How to Hang Your Laundry Outside

There's nothing better than the smell of laundry hung outside in the fresh air to dry. While it's absolutely true that hanging your white items in the sun will help to keep them white, its' also true that laundry hung outside may tend to dry stiffer and slightly more wrinkled than in the dryer. Here are a few tips that will help you eliminate these problems, and allow that clean air smell to permeate your freshly laundered items.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Clothesline or clothes rack
• Clothes pins
• Freshly laundered items

1. The first step is proper placement of your clothesline. The wind should blow across the lines to get the most benefit. If possible, position your line or rack where it will get partial shade during part of the day. This will allow you to hang the darker color laundry out of direct sunlight so it won't fade. Beware of trees bearing feathered friends, as they could decide your laundry makes a good target.

2. Hang your laundry as soon as possible after the washing cycle has finished. Shake each piece briskly to help eliminate wrinkles and to fluff the towels. If you do your laundry at a laundromat, fold the wet clothes before putting them in your basket to take home. This too will help eliminate the wrinkles.

3. To decrease wrinkles -- hang skirts by the waistband and slacks by the cuffs. Shirts can be hung by the tails, or on hangers clipped to the line. Sweaters, blouses and polo type shirts should be turned inside out and placed on hangers. Dresses can be hung over the line at the waist, allowing the sides to drape down and blow in the breeze. The more air you have blowing through your clothes -- the less wrinkles you should have. Some touch up may be needed depending on the fabric.

4. Socks will dry softer when hung by the toe, keeping the pairs together and clipping back to back on the line. White underwear will love the sun, and should be turned inside out when hung up. T-shirts should be hung from the bottom of the shirt, but loosely so as not to stretch it out. If there is a relatively shady spot on your clothes line, hang the ladies delicates there. They will benefit from the air drying, while still maintaining their shape and elasticity.

5. Towels should be hung by the short side, with colors benefiting from shadier spaces. Bed linens can be folded in half over the line, allowing each side to flap in the breeze. Comforters or heavier blankets can also be stretched over more than one line so as not to be too heavy for just one area. Hang one 1/3 of the blanket over the first line, and another 1/3 over the line in the next row, allowing about 1/3 to span the distance between the rows.

Tips & Warnings

• Wash your wooden clothes pins in salt-water before using to keep them lasting longer.
• Fold the laundry as you take it from the lines to help prevent wrinkling.
• If the weather is bad - hang your laundry inside on a clothes rack - it will add humidity to the house while saving you on electric or gas bills.