How to Dry Laundry on a Clothesline
Exercise your “right-to-dry” clothes outdoors, saving energy, reducing wear on your clothes and catching that natural scent that fabric softeners and dryer sheets try to achieve. Clotheslines are available inexpensively and in different configurations to work for the most expansive space as well as the smallest. Consumer Reports estimates that the direct cost savings from drying your clothes naturally may add up to less than $100 a year, but the other benefits make it a worthy endeavor. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
-
-
1
Select the type of clothesline that best suits your needs. A retractable clothesline attaches to a wall and has a cord that extends up to 40 feet that reels back in when not in use. A retractable clothesline is a good choice for tight spots or areas used for more than one purpose. An umbrella-style clothesline is relatively inexpensive, opens to hold a full load of wash and folds down when not in use.
-
2
Situate your clothesline in a convenient location, preferably near your backdoor, ideally in a location that gets plenty of sunlight and air circulation. Avoid locations under trees where debris or bird droppings can fall on your laundry.
-
-
3
Select peg or pinch clothes pins. One piece pegs slide down over the clothes to hold them to the line. Spring clothespins that are made of two pieces of plastic or wood, held together by a spring. These pinch open and closed to fasten your clothes.
-
4
Wash your clothes as usual, then carry them outside to the clothesline in a laundry basket. You may choose to hang your underwear inside the house on a clothes rack for privacy or hang undergarments on the inside of your clotheslines with towels and sheets on the outside lines, hiding them from view.
-
5
Shake each piece of laundry as you pull it out of the basket and smooth wrinkles with your hands as you hang it on the line.
-
6
Overlap the corners of adjacent items so that one clothespin can hold two items. Clip socks together in pairs and hang them together on the clothesline.
-
7
Fold sheets in half so that they will fit on the line. Hang pants and jeans upside down with the legs apart to dry faster and minimize wrinkles.
-
8
Remove laundry from the clothesline promptly when it dries. The longer it hangs, the stiffer it becomes. On a sunny day with a light breeze, a load of laundry can dry in an hour, about the same as in an electric dryer. On an overcast or humid day, it might take a little longer.
-
9
Fold your laundry as it comes off the line.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
It can take some adjustment to get used to the stiff feel of clothes that have been line dried. Your clothes will soften as you wear them.
References
- Photo Credit Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
