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Post by scrappyoutlaw on Jun 3, 2016 11:59:47 GMT
Do you have one? Do you use it?
I really want to start hanging clothes outside this time of year, running the dryer makes my house HOT!
The problem is I live in a neighborhood where houses are fairly close together. My property size is a quarter acre. Anything I hang in the backyard is visible to the neighbors for the most part. DH refuses any kind of permanent device behind the garage (I was thinking one of those round, tree like lines, but that got squashed...)
Are there ways of going about this without being that weirdo neighbor with their undies flapping in the wind? lol
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2016 12:07:09 GMT
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MorningPerson
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Post by MorningPerson on Jun 3, 2016 12:08:04 GMT
Are there ways of going about this without being that weirdo neighbor with their undies flapping in the wind? lol That's easily solved by hanging everything out but your undies! I grew up out in the country, with fond memories of helping my Mom hang our laundry outside. There's nothing like the smell of fresh, sun- and wind-dried sheets!
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mallie
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Post by mallie on Jun 3, 2016 12:10:17 GMT
So don't hang your undies out.
We used a retractable line in our screened in porch at our former house.
We don't do it any more because with my allergies the last thing I need is to have my clothes drying outside.
(For $ reasons, my mother hung our clothes out. To be honest, I hated it. The clothes were always so stiff and scratchy. Then there was the fun of the boys making fun of your underwear.)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2016 12:12:54 GMT
I have one of those umbrella/tree style ones. umbrella style We live in a neighborhood where you can pretty much see into everyone's yards until grading or privacy fences block your view. My neighbors can all see my clothes when I hang them out but only if they actually go out into their backyards. A nice feature of it is that it is removable. You set the insert into the ground permanently but the actual umbrella part can be removed, collapsed and put away for the winter months. I get it out every May and put it away in September and dry the majority of my clothes outside during those months. I've noticed that I'm a rarity in my neighborhood. I have it positioned in a corner of my yard that gets plenty of sun, away from the trees so less chance of bird poop, and it's right behind the house. Even though you can't really see it from the street except for at one point, I do put any underwear in the middle part and shirts/pants on the outside. Sometimes, I just do a load of just underwear and socks and toss those in the dryer by themselves and just put everything else outside. Who cares what the neighbors think? If anything, you're being energy smart and earth friendly. If we had a longer warm season, I'd use the clothesline more. Just don't be like one of the neighbors on my street that leaves stuff out on the line for days.
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ellen
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Jun 30, 2014 12:52:45 GMT
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Post by ellen on Jun 3, 2016 12:17:30 GMT
I have a retractable clothes line. I ordered it online for about $50 or so. I have had it several years with no problems. One part is on my house and the hook is on a garage that is a bit less than 30 feet behind my house. When done using it, I just reel it in. It's pretty ideal. My sister also has a retractable line. She does not have the same type of building set up that I do, so they have a post that they hook the line to. When she's done using it, everything disappears but the post.
I don't hang towels out on the line, so I usually just throw the underwear in the dryer to dry with those. If I'm not drying towels it is pretty easy to hide them among other items. My daughters never had a problem with me hanging their underwear on the line because they knew no one could see them.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2016 12:19:32 GMT
Yes, most people hang their laundry outside here unless of course it's raining. I have a rotary line which is great as it spins in the wind,doesn't take up much room and can be folded and covered when not in use. like these I don't use my dryer unless the weather isn't favourable to hang outside.
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Post by myboysnme on Jun 3, 2016 12:25:56 GMT
So many places don't allow clothes lines and I haven't had one for decades. But I need one and have thought about trying to put one up under the radar so my fence will hide it but it would have to be too low for sheets.
My mother still uses a clothes line and oh the sheets are so fresh and her electric bill is so much lower.
I still have a candy tin full of clothes pins/clips somewhere. This is a great idea you have!!
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Jun 3, 2016 12:34:58 GMT
I don't have a clothes line here as my backyard is far too shaded. I do use one of those foldable racks linked above to air dry things out on the deck sometimes. I miss having a clothesline for bed linens -- makes them smell so good!
As far as worrying about hanging out your undergarments... you could get a clothes line setup that has multiple lines. That way the undies can be hung to inside and "hidden" from view.
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Post by anxiousmom on Jun 3, 2016 12:50:12 GMT
I don't have a clothes line, but I have a porch railing around a rather long back porch and a very long temperate weather season. I hang dry almost everything from the porch railing (on hangers) except undergarments. Towels and other items that I don't want to be scratchy get thrown in the dryer for a few minutes to soften them after they dry outside.
If it is raining, the clothes get hung on the boy's bathroom shower rod. It's an old house and is bolted into the wall so it can handle pretty a hefty load.
It is rare that I run the dryer.
(Bonus: My clothes last longer-both color and fabric-because they don't get dried. My dark clothes don't fade a quickly and the cheap stuff lasts longer.)
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hannahruth
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Post by hannahruth on Jun 3, 2016 12:56:18 GMT
We have always had an outdoor clothesline and can't imagine not being able to hang the washing out to dry.
I very rarely use the dryer other to fluff up the towels and make sure that they are really dry.
In the winter months I have a small umbrella style one that stands in the garage out of the weather.
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Post by countrychick on Jun 3, 2016 13:03:40 GMT
I don't even have a clothes dryer so it is a clothes line all the time for me.
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grinningcat
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Post by grinningcat on Jun 3, 2016 13:18:35 GMT
Our neighbour has one. It's a point of conversation when we're out in the yard since they post undies and everything. It's not super annoying but I'm really not interested in seeing other people's underwear. It wouldn't be an option for me, I prefer my clothing to be soft instead of that hard and crunchy air dried texture.
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Post by JustKim on Jun 3, 2016 13:30:50 GMT
I hang dry many of my shirts so they do not shrink. I just hang them up in the house from the trim in the bedroom. When it is warm they dry quickly but usually they are up overnight.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jun 3, 2016 13:31:57 GMT
We had the big metal poles in the yard growing up, and in the warmer months my mom (and later us) would hang up everything to dry outside. Eventually she came to her senses and let us put the socks and underwear in the dryer, what a PITA that was to hang all that little stuff up!
We don't have outdoor lines in our yard now and I kind of wish we did. Especially when I have to wash a throw rug or a huge blanket and would really rather not run the dryer for two full cycles to get that kind of thing really dry. Now that I live with constant sniffles year round, I still wouldn't hang most of my clothes out there though. Any money saved would be eaten up by decongestants because it would make my allergy issues worse.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2016 13:39:42 GMT
I hate drying clothes in the dryer so it's line dried all the way for me. It doesn't bother me at all who sees my smalls flapping in the wind ETA We did once have a weird neighbour who found the sight of my undies so offensive she came round to complain about them, apparently I was lowering the tone of the street. I felt compelled to lower it even further by telling her to eff off. We were in the process of moving anyway! Yes, I am classy!
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Post by Jockscrap on Jun 3, 2016 13:40:06 GMT
In the UK virtually everyone hangs out washing and it isn't considered an offensive sight in any way, including having undies on display. Contrary to popular belief, and from a lifetime of drying washing in Scotland, sun is definitely not required to dry clothes outside. They'll dry well on a cold, overcast day, so long as there is a bit of a breeze to stir the air. I hang out washing all year round, and a 'good blow' can dry clothes relatively crease free and soft.
I also can't imagine anyone in the UK being prohibited from hanging out washing. It's just considered to be such a basic human right, and the expensive non-eco friendly alternative of using a tumble drier is not something the government and local authorities would want to be seen encouraging.
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schizo319
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Post by schizo319 on Jun 3, 2016 13:44:34 GMT
I have one of the tree like ones. It folds down and you can remove it from the ground when you aren't using it (mine stays up all the time though now that we have a privacy fence). I don't use it as often as I'd like because the pollen levels here are crazy, but when I do, I tumble the clothes in the dryer without heat for about 10 minutes to suck out any pollen. Before we got our privacy fence, I'd hang my "unmentionables" on the inner lines and larger items like towels/t-shirts on the outer ones to hide the undies from the neighbors. This is the one I have: Umbrella Clothesline
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Post by myshelly on Jun 3, 2016 13:57:02 GMT
I hang all of my clothes and my kids' clothes to dry.
I don't hang them outside because I worry about the direct sunlight fading them.
I have two hanging racks (you can buy them at target) in my laundry room for clothes and I have hooks running all along the cabinet doors for underwear.
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mallie
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Post by mallie on Jun 3, 2016 13:59:07 GMT
In the UK virtually everyone hangs out washing and it isn't considered an offensive sight in any way, including having undies on display. Contrary to popular belief, and from a lifetime of drying washing in Scotland, sun is definitely not required to dry clothes outside. They'll dry well on a cold, overcast day, so long as there is a bit of a breeze to stir the air. I hang out washing all year round, and a 'good blow' can dry clothes relatively crease free and soft. I also can't imagine anyone in the UK being prohibited from hanging out washing. It's just considered to be such a basic human right, and the expensive non-eco friendly alternative of using a tumble drier is not something the government and local authorities would want to be seen encouraging. My memories of the clothes being hung out in the cold, was that they froze. Putting on frozen underwear is not a fond memory, let's just say.
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moodyblue
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Post by moodyblue on Jun 3, 2016 14:09:02 GMT
We hung our bedding and clothes out to dry a good bit of the year when I was growing up on a farm. We did realize later that that was probably not so great for my allergies. And allergies are one major reason why I would not want to hang clothes outside now.
If I have some clothes that I don't want to tumble dry, I can hang them in the laundry room; we have a rod above the sink and counter.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2016 14:18:29 GMT
In the UK virtually everyone hangs out washing and it isn't considered an offensive sight in any way, including having undies on display. Contrary to popular belief, and from a lifetime of drying washing in Scotland, sun is definitely not required to dry clothes outside. They'll dry well on a cold, overcast day, so long as there is a bit of a breeze to stir the air. I hang out washing all year round, and a 'good blow' can dry clothes relatively crease free and soft. I also can't imagine anyone in the UK being prohibited from hanging out washing. It's just considered to be such a basic human right, and the expensive non-eco friendly alternative of using a tumble drier is not something the government and local authorities would want to be seen encouraging. Unfortunately in Michigan, they'd freeze before they dried ? For some reason, I just cannot put jeans on the line. Out of everything, those i don't like the stiffness of being line dried.
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Post by mimi3566 on Jun 3, 2016 14:25:00 GMT
I hang dry most of my own clothes on hangers in on a custom rod my dh built for me in my laundry room. The rest of the clothes get dried in the dryer.
It's too humid here in the summer and we are prone to popup rain almost every afternoon so they would end up needing to be washed again.
When I lived up in New England 30 years ago, I used to hang most of my laundry out to dry from spring - fall....I do miss being able to do that.
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Loydene
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Post by Loydene on Jun 3, 2016 14:25:51 GMT
I find this thread funny -- just the other day discussion said that it is okay to have one's underwear showing while dressed and today, I see that there is something "off" to show ones underwear on a clothes line. Weird!
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seaexplore
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Post by seaexplore on Jun 3, 2016 14:26:49 GMT
I would love a clothes line! DH refuses to have one. Our HOA won't allow it, DH wins. LOL
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2016 14:34:18 GMT
When I was growing up this was usually the only method available. Having a dryer was just not the norm. As a teenager, having to hang out clothes in freezing weather and dealing with things like frozen solid jeans had a very distinct and long lasting impression. I will NEVER have or use a clothes line if I can at all help it. EVER. Once in a blue moon I'll drape a blanket or two over our deck railing because I do like the smell of clothes hung to dry but I simply will not go back to actually doing it as part of my laundry process. Call me spoiled but it's the one thing I just won't budge on even though my husband mentions it every few years or so. Of course, he doesn't do the laundry so it's not a big deal to him
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YooHoot
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Post by YooHoot on Jun 3, 2016 14:44:31 GMT
I actually have a huge rod bolted across my laundry room so I can hang things. But I also gave a large foldable rack for towels and jeans. I love air drying my clothes.
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Jun 3, 2016 14:46:51 GMT
I wish we had a clothesline, but there isn't really a good place for one-- not sure if our HOA rules would allow it either, since the neighbors would probably be able to see it over the block wall. (I might risk getting dust in the clothes, too, depending on the time of year and the weather-- lol!)
I don't dry everything in the dryer, though-- I have two of the wooden collapsible drying racks and put them out on the patio or out in the yard. I hang the knit shirts, etc. on those; anything I don't want to risk shrinking.
ETA: things dry FAST in the desert, which is nice-- but I do remember the days of hanging things on the clothesline outside in Illinois and having them freeze!! My parents didn't get a clothes dryer till just a few years ago, actually; during the winter my mom would hang things on lines in the basement. I don't like stiff jeans, either, but pretty much everything else would get line-dried if I could. I do hang socks, underwear, my workout clothes, etc. on the folding racks if there's enough space but I still use the dryer for sheets, towels, jeans and that sort of thing.
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suzastampin
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Post by suzastampin on Jun 3, 2016 14:48:04 GMT
I love my line and use it all the time, even in the winter if we get a warm day. Who cares what people see on your line? Do people really look and pay attention to that? If they do, they need something else to do.
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Post by mrst on Jun 3, 2016 14:50:57 GMT
It's usual here in Spain to hang stuff out to dry. I do have a dryer but not use it much ,maybe 3 times a year . Sometimes we get damp still days in winter and stuff just won't dry. Ages ago,when I lived in the UK , I read a tip to leave clothes on your line if you are going on holiday. This was to fool thieves that the house was occupied. I put some old towels etc on my line only to return home to them beautifully folded by my rather prissy neighbour. She took them in when it rained!
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