I started hanging my laundry outside in 1977 when I lived in upstate New York on a 200 acre revamped estate. We didn’t have a dryer, but we had two large maple trees to support a clothesline. In summer, clothes dried quickly. In winter, they would freeze solid when they first got on the line, but when they were flapping in the breeze, they were dry.
I still hang my laundry year round. In New Mexico, successive sunny, dry days are common. In winter, I hang clothes and leave them out for a couple of days. I take them down in the middle of the day to be sure they are dry. They do have frost on them in the morning, so that has to dry before bringing them in.
In a southwest summer, the sun is so strong and the air so dry, I can hang two or three loads in a day. Sometimes it is dry by the time I am done hanging it! I leave it, though, so the clothes can get that fresh air smell that only hanging offers. It’s also very colorful and fun to look at!
It takes a little planning to use a clothesline. You have to be aware of the weather forecast. I had a neighbor back east who would hang laundry once in a great while, and each time, it poured! If the weather is bad in winter, I hang my clothes on racks inside. You can’t need an item right away to do this! It takes at least a full day or more to dry. I put a rack by the woodstove overnight if I need something soon, but I’m not usually that desperate for clean clothes. I find it easier to plan ahead.
Line drying has other benefits besides that yummy fresh air smell it gives your clothes, towels and sheets:
> The sun is a natural bleach and disinfectant. UV rays bleach out stains and bacteria, creating that fresh air smell I love. The less bleach that needs to be manufactured, the better, too.
> The sun will not damage your clothes the way a dryer can. If you leave them outside for more than a day or two, they will start to fade and deteriorate, though. Clothes last longer when not dried in a dryer. The sun does not shrink your clothes, either!
> You save natural resources by not running a dryer on fossil fuels – electric/coal or natural gas. This will also reduce your carbon footprint. Isn’t that what you want to do by living in an eco-friendly fashion?
> Your utility bill will be lower. Any time you save natural resources, you are surely saving money.
>Quiet time outdoors doing the repetitive task of hanging clothes is the biggest benefit for me. Mundane tasks allows my mind to sift through all the information that’s gone into it and come out with something worthwhile. I used to write a column of essays called From the Clothesline, because my mind could wander while I was doing this chore. I’d always come up with something interesting about the world – politics, personal stuff, nature, and so on. Hanging laundry produced an endless supply of topics!
Types of Clotheslines
> A clothesline can be a piece of rope from the hardware store strung between two sturdy posts, T-bars or a couple of trees. Don’t buy what they actually call ‘clothesline’, because it is coated in plastic, and clothespins slip on it. If you have cotton rope, which is textured, clothespins stay put. We had a large space when my younger daughter was still in cloth diapers, and we strung enough line to hang three or four loads at a time, including sheets.
> I had a portable, retractable clothesline for a long time. It is a rope that coils up into a small metal container when not in use, and the end has a hook on it. You can attach it to a wall, say in your laundry room, take it camping or string it up outside on good weather days. I love the portability and flexibility of these.
> My mother had an umbrella clothesline that many 50s suburban housewives had. It was a pole in the ground with a system of line strung through four cross-members on top. It didn’t take up much space, and the wind would catch the clothes and spin it around for quicker drying.
> For indoor hanging, get a couple of racks. These are wood or stainless steel, fold up out of the way when not in use, and are a great investment. I’ve had mine about 14 years, and they are still doing their job. I got them when my kids were little, so they are large capacity. I can hang a load on each one!
Start hanging laundry, reduce your carbon footprint, get tuned into your weather patterns, enjoy some quiet time in the sun, and get ready to stick your face in your clean clothes and sniff them as they come off the line! I do this every time…..
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