Drying Clothes on an Outdoor Line

Just buy some wooden clothes pins and used them. Hang the clothes acording to color so that they will not run on each. Colored clothes should be hang when the sun is not to bright so they will not fade. C.

Everybody is right about the clothes line. I grew up with it as well and wish I could do it now but my HOA doesn't allow it. I would double t-shirts, etc and they dried just fine in the southern sun, except where the clips were. But we had lots of laundry. My mother loved the stiff towels, she said they scratched her back while she dried off from the bath. And sheets dried in the sun are wonderful...

The main big help that you will have is a hanging clothes pin bag.... these are wonderful and slide on the line with you as you go along. Get plenty of pins. I prefer the wooden ones. They are inexpensive (or used to be) and every now and then, they will pop apart while you are hanging clothes and go flying. Don't bother trying to put them back to together. Just grab another, then pick up the pieces and throw them away. As far as lingerie, we would hang them on a drying rack, the ones that fold up when you are not using them. These were easy to hide.

I am so envious of your clothes line! When we moved to our current home, we had to leave behind the clothes line and our landlord won't let us put up one. I LOVED hanging the clothes outside! Like someone else mentioned, it is very theraputic! I hung everything from the bottom, too, except for underware. I couldn't bring myself to put what would be against my body on the line and pinch it with a clothes pin. So those I did by the waistband.

I never got a picture of it, but I loved seeing my infant son's clothes on the line...they were so tiny and so many of them, it was absolutely adorable! Enjoy your clothes line and know some of us really want one back! :o) Also, take notice of your power bill, especially if you ran your dryer a lot.

Well, they will smell good. I've done it and I grew up with just a clothes line outside and in the basement for many years. When putting them on the line outside don't do it when the pollen count is real high and you see that yellow/green stuff in the air. When you do hang items out side they seems to dray faster if you hang them as a single item not like two pairs of something back to back. I liked using the wooden clothes pins that can open wide myself. Have poles if needed to raise the lines so they aren't hanging on the ground or touching in any manner on the ground. Use fab softner in the wash so clothes come out soft since your not suing the dryer with a sheet softner. You will like it the clothes really do have a different smell from being outside.

I am an older mom of 3 grown children and 1 small grandchild. I have hung my clothes on the line all my married life (38 years) and love it. I love the smell of the fresh air on my clothes but have to watch out when my neighbors burn leaves! My nicer knit shirts I just fold over the line and try to check after a couple of hours and then flip over to continue drying. I also try to make sure than sleeves hang upside down so the underside will dry. It is great and I wish more people did it but they don't like the "stiffness" which is not really a problem because it does not take any time at all in wearing them to get softened back up. The towels are a little rough but feels good on my skin and once they get damp from me drying they are soft again. Good Luck!

My only worry with outdoor drying is brining more allergens into my home. I have horrible allergies, and with spring and yellow pollen season ahead, I would be a little careful with outdoor drying. You don't want to dry things like your sheets outside, only to bury your face in a pollen covered pillow all night long!

The energy savings is great, and it is surely worth a try. Good luck to you!

Isn't it funny how in one generation we've become so unused to the old-fashioned clothesline? To the point that some folks are even envious of your clothesline?
And what's more, I can't even offer any tips other than watch the forecast for rain!

When I was a kid, there was one mom in the neighborhood who had a clothesline in her yard, which she regularly used. It was an old one, a permanent fixture in the yard, put in before dryers were popular. I think she also had a dryer, but maybe she was just used to using the clothesline, I'm certain it wasn't out of environmental concern. But it was an odd fixture. Her daughter was always a little embarrassed by it - like it made people think they were too poor to afford a dryer.

Now I see clotheslines advertised in high end catalogs. Crazy world.

Hi S.,
This is B. (deaffmommie) on the lists. I dry outside ALL the time. I have two hanging racks i bought from Wal-Mart a long while back and I LOVE them.

I hang everything that is normally hung in my closet and dry them on the hangers. Jeans and pants I have pant hangers for,

When my grandmothers were living, them hung EVERYTHING out to dry. There are clothespins that have a spring to them, and can be purchased at Wal-mart as well.

I use a good softener in my wash but NOT on my towels, because the terry fabric will loose absorbency when "softened" too many times.

Things that take a long time to dry like towels and jeans, need to be done first thing in the morning and hung out to dry. You can hang things out year round, but remember in the winter it takes things longer to dry, because the heat isn't as high. I can remember drying my son's diapers on the line and my daughter's as well. So it's something that really helps the environment and will cut your electric/gas bill somewhat.

I do dry my undies, socks and towels. but most everything I wear goes to be hung. I also use the timed drying cycle (so not to over dry)and waste resources.

Hope this helps.
B.
deaffmommie
p.s I LOVE the scent the outdoor drying gives the clothes. It brings back fond memories of my grandmothers. :o)

I simply adore hanging clothes outside on a line! Be sure to use fabric softner in the wash so they don't get stiff! I have pretty severe OCD so when I hang my things on the line they are all hung in order! Towels first then washcloths, underwear next then socks and on to the rest of the laundry! I always hung my two daughters clothes seperate, never mixing their things together, that helps when folding or hanging things up. I hung my husbands first then mine, then my oldest and finally my youngest. When I took them off the line I started with the youngest and went from there always in order.
I hope you enjoy hanging your clothes as much as I always did. I no longer have the pleasure of a clothes line and miss it terribly. Spring and Summer are wonderful for line dried clothes, they smell so good and look so pretty all hanging there sorted and in order. Good luck, I think I will look into having a line put up since I read your post and recalled how much I enjoyed using a clothes line!
Take care and happy hanging to you!

Hi S.! About a month ago, I started to dry my clothes outside (drier belt broke and did not feel like fixing it yet). Like everyone else, the smell of clothes that have dried outside is wonderful! I watch the weather all the time - I also started hanging clothes up in the house if I need a load done and the weather is not good outside. I will hang clothes on hangers and put them in each of our bathrooms on the shower rod. It does take a little while, but they do get dry. I received our last electric bill and save $25 but I also have a very old drier that is not energy efficient. It is strange at how relaxing it is for me to just hang clothes up. Oh, one more thing - You have to be careful if you have neighbors who burn trash. Enjoy hanging wash!

No tips really, but once you've dried your sheets outside on a beautiful day you'll never go back to the dryer. The smell is so great! I don't have a line but in the summer I have a cord across my back deck and hang them out. When you hop in bed and breathe in that wonderful outdoor smell, it is so good. Have fun with your clothesline. Well...one tip would be to use fabric softner. It will make your clothes not as stiff from hanging out on the line.

Hi S.,

I use a line regularly and one thing that helps save time is to hang them straight(i.e. by the tail of the shirt). They will dry as if you have ironed them if you do it right. I don't use dryer sheets because if you notice on the warning on the box, most say don't put the sheet directly on clothes, lol!

I agree with Merry about the pollen so just a side note to help, pollen will shake out of dry clothes (not wet or damp) so make sure they are dried completely before bring them in.

Regards,

M.

I too love hanging clothes outdoors on a line. We currently don't have one...soon I'm told! I had to use a pole all the time for the middle of the line, it can quite heavy. It also helped catch the breeze better sometimes. For deep colored shirts I would hang them inside-out for reassurance they wouldn't fade in the sun. I also did the air-dry in the dryer trick for about 5-10 mins to give everything a fluff. I absolutely love the smell of line dried sheets...mmmm!

The only things I won't dry outside are jeans, jean shorts and undergarments. After everything is dry, I toss them in the dryer on air dry to fluff them back up and not feel so stiff. It also gets any dust or pollen off them from being outside-I have seasonal allergies. Only takes about 5-10 mins in the dryer. You may also want to check the tree pollen in your area as it can get so bad in some places it coats everything with a yellow dust-you wouldn't want to drag that in your house!!!

~S.

Once you get used to it I think you are really going to enjoy it. I do.. your clothes will last longer, and smell soo mu7ch better. I even find the time I take hanging the clothes out kind of therapeutic, a nice quiet time to think.

I've always hung cloths out, they smell fresher. Do your wash early in the morning and their ready by the afternoon. It does save on the energy bill.

You just need clothes pins which you can buy at Lowes, Wal-Mart or Home Depot. You mnay not want to dry towels on the line as they will be stiff but can certainly dry that way. I love sheets and pillowcases dried outside. They just smell so fresh. If you hang colored clothes out, be sure and turn the inside out where the sun won't bleach out the color. The sun is wonderful for getting stains out of light colored clothing. In the summer clothes will dry in about 2 hours or less unless they are very heavy. You may want to turn quilts midway through the drying where they can dry as quickly as possible.
V. Ellis

i have just started using a clothes line 2 weeks ago. I am loving it. Everything smells so fresh. You definitely do need a softner in the wash. I can't wait to see the savings on my electric bill. The best part about using it is the peace of it. My daughter laughing cause is outside. The birds chirping. It is actually relaxing!