Where do you line dry your clothes?

DivaJen · #1 (**permalink**) 02-01-2005, 10:09 AM

I have some lines outside (they were there when we bought the house) but it isn't enough space to hang dry a complete load. So I also have use hangers and hang things on the shower curtain rod in our extra bathroom (don't have one in our bathroom - we have a separate shower stall). I'm thinking about buying a $10 folding rack for extra drying space.

marla · #2 (**permalink**) 02-01-2005, 10:16 AM

I have two drying racks and they work really well. I use them if I don't have enough room outside and when it is raining, I use them for the heavier clothes.

SeeAPenny · #3 (**permalink**) 02-01-2005, 02:50 PM

In winter I hang clothes on the drying racks in my bathroom. It's big enough to accommodate two large racks and one small -- right near the heat duct so they dry in a flash. Hanging in there doesn't work in warm, damp/humid months however because the clothes take far too long to dry -- so that they actually 'sour' and all that . That's when everything gets moved out to the clothesline again.....

Speaking of clotheslines, I have to say I really love the one my husband rigged up for me. It's based on what we observed when we were driving through southern Ontario a few years back, and haven't seen anywhere else. The outdoor clotheslines in Canada (the area we drove through anyway), from country homes to town homes, were on pulleys. Not unusual in and of itself -- the interesting thing, was that one end would be attached to a pole in the ground, and the other end strung up as high as humanly possible, either at the top peak of the house, of the barn, etc. It was astonishing to see all this laundry flapping in the breeze so far high up overhead -- but it made a lot of sense! For one thing, the extra angle actually makes for a longer line, allowing for more hanging room -- plus, it keeps the laundry up and out of the way overhead, so that one can actual still USE their yard while the clothes dry. The kids can still play, etc. Plus, the pulley system allows several lines to be strung back and forth close together, making even more hanging room. After seeing this, I asked my husband to create a 'Canadian clothesline' for me, and he did -- attaching one end (actually a double line) to the second story of our home with pulleys. Hanging laundry is a snap now. Instead of working my way down the clothesline, lifting and dragging the basket of heavy wet laundry along (not that I don't need the extra exercise), I can just stand in one place and actually move the CLOTHESLINE, pulling it up bit by bit as the clothes are hung (--same thing when the clothes come off -- I just stand there and drop the clothes one-by-one in the basket below). And now when the clothes are hung, it doesn't cut our yard 'in half'. The clothes are up over our heads -- no worries when the kids have friends over to play in the yard, etc.

I don't know why this hasn't caught on everywhere ....

PrincessPerky · #4 (**permalink**) 02-01-2005, 05:32 PM

wow, that would be cool! and so not go over on the yuppies in charlotte!

Momtwo · #5 (**permalink**) 02-03-2005, 08:44 PM

I use racks set up in my bathtubs!

Tree0164 · #6 (**permalink**) 02-04-2005, 04:22 AM

I swear I answered this already LOL

I have two clothing racks that I put in my living room. Takes about 24 hrs to dry.

DivaJen · #7 (**permalink**) 02-04-2005, 07:59 AM

I got a rack that holds a medium sized load of laundry. Yesterday I was able to get a medium and a large sized load of darks done without using the dryer. I think this may work out. I can see how doing all the laundry in one day will mean using the dryer, though.

PrincessPerky · #8 (**permalink**) 02-04-2005, 09:57 AM

Aha! so I am not the only one whos laundry takes 24 hours to dry! I thought I might be doing something wrong. (mine is in the closet btw - open door)

Tree0164 · #9 (**permalink**) 02-05-2005, 01:45 AM

It could take shorter but I don't really check it sooner than that. Once it get warmer it goes out on my porch which usually just takes a few hours.

CherylOK · #10 (**permalink**) 02-07-2005, 09:19 PM

I hang clothes on hangers on the shower rod. I had to nail little pieces of wood beneath each end tho...the weight was pulling the rod down. I hang the smaller pieces on a rack in the tub.

I ususally turn on the little space heater and shut the door.

My dryer went out a couple of months ago, so I will be using my outdoors clothesline when it's warm enough.

I'm in the country and the most frustrating part of hanging clothes in the summer is the chiggers!!! If I can get a deck off my back door, I will also put up one of the pulley type lines, so I can stand on the deck and hang the clothes!

mom-from-missouri · #11 (**permalink**) 02-08-2005, 10:05 PM

I just put up a couple of retractable ones in my game room. When not in use, they roll back up against the wall.

Tammy · #12 (**permalink**) 02-09-2005, 03:36 AM

We use a drying rack in the kitchen or the clotheseline out back.

csaville · #13 (**permalink**) 02-09-2005, 01:39 PM

I use a drying rack and hang clothes on hangers in the bathroom. My mom has a bar above her washer/dryer - similiar to a curtain rod. It's high enough to be out of the way - so she can continue to use the washing machine if needed. My grandmother has a pole that has a retractable line. You pull that baby out and stake it when you want to use it, and then when not in use, it doesn't take up much room.

MargaretKur · #14 (**permalink**) 02-15-2005, 01:51 PM

We have two drying racks, one in the bedroom and one in the "back room" plus in the back room we have pegs. Outside we use an old metal tree trimmer pole balanced between branches of a tree. We can put clothes on hangers and use that, too.

There's no washer/dryer hookup where we live, so it's either do hand laundry or go to the laundromat. I wash underwear by hand daily and do other lightweight clothes once I get enough to put in my small laundry tub which will fit into my kitchen sink. That's enough laundry to fit on the racks and on the pole outside.

In the winter our clothes can dry rather quickly, but in the summer (FL) it can take longer. We have no central heat or air, just fans and one portable electric heater. The humidity is the culprit. We just turn the fans on high for awhile if necessary when it's really humid.

Summertime is risky if you hang clothes outside. You can't do it and then leave home because it's rainy season. Just have to put them on the racks and be patient if you're not going to be home.

The clothes don't shrink from dryer heat and smell so much fresher when air dried.

Wish we had a place to put a clothesline, though, but oddly enough we have a short back yard (if you could call it that) maybe about 10 feet from the back door. The side and front yards are big (we live on a corner lot) but since there are tenants on the north side of the house, we can't use the north yard space. It has too much shade and too little breeze, so it would probably take forever to dry anything there anyway.

Waiting for spring, everyone? Me, too!

gakline · #15 (**permalink**) 02-15-2005, 02:42 PM

I'm in a townhouse, so no line drying for me. It's against the association. That and I don't know if I'd like my neighbors, who's patio is literally 15 feet away, seeing everything. So the best alternative: Drying rack and hangers. I only have one drying rack, but I'm on the lookout for one from a garage sale this spring (Can't wait for that either). Otherwise it's on hangers in the laundry room and on the door molding in the laundry room doorway.

Razzy · #16 (**permalink**) 03-28-2005, 07:52 AM

I love to hang my clothes, I have a line in my hall and hang clothes from there. I also have some tension rods in my hall that I hang clothes on from hangers. I also utilize my bathroom's tension rod to hang clothes on. When I hang clothes in the bathroom I put my fan on so the drying time is shortened. Now if I have big heavy items such as comforters and jeans those go in the dryer or when I'm sick and don't have the energy to hang clothes I use my dryer.

Razzy

PRICEPLUS · #17 (**permalink**) 03-28-2005, 12:14 PM

The basement is not finished and so we have a line and a few racks set up down there. In order to avoid wrinkles on some items we put them in the dryer and run it to warm them up. We then hang the item on a haner or spread it out on the line. We save a lot of time and effort by not having to iron.

Razzy · #18 (**permalink**) 03-28-2005, 12:26 PM

The only clothes we regularly put in the dry are my dh's work clothes. Unfortunatly he does not take them out of the dryer as soon as they are dried so then he as to iron them. Depending on how think the towel is or if we have jeans then I will put those items and bedding in the dryer..

Razzy

Bluezy · #19 (**permalink**) 07-30-2005, 01:50 AM

I have to hang our washing in the bath. When my son and I get larger living space, I will get one of the roundabouts for the back yard....the ones that rotate inthe wind. Those dry your clothing the best.

Razzy · #20 (**permalink**) 07-30-2005, 06:53 AM

Many people don't realize you can hang clothes from door knobs as well. The way I see we all need to get creative and use anything that has a hook on it (or make into a hook) to hang our clothes from and not use our dryers as much and save money on electricty.

razzy