come to line drying.


We aren't allowed to have clothes lines in our town. Amazing some things the local government wants to legislate. I too have a wooden rack which I occasionally will put out on the deck in warm weather. The clothes line police probably wouldn't like that either, but as long as the neighbors don't complain, I'm okay.

I am fairly obscessive about how I dry my clothes. With the outer garments, it is generally only a few minutes in the dryer and then hung on the wooden rack, folded in a specific manner. When my husband does it, it is not right, and I have to come around and rehand most of the items on the rack.

[kingrattus]

No clothes lines r allowed in this community, of the city of ottawa.... & u can't paint ur house just any colour, u can't park ur car on the front lawn/grass, can't have a junker where it can been seen from the road, can't have a trailor where it can be seen from the road, can't spit for any reason (including bugs, mucus cause ur sick), can't swear & god knows what other stupid by-laws r in this community.

[Chinadoll]

I guess it depends on where you live. I love the smell and feel of my grandmother's line dried clothes. She lives in southern CA and gets a continual nice ocean breeze in her back yard.

I'd like to hang my clothes outside, but it's too hot and humid here with really no breeze. The last time I tried it, the clothes smelled awful because of the humidity and they were all scratchy.

I do still hang all my delicated and hand washables inside. Actually there are very few things I do put in the dryer...just towels, jeans, t-shirts and pajammas...everything else gets hung.

[Christiansmommy]

I don't close line...and i guess i just never thought to since i have lived on my own. We used to at home, as my mom said, but we also brought in a few caterpillars on the clothes...and i can't stand caterpillars!! Besides all of the pollen that would settle on the clothes...i am highly allergic to pollen...so even though i love the smell of fresh laundry from the clothes line, i probably won't be doing much, if any, of it...not to mention i have a 2 year old running around, who keeps me very busy...it is just quicker to throw it in the dryer :rolleyes:

Does it count that i have wall border in my laundry room, that has pics of laundry hanging out in the sunshine?? ;)

[2kitties]

I use the dryer because I live in a subdivision and the bylaws don't allow clothes lines- and I'm thankful for that.
I also think things feel "crinkly" if dried outside. But, I hang dry many things inside.

[catland]

I like using a clothesline in the summer. I just wish it was bigger because I can only fit two loads of clothes on it. I only have the weekends to use it but I do enjoy it.

I don't like the crunchy bath towels so I put them in the dryer but my husband likes them. He also likes the crunchy blue jeans. I prefer the dryer for them.

[Logan]

No clothes lines allowed where I live either, but I do air dry a lot of our clothes, especially shirts, but since my washer and dryer are in the garage, that's where they hang, on wooden and metal racks until they are dry. BTW, there are no cars in garage, no room! :o