Need Advice for Drying Clothes on a Clothesline

I have found that if my clothes come out stiff on the clothesline, I am using too much soap and it is not all getting rinsed out. Try cutting back on the soap and see if that helps. No idea what to do about the basement, I haven't tried doing that because of that issue. Good luck.

After the clothes are dry bring them in and put them in the dryer on low heat just for a little while.

I hang my clothes right in the laundry room. Then when they are dry and stiff - I put them in the dryer for 5 minutes or so, just to heat them up and fluff them up. It does soften them up a bit.

Hi H.,

A couple of months ago, I bought a wooden drying rack from a company called Lehman's. It was handmade by an Amish family, and I can fit 2 loads of laundry on it. It folds down very compactly, and I store it under our futon when it's not in use. A drying rack would allow you to dry the clothes in a room other than your basement. The drying racks sold at Target and Wal-Mart are poorly made; I had one fall apart on me after 2 uses. Send me a private message if you'd like Lehman's info.

Regular old white vinegar is a wonderful, inexpensive, natural fabric softener. Use about 1/2 cup to a large load. I add it after the washer has partly filled with water, but before I add the clothes.

I dry everything on my drying rack, and between vinegar and my homemade detergent recipe (see below), I don't have an issue with stiff clothes.

Good luck!

Homemade Laundry Detergent:
Equal parts of: (1) Grated Fels Naptha Soap; (2) Arm & Hammer WASHING Soda; and (3) Borax. You only need 1 to 2 tablespoons per load, so a little goes a long way.

I second Cassandra's advice. In addition to all she suggests, I say get a clothes wringer. (Cassandra does it the old fashioned way like my grandma, and the clothes really do turn out good). The wringer is a good investment for anyone if for some reason the power goes out, or you truly just want to avoid using heavy appliances like the washer and dryer.

For us, the wringer made all the difference in the world when we don't use the washer and dryer for whatever reason. Especially during the winter months when you can't take things outside because they'd freeze. Though I do know someone who hangs stuff on clotheslines outside in the winter. While still stiff/frozen, they press the clothes with an iron on the dry heat setting, right after bringing the clothes inside (before they thaw) and in no time (so they tell me) the clothes are dried and pressed! I've never tried it, so I don't know how they're able to do this without problems.

Anyway, if you have a really moist basement, you may run into moldy clothes! With a good, heavy duty wringer, you will get your clothes pretty close to dry, cutting down on air drying time. You can buy the wringers at Lehmans.com or do a search on the internet and price check around. They screw/clamp on the the side of any steel washer tub or even the tub in your basement.

The wringers are powerful enough to squeeze water from a big comforter, but gentle enough to run a cashmere sweater through if you were into handwashing fine garments.

If you have a safe heat source (not a space heater or anything that could be a fire hazzard if the clothes fall on it) such as a woodburing stove or fireplace, you can take advantage of that dry heat and put your clothes drying rack in the room near by not next to the stove/fireplace. That speeds things as well, and also helps with the stiffness issue.

Lastly, I've found very well made but cheaply priced drying racks at IKEA. If you can't get to an IKEA store just go to their website at www.ikea.com. Lillian Vernon has some good laundry extras too, such as retractable wall drying racks, mesh drying shelves for sweaters, and more. Go to www.lillianvernon.com.

Hi H.! I use a clothesline alot too and after the clothes are dry I throw them in the dryer for about 5 min. to "fluff". The basement thing I can't help with. I hate my basement so I dry my clothes upstairs in the winter.

I "inherited" a huge drying rack from my husband's grandmother, and I use two cheaply made, easily broken ones from Target as well, and I just dry laundry in my living room! Especially once it's cold enough not to hang out anymore (I hung out this weekend...one last time!), we have the heat on and the moisture from the clothes humidifies our house nicely and the dry, dry winter air dries the clothes very, very quickly so I don't have to leave them hanging there for days.

We use a drying rack in a spare bedroom and put a fan on the clothes. Then we just fluff the clothes for about 5 mins and that helps them not have the board stiff feeling. Yeah for you wanting to conserve!!!

I too, always use my clothesline. To get clothes soft, you can either shake them out, or put them on "fluff" in your dryer for 15 minutes. Jeans will never be soft after hanging on the line, tho. Better off in the dryer if the stiffness bothers you. I don't hang in my basement, so nothing to offer there.

A big help is to run an extra spin cycle on the clothes. That will get lots more water out and make line or dryer time much shorter. It might also help with the basement because they won't be so dripping wet.
J.

Good for you! I LOVE using my clothesline! I don't use fabric softener, but the only laundry I have that gets stiff outside is towels. Solution: after you bring them in, throw them in the dryer for about 10 min.

I also have a clothesline in the basement, but I don't use it for the same reason you said. Solution: I invested in a couple of those expandable drying racks (you can find them at Walmart of Target) and I just hang everything on those upstairs.

We hang everything except for towels and socks /underwear. I cant stand that those things get rough. As for the other things we do try to hang things up on the "living" level as I thing clothes take too long to dry in a damp basement. We have used a fan in the basement and that helps but I'd rather have them in one of our rooms over night rather than a couple of days in the basement. Those hanging racks really work well, you can get one for everyones room and hang them in the room they will eventually end up in.

Okay, they took my suggestions...

However, one thing you could do is to ask someone at HomeDepot about their "odor eaters" (paint department, I think).

Another thing is to have a bowl of charcoal in the basement for the odor.

And, to go along with the fan...my mom does this...use air filters on the sides of the fan. (I'd also use dryer sheets to add a nice scent...IF the mustiness is gone...some scents just don't go well with musty.)

Hi H., I wish I could say that I hand dry my kids and most of my clothes to save money but I think I am neurotic about keeping the clothes from fadig fast ans shrinking. I usually don't use the basement unless I waited too long and all clothes don't fit into my kids bathroom. I hang them up on the shower curtain and also in their closet as needed. We don't have doors on their closets. It works wonders. The clothes usually dry over night quicker in warmer weather. I love the smell and feel of clothes off the line--since we had a clothesline growing up. However in both subdivisions I lived(both in Ohio and Nebraska) it was against the covenants to have a clothes line that when I started using the bathroom.Hope this helps.
L.

hello sahm, one thing that may help is to line dry them and separate the items between the "kinda feels good like this (jeans, tshirts, sweaters, sheets, dishcloths for me)" and the "ouch (towels and washclothes)"
the items you cannot bear to wear fresh off the line can always be thrown in the dryer after they are dry with a laudry dryer ball. this usually will even dispel the basement smell with a little baking soda in a tightly closed cotton tea bag.
if the items are to be ironed, you have a step up on the stiffness and can by pass the starch.
hope this helps.
peace, L.

My experience is that line dried clothes will just be stiffer. I guess it just hasn't bothered me or our family. I don't know about using softeners. You do want to do extra spin though to remove as uch water as possible.

I haved used a clothesline a lot and what worked for me is to use a little more softener then the bottle says and to wring them out really good before hanging them. as for the basement I would spray the clothes with febreeze before you hang them and they should stay smelling fresh.

H.~
I too hang our clothes out on the line and don't the sctratchy feeling they get. So I just throw them in the dryer for a few minutes when I take them off the line. They are already dry and they softten up with just a quick tumble. Hope this helps!
~T. T.

I also hang dry my clothes..mostly because of the shrinking problem, but its a double bonus with the energy saved! I have always used a drying rack. I have a wooden one from Target, my moms is metal... spend the extra few bucks its so worth it! Our laundry room is on the same level at the bedrooms so I don't have the basement problem, but you could just bring them up wet since they will have to go to the bedrooms when there dry anyway. For the stiffness I either give them a good shack or toss them in the dryer on fluff for 5 min. Hope you find something that works.

Just a small tip to add to what's already on here - when I use dryer sheets, I tear them into fourths. Particularly if you're only going to toss some stuff in the dryer for ten minutes or so, it's a good way to save money. Even when I dry a whole load completely though, I still only use a quarter-sheet.

Fluff your laundry in the dryer for 5 minutes *before* you put it on the line. You can use a no-heat setting. This works tons better than fluffing after the clothes are already dry on the line (I do this with cloth diapers, and they are as soft as can be).

To resolve the stiffness, mustiness, wrinkles, and lint that are the result of line drying...Just toss each load into the dryer for 10 minutes. You are still saving tons of dryer time.

How about drying them on the line and then just throwing them in your dryer with a fabric softener for 10 minutes to fluff them up again?

my neighbor hangs out all her stuff. She uses fabric softeners but says you HAVE to shake the clothes hard before you hang them and then again when you pake them down. What I do sometimes is let them dry out doors and then pop them on fluff in the dryer for just a few min. As far as the basement goes they will probably get the musty smell so you might want to partially dry them then put them in the dryer for the finish

i don't even have a dryer so all our clothes are hung up and i never have the problem of stiffness. i use a downy ball in my washer and use "extra" fabric softener. i do over fill the ball though too!! i wash every thing this way and never have any problems. maybe try another kind of fabric softener!!!

Dry them outside when you can. The clothes won't be as stiff...but still stiffer, but the fresh air smell of them cannot be beat. I think the wind blowing them takes some of the stiffness out. I only do towels, sheets and blankets outside, and I am kind of bummed over the winter when I can't put them outside.

I have a high power engery efficency fan in my basement- clothes dry overnight - I don't get that musty smell- I bought my fan @ target end of summer last year on clearance. you could use any fan for that matter. Still cheaper than a dryer. saves the life of your clothes too!

Hi H.!
Whenever I hang dry my clothes, I always throw them in the dryer with a dryer sheet just on the no heat or fluff cycle to get the musty or stiffness. I only put them in for 15 minutes or so, so I'm still saving money!