Do you use a clothesline????

[PrincessTeresa]

When my parents first got married in 1964, they didn't have a dryer. One weekend, they went to the grocery store to get a few things. There was a pet store right next to the grocery store. My mom got groceries....my dad bought a puppy. A german shepard. She said she remembers hanging sheets out to dry and having to rewash them over and over again because the dog would walk under them to cool off. LOL

 

[declansdad]

but the sun damages clothes............

And a dryer wouldn't????


Come on people, a clothes line is the most effective and efficient way to dry your clothes.

 

[pearlieq]

Our HOA doesn't permit them.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

Way too sunny (fading) and humid (not to mention rainy) here for a clothesline. I do dry a lot of stuff for 5-10 minutes to de-wrinkle, then hang up on a bar in the laundry room to dry.

Re: sun fading, my brother and father got the same velour shirt (this was the 70s!! ) for Christmas one year. A year or two later, my brother happened to wear his shirt to the house. My dad's shirt was MUCH more faded from being hung out on a line to dry, compared to my brother's shirt, which was always dried in a dryer.

Of course, this was in Florida, so people in states farther from the equator may have a different experience.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

And a dryer wouldn't????


Come on people, a clothes line is the most effective and efficient way to dry your clothes.

Efficient (as in uses less energy), yes, but effective depends on where you live.

I grew up in Miami and my parents didn't have a clothes dryer. I can't tell you how many times our clothes got caught in afternoon showers (and let's not even talk about bird poop! ).

 

[TwistofLemon]

I use my clotheslines all the time. In the winter, I've had things freeze before I've finished hanging that load. I admit, I am obsessed.

I'm also stubborn. I refuse to pay the gas company fifty cents to a buck per load, when the sunshine will dry everything for free. Not to mention, I'm one of those people who actually sends money to environmental groups. I sincerely think we need to take care of our planet...it's the only one we have.

I do have a confession to make. Everything gets hung out on the line. Except for my unmentionables. On the other hand, I have no problem displaying DH's and DS's boxers for all the neighbors to see.

 

[basas]

Yeah, we do sometimes. Or just throw it on the deck benches...

 

[lucas]

No, I don't like stiff clothes.

 

[mommasita]

I do, and I love it.. There is nothing better to be than freshly washed and line dried bedsheets/comforter..Pure heaven to me

 

[winniedapooh]

I love to hang my clothes on the line in the summer! I am a teacher, so I do not have time to do it during the school year, but I do all summer. I love the way the clothes smell, how white the whites get, and I even love the crunchy towels and how they soften immediately on contact after a shower.
Plus, I like to think it is doing a little bit of good for the environment. It may sound very goofy or "new agey" but I do try to lesson my carbon footprint in any way I can.

You took the words right out of my mouth!

 

[kribit]

We did in our first house because the line was already there and at first I thought it was a little "old ladyish." Then my husband took our sheets in one day and they smelled so fresh and new. Like one of the other posters, if I could I would.

 

[Nutsy]

I surely do and when it's a bit overcast or raining I hang the washing in the garage

 

[Nutsy]

Way too sunny (fading) and humid (not to mention rainy) here for a clothesline. I do dry a lot of stuff for 5-10 minutes to de-wrinkle, then hang up on a bar in the laundry room to dry.

Re: sun fading, my brother and father got the same velour shirt (this was the 70s!! ) for Christmas one year. A year or two later, my brother happened to wear his shirt to the house. My dad's shirt was MUCH more faded from being hung out on a line to dry, compared to my brother's shirt, which was always dried in a dryer.

Of course, this was in Florida, so people in states farther from the equator may have a different experience.

All depends on how you hang it out. I hang all my stuff inside out so the sun doesn't fade it and if t-shirts have a print (one that can't be ironed over) on them I keep them inside out of the sun. Very few of our clothes are faded.

 

[Cindy B]

I used to do it a lot with my other house. In this house, there is a clothesline in the basement that I use for unmentionables, blankets, etc.

When I did use a clothesline, I never put undies outside.

 

[grlpwrd]

We have a HOA that restricts it.

I used to when we lived in WA. This is one reason why I am anxious to return in 3 to 5 years. I will be happy to return to my clothesline, my fruit orchard, and barn.

 

[NewJersey]

My mom does...she absolutely LOVES it.

 

[SadieDog]

Yes, I hang clothes outside and my laundry is not faded, stiff or all wrinkled. In Maine the sun is not as strong, but in the summer if I know something is going to be outside all day and it's a concern, I hang it inside out.

 

[slo]

I don't for 2 reasons:

1) I don't want any allergins on the fabrics because my DH and kids would be sneezing all day.

2) My mom used to until some beetles stuck themselves to the clothes and stained them. That was the day she stopped hanging clothes outside.

 

[MdmMim]

I use a clothesline in the warmer months, and a drying rack by the woodstove when it's cold out. We do have a dryer, but it isn't used much.