Line Drying Clothes

[lvpets2002]

I use hangers to line dry as well.. I grew up line drying cloths & still do.. Its a hard habit to break.. Oh but I think the cloths last longer & smell better..

Kari, I have actually hung shirts on hangers and hung them on the line to dry. Sometimes a pin will hold the hanger if it's breezy that day.

I had forgotten about hanging the shirts upside down.

[carole]

you can buy these little plastic things here that you put on the corners of a round clothesline, and then put your hanger with the shirt on it into, this way the wind does not blow them away and they sit pretty secure in there most of the time.

[Edwina's Secretary]

I am curious Kari, is it uncommon for people to not line dry in America,?

Carole...many housing developments in the US have convenants that do not allow clothes lines outside.

Mine does not. I have a metal drying rack that cannot be seen from the street but being so close to the ocean it has rusted and is unusable now.

I was inspired when visiting Killearn Kitties by her clothes line that drops down from the kitchen ceiling. The light fixture made that impossible for me but a little research and I was able to find one that pulls out from the wall and is in my laundry room.

[gini]

When I lost my tree, I also lost the clothes line

But I used to put a small piece of cloth under each clothes pin (spring type) and that prevented the clothes pin mark from happening.

Maybe cut up one of the diapers into little squares???

I also hung shirts by the hems.

[Daisy and Delilah]

When I lost my tree, I also lost the clothes line

But I used to put a small piece of cloth under each clothes pin (spring type) and that prevented the clothes pin mark from happening.

Maybe cut up one of the diapers into little squares???

I also hung shirts by the hems.

This is a great idea!! I never thought of anything so clever. Back in the day, when we used to line dry all the time, I wish I would have known that.

[finn's mom]

I like the idea of the little cloth between the pin and the item! I'll have to cut up one of the prefolds and use it for that purpose. So far, I've had great luck with the clothes I've hung. I just can't get over how cute the baby clothes look hanging outside. They are so stinking tiny! I just got a package yesterday with some newborn sized onesies, and they are unbelievably small! I'm taking one of them to the hospital with us as an option for Clara to come home in, just in case she doesn't fit in the other thing we chose.

I have had good luck so far with pinning shirts under the arm where all the seams meet, great idea! And, several things I've hung by the tags or by the drawstrings (like David's gym shorts). I love the clothes line!

[Grace]

I got this in an email today, and it fits right in with this topic.


A POEM

A clothes line was a news forecast
To neighbors passing by.
There were no secrets you could keep
When clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link
For neighbors always knew
If company had stopped on by
To spend a night or two.

For then you'd see the 'fancy sheets'
And towels upon the line;
You'd see the 'company table cloths'
With intricate design.

The line announced a baby's birth
To folks who lived inside
As brand new infant clothes were hung
So carefully with pride.

The ages of the children could
So readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed
You'd know how much they'd grown.

It also told when illness struck,
As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,
Haphazardly were strung.

It said, 'Gone on vacation now'
When lines hung limp and bare.
It told, 'We're back!' when full lines sagged
With not an inch to spare.

New folks in town were scorned upon
If wash was dingy gray,
As neighbors carefully raised their brows,
And looked the other way...

But clotheslines now are of the past
For dryers make work less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is anybody's guess.

I really miss that way of life.
It was a friendly sign
When neighbors knew each other best
By what hung on the line!