Yippee! It's clothesline weather!
Sunny and mid-70's here in Portland, and some of my freshly-laundered piles will get the clothesline treatment today. I became a clothesline convert last summer, but there was a little bit of a learning curve so I'm digging up some of our past clothesline posts to help newbie air-dryers get motivated:
Of course you can buy a clothesline pole that you set up in your yard. But if you don't want a permanent structure taking up real estate, here are some alternative ideas:
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I devised a system of lines to hang under our deck, which allows for easy set-up and break-down.
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Renee strings hers between two hedges in her yard. And be sure check out her video that aired on the evening news.
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Becky, who lives in a condo, hung a couple of drying racks from the ceiling of her porch.
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JulieG has one of these super-cool Breezecatcher clotheslines. (Though I think you keep these up, so you have to have dedicated real estate. I love the way they look though.)
Other power-user tips we've learned from our readers (the good stuff is always in the comments!):
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Save real estate on your clothes line by hanging wet laundry on hangers.
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Clip only one bottom edge of your clothing (like a t-shirt) to the line and let the other part hang open in the breeze. It speeds up drying time, truly. Like this:
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Use the extra spin/max extract cycle to wring out as much water as possible to decrease drying time.
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Turn dark clothing inside out to keep from fading.
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To save on clothespins, use one clothespin to clip two pieces of clothing together, like this:
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If your line isn't in full sun, then your clothes might not dry as fast as in the dryer. If you want to dry all of your loads on the clothesline, don't wash back-to-back loads. Maybe one in the morning, one in the afternoon. (Yes, the dreaded advance planning.)
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Towels will get crunchy in the sun, so if this bothers you, use the dryer.
If you really want to get inspired, check out all of our clothesline posts (and seriously, read the comments!):
New perspective on ol' clothesline challenge
Creative (and cheap) clothesline solutions
Summer Clothesline Challenge 2008: bring it on
Yikes. Can you tell we love this subject? Are you ready to air out your not-so-dirty laundry?
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