I have a clothesline!
Morgan spied it and declared, “I’M NOT DRYING MY CLOTHES OUT THERE!”
I said, “I’M NOT EITHER.”
Whew. Teenage crisis averted. I do have clothespins, though.
They are tucked into a bucket that hangs from the line.
And I do intend to use the clothesline.
Clotheslines are making a comeback. Like home preserving and raising chickens, hanging clothes out to dry is trendy. It’s environmentally-friendly and frugal. I would like to say that I’m trendy or environmentally-friendly or even just frugal, but none of those reasons are why I put up a clothesline.
I plan to hang sheets out in the breeze. And even some selected clothing, and other items. The flap of sheets in the air….. The sweet smell of the woods and the wildflowers in my clothes…. It’s appealing. But the truth is, the clothesline is essentially…..a home decor item. There, I’ve admitted it. I put up a clothesline for decoration. Because a farmhouse needs a clothesline to be a real farmhouse.
I just think it’s cute.
What about you? Do you have a clothesline? Do you use it? If you don’t have a clothesline, do you want one?
Eliza J. says:
have a clothesline on a pulley in my condo in florida. room is about 24 feet long with high ceiling….even hang my sheets to dry on the line…undies go on the expandable rack, though (no outside hanging allowed). can still remember when growing up, the frozen sheets in the wintertime hanging outside on the line.
On September 12, 2009 at 1:16 am
Cathy says:
I got a clothesline last Spring when my dryer broke. I love drying my sheets out there. It reminds me of the sun dried :sun: sheets we used when I was a child. My dad washed & hung up our sheets every Saturday.
I don’t like towels or jeans dried on the line though. Just too stiff & scratchy!
On September 12, 2009 at 1:44 am
Senta Sandberg says:
I have a clothes line. I have used it in the past. Schlepping wet laundry out to the end of the yard is a lot of work. Towels dried out there definitely exfoliates.
On September 12, 2009 at 2:00 am
Patty says:
We had to rig up a clothes line when my dryer died this spring. I actually hung clothes all summer long, but boy was it rough when it rained for a week! I’d have to hang them on hangers on the shower curtain rod with a fan blowing. I’ve got a used dryer now, but it’s putting holes in our clothes and making our electric bill go up again. I’m afraid to keep hanging clothes outside though as our lease states we can’t have one and I don’t want to get fined or something worse over a clothes line. I would LOVE to live in the country and have a long double line like my Mom had. I have so many fond memories of smelling those sheets and playing outside while Mom hung the clothes. And she’d drape a big sheet or blanket over the lines and weigh the ends down with rocks to let me play-pretend it was a tent or clubhouse. Great times!
On September 12, 2009 at 3:34 am
Shelly says:
I think they are cute too and it should come in handy at times. I don’t have one now but I used to and I would use it every now and then. Maybe the birds will sit on it, how cute that would be!
On September 12, 2009 at 4:49 am
Beth says:
Had to rig a clothes line in our back yard from a tree to an old light/electric pole. Used it most of the summer. Discovered that at most,I could get 4 full loads of laundry dried a day and if I had to do jeans, I’d better do those first! (with a family of 6, 4 loads a day is not uncommon!)
Of course I also have to be careful where I hang the longer clothes because the geese just love to nibble on the fringes of my sons worn jeans. They’ve been my little “helpers” all summer. Whenever I bring a basket out and set it under the line, they run over and start trying to pull the clothes out and Lord help me if I drop a clothes pin! They think they’ve found gold!
I love my clothes line and every time I hang clothes out there I am reminded of how grateful I am to live here (and not someplace with a HOA!)
On September 12, 2009 at 4:53 am
Anke says:
I have a (spider web looking) clothes drying rack outside and a drying “tower” inside. I love hanging clothes outside to dry, but won’t chance it if rain is in the forecast. To lazy to move wet laundry around… 😀 That’s where the tower comes in… The only things I put in the dryer are towels (just don’t like them scratchy) and sheets in the winter. Don’t have the room to hang them up during the cold month…
On September 12, 2009 at 4:53 am
Mary Olson says:
I have a line strung up under my deck and I use it all summer. Towels and jeans I semi-dry in the drier, then hang them out so they aren’t so stiff. In the winter, I hang things on the shower curtain rod. I love drying things outside – the whole ritual of it. Seems almost meditative to me. Everyone says I should move to a townhome so I don’t have yard maintenance, but I can’t do if there’s an association that tells me I can’t hang laundry outside.
On September 12, 2009 at 5:07 am
Snapper says:
Too funny!
I have a line, requested it be put in actually. I’ve just started using it again.
On September 12, 2009 at 5:08 am
anne says:
I have a clothesline at my farm.
Love it!
Have used it since we moved here.
Love the smell of Gods air dried clothes!
On September 12, 2009 at 5:21 am
Box Call says:
We had a clothes line for years that we had to use because we couldn’t afford an electric dryer! We finally saved up enough money for a dryer (happy days for her and me) and the line stood there in the back yard for years, even after we built a house on the land. Eventually the clothes line got in the way of the archery target so I removed the lines, and a few years after that I cut the poles down and recycled them for garden fence posts (keeping the deer away). After reading your initial post I took the dog for a walk and found that the cement is still in the ground from the old post, under the crab grass that is (we don’t have a lawn here in the country we have a yard). Just thinking but if things end up the way some folks hope, fewer coal fired power plants and increased electric cost then I may have to put those lines back up. I am not nostalgic about clotheslines though as a dryer is a necessity in my world. No bird poop, no sagging lines from heavy work clothes, and the biggy, no wasp inside the pants legs….now that hurt.
On September 12, 2009 at 5:22 am
Beth says:
Youch! This summer I picked up a pair of folded jeans and heard a strange buzzing coming from them. Took them outside, shook them out and a carpenter bee flew out of the leg. THANK GOODNESS I figured that out! I’ve not been stung by one yet, but DH got stung on the nose and DD got stung on the arm. Both said they felt like they got punched!
On September 12, 2009 at 6:01 am
Sandy says:
I have a clothes line and I love it. My kid have poked fun at me for year for using it. Funny thing is, when my son was looking for a house as he was looking at the properties he would always go out back to see if they had a clothe line. ha
On September 12, 2009 at 5:43 am
Christine says:
We put up a clothesline last year. I too thought we just needed to have one. Figured I’d hang sheets and a few other things. But you know what? I use it for almost everything now. Seriously. I love it. I even love doing it. I don’t know, there’s just something so primitive about hanging them while I’m listening to the chickens and the sheep. Makes me feel connected to the farm women who lived here before me.
On September 12, 2009 at 5:45 am
KnittySue says:
I had a clothsline for years…and oh how I miss it. My quilts no longer have a place to sway in the breeze when they’re washed anymore…they have to tumble into a ball and be untangled a hundred times before they’re dry now (they’re for a king bed) When I made them they had a line to hang out on…yes I do love a clothsline.
On September 12, 2009 at 5:54 am
Wini says:
I think clotheslines are a way of lifein Australia – Hills Hoist anyone? Also, clothes (and especially bedsheets!) smell so much better having been dried otuside than in the drier.
On September 12, 2009 at 5:54 am
Tracey In Paradise Pa. says:
I do so want one…we have propane and most times clothes stink and costs alot..I love hanging clothes and quilts around house.
Hubbie will build me one when he has free time or no apple pie..lol
love yours!!
On September 12, 2009 at 6:18 am
Vicki in Michigan says:
Have clothelines, use ’em always. Have a dryer, use it maybe once or twice a year.
Live in suburbia.
Hang laundry out in summer, hang it in the basement in winter.
Not only save money (and don’t cause pollution), but the clothes last longer……….
On September 12, 2009 at 6:21 am
Ann says:
We live on a farm. I use my clothesline. I call it my
solar dryer!
On September 12, 2009 at 6:21 am
Becky says:
I have one. And by request. All my bedding gets hung out to dry. Love the scent of the bedding after being dried outside.
I don’t use it in the winter, and I can’t wait for spring so I can hang them outside again.
On September 12, 2009 at 6:30 am
Gayle says:
Ah yes, have had a clothesline for years and years. I use it year ’round. In S. CA we hardly know what rain is any more. Hanging clothes is my time to commune with the mocking birdies, find shapes in the clouds, watch the breeze in the tree tops. It is a time of quiet plus the clothes smell wonderful.
On September 12, 2009 at 6:30 am
Treasia/TruckersWife says:
I’ve had a clothesline since the beginning of this spring. Mine is not for decoration but for actual drying of all our clothes. LOL. It started from necessity as our electric dryer had broke and our small town does not have a laundromat. I refuse to drive 15 miles to one as a matter of fact. Now after using it all spring and summer I fully intend to keep using it simply because it saved us well over $50 per month on our utility bill. I was amazed at this amount.
It also brought back many memories of the way clothes smell so wonderful after line drying in the sun.
On September 12, 2009 at 6:33 am
Pete says:
Would love to have a “real” one, but there is no handy place to put it that is not in the middle of something else. So, we got one of those fold out small ones, and it is perfect for our needs. Most things go on a hanger as they come out of the washer, then hang on that small line from that same hanger.
On September 12, 2009 at 6:40 am
Rose in VT says:
We have had a clothesline for years now! There is nothing like the smell of sunshine in your sheets, but I think you and Morgan will find out how beautiful it is to pull a t-shirt on that smells like a summer day! And it is pretty nice to NOT have to run the dryer. It is a bit too cold here to hang clothes in the winter – 20 below doesn’t make for pleasant drying conditions – so I use mine from April to (hopefully) October! Enjoy!
On September 12, 2009 at 7:02 am
Joycee says:
Grandma’s clothesline was neat and tidy, just like her house.Shirts would join hands by color. Dresses would line up next to others of like kind, one sleeve attached to the next.Towels, then washclothes.Sheets on one whole line, off by themselves to whip dry in the hot breeze.
Great memories…
https://grannymountain.blogspot.com/2009/07/old-clothesline.html
On September 12, 2009 at 7:06 am
Carmen Smith says:
My line is strung between 2 apples trees and I USE IT! There’s something very old fashioned about a clothesline and I’ve always had one. I read somewhere recently that some places especially the new home communities do not allow clotheslines! So sad to hear folks are being denied such a lovely old amenity, we are a FREE country but some can’t own a clothesline???? Love yours, have a great day:)
On September 12, 2009 at 7:09 am
Maggie says:
My clothes line came with the house. I have used it with some regularity for years. I love the smell of outdoors on my sheets, towels, and clothes. However I find the dryer works much better at dewrinkling and defuring items. I love my pets but don’t always want to wear fur as an accessory. Before my son left for college I had to be careful not to dry his things outside as he has allergies and would sometimes have reactions. It was just easier to put his things in the dryer that to check the pollen count.
On September 12, 2009 at 7:14 am
wildcat says:
I live in a subdivision, and clothelines are not allowed. :hissyfit:
On September 12, 2009 at 7:15 am
gwen says:
i have a clothesmill to dry my clothes, and i do so as mucht as i can.
just the smell of the clothes when they are dry, is so fantastic.
i couldn’t do without it……….
hugs
On September 12, 2009 at 7:16 am
Shells says:
I put up a clothesline this year but will have to take it down when the deck comes down next week. That makes me sad but I will have it back up and usable as soon as possible. I love the smell of the clothes and my sheets after hanging in the sunshine. And don’t the whites get whiter in the sunlight !! I do have to be careful Monty (Great Dane) likes to take the clothes off for me and if I can just figure out how he gets to the clothespins ……….
On September 12, 2009 at 7:17 am
IowaCowgirl says:
I’ve always had one…didn’t use the one near the gravel road because of the dust (I couldn’t pass it off as “starch” forever!).
I love everything hung on it, especially towels – rough and exfoliatingly delicious, but work clothes, rugs, heavy sweatshirts, even shoes are perfect for it.
I’m very impressed with #18, Vicki in Michigan…you go girl!
On September 12, 2009 at 7:26 am
Cousin Sheryl says:
I used to help my mom hang/take in from the clothes line. Luv it!
:sheepjump:
Believe it or NOT, neither Georgia nor I have a clothesline. Our resident Mr.-I-don’t-want-to-mow-around-any-obstacles took Georgia’s down and won’t put one up for me! :hissyfit: Seriously though, I like having a line under a porch roof so that you don’t have to worry as much about rain. I also like to go ahead and hang things on the plastic hangers so they are ready to go in the closet. I hang all my stuff up from two open, exposed beams in my living room. But, I love the smell of line-dried clothes and sheets.
I don’t hang up jeans, towels or underwear either – too scratchy.
Energy savings are a plus!
On September 12, 2009 at 7:35 am
Julie says:
WE brought ours with us to the new house, the new house is much bigger and the kids say our clothes line looks like it is for Barbies clothes from the house now… It’s funny how little they look now but they really are not! I love my clothes line but have to watch out and keep the goats away from it!
On September 12, 2009 at 7:37 am
Doris says:
My DH put up a solar/wind powered dryer for me over 30 years ago. We use it regularly as well as our electric dryer. The sheets always smell so good!
On September 12, 2009 at 7:41 am
Donna says:
I grew up with a clothesline… 6 lines on it, to be exact. There were six of us in the family, and the line was always full on a sunny day (and the tidy whities always were hung on the in-between lines with towels and sheets on neighboring lines to keep them out of sight!). In the winter, they hung in our tiny basement in front of the big old oil furnace that would scare little me every time it started up with a roar! I remember Dad rigged up a rolling thingymabobber out of 2×4’s and 1/2 inch dowel rods and old baby stroller wheels that would hold the clothes basket up at a handy height and allow us to push it across the yard from the house to the line. I can hardly wait to retire to our farm and have a clothesline again! I have my granny’s clothespins in her old canvas bag sewn over a wooden clothes hanger, ready and waiting for the day… Thanks for sparking the memories, Suzanne!
On September 12, 2009 at 7:42 am
Claudia W says:
I have a big ol’ clothes line in my back yard. It lies fallow. 😥 My hips and feet would not allow me to stand much after work and on the weekends, so the weeds got a little out of hand. The clothesline was in the middle of those weeds.
Now, my pains have subsided some ad we have been working on the forest out there. Maybe by next Spring we will be using the line again.
For those of you not liking the scratchy feel of the clothes…hang them til almost dry and then pop them in the dryer for 10 minutes or so. You gotten that fresh smell of outside, saved some money on gas or electricity and you have softer clothing!
On September 12, 2009 at 7:47 am
Claudia W says:
Apparently I cannot spell and my grammar has gone by the wayside. So sorry!
On September 12, 2009 at 7:48 am
Tammy says:
I was country when country wasn’t cool 🙂 I’ve been hanging laundry all of my married life (30 years). It saves $$$ is the main reason. Second reason is the clothes really do smell fresher (unless of course wood smoke during the winter permeates them – but I don’t even mind that so much). 🙂
On September 12, 2009 at 7:51 am
BuckeyeGirl says:
I have one, use it ALL the time. Sometimes there’s things that need a tumble in the dryer to ‘fluff’ em up, but mostly the clothesline works fine. I use it all winter too, when weather permits, even if it’s just to get things ‘mostly’ dry but they still need a little time in the dryer. Saves electricity, and I find it soothing to hang things, so I guess you can say it helps to save my sanity. (whatever there is left of that at least!)
Love the fresh scent, no dryer sheet can compete! :sun: :ladybug: :happyflower:
On September 12, 2009 at 8:01 am
Remudamom says:
I’ve got a big one the guys welded for me from pipe. I like to hang jeans, towels and sheets.
On September 12, 2009 at 8:06 am
Annie says:
Here I am cutting-edge trendy and didn’t even know it! I have always used a clothesline, even when I lived in the city. In the winter, I have been known to drape things in front of the corn stove to dry. The advantage there is twofold. I get dry clothes, and it adds a little humidity to the dry winter air.
On September 12, 2009 at 8:11 am
Cindy in Indiana says:
I have a 250 foot reel clothesline that runs from the deck to a tree that we bought from an Amish hardware store years ago. It’s wonderful! I have a bench to set my basket on and stand in one place hanging and reeling it out as I go. No more tracking in grass or mud after a rain or mowing or leaf litter in the fall!
On September 12, 2009 at 8:12 am
Wheezay says:
our family has used a clothes line forever. I love it!!
On September 12, 2009 at 8:19 am
Sheryl (Runningtrails) says:
I love my clotheslilne!! Its the first thing I demanded when we moved here. I never put my good clothes in the dryer anyway. Its wrecks tender knits, sweaters, clingy stuff and delicate items. I work in a office and all my good clothes dry on hangers, lie flat or go on the clothesline. Even the stuff on hangers can dry on the clothesline.
I hang everything out there now and love it. The smell is wonderful and the sun whitenes the whites. We haven’t had a dryer that works all summer this year and I haven’t missed it.
That said, my 24 yr old son was aghast at having to hang his clothes on the clothesline. He does his own laundry. The first day he put a load of his clothes out there I came home from work to find them all over the backyard. He didn’t “bother” with the clothespins. LOL! After showing him how to hang stuff and how to use the roller thingies to keep it from sagging, he’s a fan now, sort of.
I would never be without a clothesline.
ALSO: I have all plastic clothespins from the dollar store! They are fabulous. The wooden ones I had last year were all moldewed this spring so I tossed them out. They don’t hold nearly as well as the plastic ones either. I have little plastic ones with rubber tips and extra large heavy duty plastic ones for heavy stuff and I love them. They all have a little hole at the top of the open area that the line goes in when you clip them on. They won’t fall off in a tornado!
On September 12, 2009 at 8:37 am
Sheryl (Runningtrails) says:
And another thing… mine is set up so I can hang and reel from the side of the deck. I don’t even have to put on shoes.
On September 12, 2009 at 8:38 am
Cousin Sheryl says:
BTW, for the cutest clothes pin bag do this:
Take a little girls cotton dress without a full skirt (about size 3T), turn the dress inside-out and sew across the bottom of the skirt, sealing the dress to make a bag. Turn and hang the dress on a coat hanger and you have the cutest clothes pin bag! Hang it on your line and it will scoot with you while you hang out your clothes.
Check out Craft Fairs in your area if you don’t want to make this yourself. Someone always has them for sale. :chicken:
On September 12, 2009 at 8:38 am
Dawn says:
No clothesline but I wish I had one on occassion–We hung most of our laundry outside when I was growing up and I hated it. Except for standing between two lines of wet laundry on a hot day. And folding up the hot and sweet smelling towels and sheets as we took them down and it was DONE! But that was in the wide open country and we have a fairly small backyard.
On September 12, 2009 at 8:40 am
Sheryl (Runningtrails) says:
It is now illegal in Ontario to tell anyone that they cannot have a clothesline. Even the swanky neighborhoods have to allow them. Its a “green” thing. I think its great!
On September 12, 2009 at 8:44 am
Phyllis Ryan says:
When we lived in Minnesota I had clothes lines. There is nothing like sheets dried on the line. Sweet smelling and softened by the wind my bed on Saturday nights was the best smelling place in the house. I even hung out sheet into the winter. Crisp, but still smelled great.
On September 12, 2009 at 8:50 am
geena says:
LOL one of THE requirements when we bought our home was a clothesline or room for one. it was almost the first thing hubby built. I grew up useing one and i still do all the time. I hate drying clothes; it seems laundry is twice the work in the dryer :sun: cheers
On September 12, 2009 at 9:02 am
Jessica says:
I grew up using a clothesline and miss having one. I definetly want one and one of these days I will convince hubby to put a clothesline up! He recently finished putting poles up for our doggy’s trolley so I’m sure I can talk him into putting in two more poles. 😉
On September 12, 2009 at 9:11 am
Patricia says:
You can use your clotheline to dry your corn husks. I guess you may have to take them in at night, but they hsould dry faster hanging in the breeze than laying in the boxes. I do not have a clothesline. They weren’t allowed at our last house, and we’re in temporary housing for the moment. I would like to be able to have one in our next house, probably for the same sentimental reasons mentioned by others AND becasue they come in handy for so many other projects.
On September 12, 2009 at 9:17 am
Vera says:
I don’t have a clothes line now but I sure can remember when thats all I had.
I had two in diapers at the same time, I would hang dozens of diapers on the line and they would freeze before you could get them pinned, that was about three times a week. Everything is so much easier now.
On September 12, 2009 at 9:21 am
monica says:
I love a clothesline! How do you keep birds from pooping on them ? I just rewash, but It kind of wastes water then.
#29 mentioned a “clothesmill. . .” What is that?
I want a clothesreel!
On September 12, 2009 at 9:30 am
Su says:
I always had one till I moved to CA, and I miss it. There’s nothing like the smell of laundry that’s been dried in the fresh air & sunshine!
I’ll be right over with my wet clothes!! 🙂
On September 12, 2009 at 9:39 am
BuckeyeGirl says:
Can you all believe how many people have praise for the simple clothesline? Gotta love it!!! :woof:
On September 12, 2009 at 9:48 am
Ms E says:
A clothesline is fine, until the birds poop on your clean laundry or the dogs pull the clothes off the line to play tug-of-war!
On September 12, 2009 at 9:50 am
brenda harmon says:
I want a clothesline, but don’t have one yet. I dream of having one after a story my mom told me of when she was a girl and remembers her grandma having sheets hung on the line in the middle of winter in Wisconsin and breaking the ice off the sheets, then putting them on the beds. My mom said there is nothing like climbing into bed after the sheets hung outside all day in fresh cold (freezing) air.
On September 12, 2009 at 9:58 am
Kelley says:
i love clotheslines and the image of clothes drying on a clothesline (hint, hint.. for a farm photo of the day). 🙂 k
On September 12, 2009 at 10:27 am
Connie says:
I love a clothesline. It’s my favorite way to dry sheets and bedding. Airing out the quilts, whatever. Everything smells so fresh and clean. Unfortunately in the subdivision I live in they are not allowed:( Seems backwards to me, when we are needing to conserve energy these days.
On September 12, 2009 at 10:27 am
cake says:
I use my lines a lot in the summer especially for sheets. My Mom used clothes lines exclusively for YEARS, summer & winter& spring & fall, didnt matter if the clothes froze stiff as boards or if it was so breezy every item took multiple pins to keep it on the line! AND most of the time we had to go turn each piece either wrong or right side out, to maximize the drying & minimize the fading….And a GOOD housewife never ever leaves the pins on the line or outside in the pin bag!(wasps-bees & other stingys & creepy crawlys get in, plus your pins get dirty & that transfers to your clothing. Sun dried sheets the BEST, sun dried towels are so absorbent….
On September 12, 2009 at 10:45 am
.Nancy in Iowa says:
Apartment dweller here. No clothesline. But all the comments brought back vivid memories of my youth! Mom had a washer, no dryer, so all clothes were hung on her 4-line clothesline. When I was a teen I felt very overworked and put-upon when it was my turn to hang clothes, but I still have the memory of fresh, Florida sunshine smelling sheets and clothing.
Does anyone else remember the funky pantleg stretchers? Dad wore khakis to work, and to save on ironing Mom had several of those stretchers that you slid into the legs then spread and fastened them. I hated doing that! In the winter, even in Florida, they’d be cold and stiff when you took them off the line.
I’d love to smell that fresh, outdoorsy scent now!!!
On September 12, 2009 at 10:55 am
Fran says:
I used to have clotheslines at several places that I have lived in the past. I always loved using it, especially for sheets and towels – I’m probbably weird, but I love the roughness of towels that have dried on the line. In our first house, we had a washer that was hooked up to our outdoor hose, so you could only wash in cold water, and we didn’t have a dryer at all, so we had to use the clothesline. It beat trips to the laundrymat with 3 babies, one in cloth diapers! The only thing with clotheslines is you worried about whether it would rain, could be miserable in the winter, and I had a phobia that bird crap would land on the clothes!
On September 12, 2009 at 11:03 am
Fran says:
p.s. – Clotheslines were great in childhood – we would hang quilts over 2 lines and have an instant fort or playhouse!
On September 12, 2009 at 11:12 am
LisaAJB says:
I currently have white sheets flapping in the breeze on my close line. How quaint is that? There are also gourd vines growing up it.
On September 12, 2009 at 11:16 am
Elaine says:
Yes! I got the first clothesline ever this spring. I have not used the drier one time this summer. I LOVE it! I even love the towels all stiff and scratchy. Reminds me of camp. We have ours on a pulley also. I can stand on the deck and send the clothes down and not have to reach as far in the air. My husband would not let me get a clothesline in the city but that was my first request when we moved to the country. The neighbors can’s see it so he is fine with that.
On September 12, 2009 at 11:40 am
Cindy H. says:
I have always had a clothesline and will ALWAYS have a clothesline. I use it to hang everything but unmentionables. Nothing like the fresh outdoorsy smell on sheets, towels and clothing. I’ve always used one because my mom always used one. We even hang jeans outside in the cold weather and when we bring them inside they can really stand up on their own! But the main reason I use a clothesline, is because it cuts down our electricity bill. Sunshine is free…electricity is not.
Guess you could say that MY clothesline is not for decoration.
On September 12, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Estella says:
I always had a clothesline(and used it) until I moved to town. Not enough room for one here.
On September 12, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Tammy says:
I finally got my clothes line this spring and I have used it all summer, not all the time..but 4-6 loads of laundry get hung on the line each week. I love clothes lines…I do not mind anything dried on the line. My hubby would rather his work clothes be dried on the line now…AND Yes Our UNDIES get hung on the line, I mean really who cares if somebody driving down the road sees our underwear. I do try to hang them on the middle line with other things hanging on the front and back line, but that is just cause my 10 year old daughter said mom that’s my underwear hanging there too…
I love my clothes line..and will probably use it until late November if possible…
On September 12, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Patty says:
I BEGGED for YEARS for my clothesline. My husband and son made …yes MADE..like as in metal poles, rods, welder…it SPINS…he even had me come out & do the measurements of how far apart the lines are & how tall it is by MY height…is FABULOUS! I will never be without my clothesline again!
On September 12, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Wammy says:
I have a clothes line and I love it! Had one for about 4 years now. I love the smell of clean sheets after they have been waving in the breeze all day. The only thing I don’t dry there are the towels. No one in the house enjoys drying off with a scratchy towel.
On September 12, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Carol Ann says:
I hang my clothes out to dry as much of the year as possible, although it’s usually only practical from about April until October. I can save on utility costs and get my clothes smelling beautifully with very little effort. It also reminds me of being a little girl and helping my mom hang the clothes on the umbrella style clothes dryer she had in the backyard. I loved washdays as a kid and still enjoy laundry days now. It’s been difficult this year with all the rain to find a sunny day to hang my clothes, but I’ve managed!
On September 12, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Kimberly in NC says:
Yep, my husband made us one out of timbers this year and it sure saves from having to use the dryer. There is a load of laundry out there right now, ready to come in.
On September 12, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Katharina says:
Trendy, schmendy. Clotheslines are essential! My mother had a clothesline. When I was renting, I always rigged up a clothesline. My own home has a clothesline. The cabin in the woods has a clothesline. Sheets dried on the line are a piece of Heaven on Earth. You need it to quickly dry swimsuits, swim towels, hats, towels-before they hit the dirty laundry (keeps the laundry pile from stinking), cotton rugs that are handwoven, even silk shirts. Oh, my, I LOVE the clothesline. Even in freezing weather, you can hang and dry sheets. They are a little stiff when you bring them in and the last bit of moisture is quickly absorbed by the dry indoor air (adds humidity in the winter). My mother was a wise woman and even had a line her basement (as her mother did before her) for winter drying. Long live the clothesline!
On September 12, 2009 at 2:01 pm
robin says:
very difficult to dry clothes on a line under a canopy of oaks…but i did have a clothes line once upon a time
– a very very long 4 liner –
we filled it up just about every day….whew…good exercise tote’n clothes to the line; hanging them up;running out to get them when the rain came up every afternoon….
On September 12, 2009 at 2:16 pm
WKF says:
We are in the middle of the woods and yes we have a clothes line.
And I use it all the time. Clothes line rule #1 no underwear or bras on the line! Also I don’t like my socks dried on the line. They don’t do right. My husband doesn’t like the towels on the line. He says they are too scratchy. Doesn’t bother me. So we dry one load in the dryer on laundry day Towels, socks and underwear.
I was really amazed at the power bill savings. His shop is on a separate bill and the washers and dryer are out there. It was a very noticeable difference in the bill. So much so that in the winter we hang stuff up in the house.
Use it Suzanne you’ll be glad you did. Oh and your clothes don’t shrink as bad. NO you aren’t gaining weight the dryer thinks it’s funny to shrink your clothes.
On September 12, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Sue says:
EVERYONE here in the UK has a clothes line if they have a garden/yard of any kind. I was amazed a few years ago to find that America is not the same!
You must spend a fortune on the dryer! And where do you dry dainty things that would shrink or go staticky in the tumbler?
The UV of the sun helps to kill germs and whiten laundry – but really hot bright days can fade your colours a little.
On September 12, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Sharri says:
I use my clothesline all the time, I do not dry anything of mine in the dryer. And there is nothing like nice, clean, fresh sheets that have been line dried!
On September 12, 2009 at 3:03 pm
KentuckyFarmGirl says:
We just started using a clothesline 2 months ago. We also switched to the fluorescent bulbs, put everything on power strips for easy turning off to avoid phantom power usage and started turning the lights off when were not in the room we have cut our electric bill in half…no kidding. We were averaging 82…is it kilowatts, watts….whatever they are every day. This month we are averaging 47!!
On September 12, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Deborah R says:
When we moved to WV a couple of summers ago, I decided to put off buying a dryer and set up a clothes line instead.
I so love the way the clothes smell after they’ve dried on the line that I’m still putting off buying a dryer. I may never do it.
Sure, there’s one or two months in the winter when the clothes just won’t dry outside, but I just bake a lot and hang the clothes in the house. They’ll dry soon enough.
On September 12, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Lola-Dawn says:
I live in an apartment in a small city, but I use my clothes rack all the time. There’s something about feeding coins into a dryer that just seems … WRONG. I guess you can take the gal outta the farm, but not the farm outta the gal!
On September 12, 2009 at 4:05 pm
cranberry says:
I have one, it’s in the chain-link dog run which we don’t use so
its almost perfect for hanging clothes! The only thing is that it’s under a huge evergreen tree, and i have several bird feeders. ‘nuf said. LOL. Nothing better than the sun to fade out old spots on vintage linens!Also, nothing better than the smell. Fresh Air. Wonderful!! even in Winter!!!
On September 12, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Bev says:
Don’t have a clothes line but would love one for sheets and towels. And your whites are so much whiter when hung outside in the sun!
On September 12, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Sheila says:
I’ve had a clothesline for years but seldom use it anymore. We have allergies and hanging clothing and especially bedding out is a real no-no. All that pollen coming into the house on the dry laundry. I do hang rugs out once in a while, I hate the smell of burnt rubber in the dryer.
On September 12, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Jodie in Texas says:
When I was little in the ’60s, my mother hung our clothes out to dry in the backyard on a clothes line with metal poles and lines. My maternal grandmother, Granny, also had clotheslines but was 1st to get an inside dryer (gas). She still hung out her sheets for the nice smell that they got. Both are long gone but I would put up a clothesline in my urban yard or maybe I could jury-rig a line from the poles of my wooden bench swing to the fence? I’ll check it out. I do always put up a clothesline when camping to dry out my towels etc. after a shower in the campground shower.
On September 12, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Rachel says:
Growing up we always had a clothesline, that is all I knew. I had one for several years after having a family of my own. For the past 2 1/2 years we lived in an apartment and I missed having the clothes line! We recently moved back into a farmhouse and I was so excited to find it had a clothesline! I am making great use of it this summer. I also have a large wooden clothesrack that my dad helped me build that I will use indoors in the winter.
On September 12, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Melissa says:
Just bought a house with a clothesline – :sun: Love it! Hang everything out there. My kids love darting through the hanging clothes too. Just started making and using your laundry soap too!
On September 12, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Jenny says:
I think just about everyone in Australia has a clothesline. Even if you live in an apartment there is the chance there will be a communal one in a courtyard somewhere.
There is nothing better than sheets fresh from the line.
I am incredibly lazy sometimes, and stuff everything in the dryer before work, but my husband is a line Nazi. He will ‘rescue’ the clothes and hang them out before he leaves in the morning.
On September 12, 2009 at 11:19 pm
CindyP says:
I had wanted a clothesline for years, but had no extra room. When I first moved to this house, my neighbor let me use hers…..then they sold the house and the new owner tore the clotheslines out!!! EGADS!! So for the last 5 years, there has been no clothesline….this spring I came up with a pulley system from the side of the house, over the deck, and attached to a pole on my 6 ft privacy fence. I can reach it from the deck, but not where it’s attached to the post, that’s why I had to use the pulley system. Because it would get in the way when we’re on the deck, the line itself can be taken down. It has been great using it all summer! I will put it up to leave for the winter once snow starts falling, so I can still use it in the winter.
On September 13, 2009 at 6:50 am
Lynda Dunham-Watkins says:
I still have the metal posts, no wire. But, there is no sweeter smell than sheets dried outdoors, one of my fondest memories of my mother…burying my face in her sheets on the line. Sunshine smells of heaven! You are such an inspiration. I may have to re-line the thing!
On September 13, 2009 at 7:42 am
Missy says:
I have a long, pulley clothesline. LOVE IT! I’ve been line-drying clothes since my mid 20’s and have taken quite a teasing from friends. I don’t care. I’m saving money and it’s almost like therapy to me. My family won’t come near me when I’m hanging laundry since they think I’ll make them help me. In reality, I’d be disappointed if someone else did it. 🙂
On September 13, 2009 at 7:48 am
mary says:
I don’t have a clothesline. Yet I air dry all my laundry using good old fashion laundry drying racks. During the winter I simply set them up near the woodburner. Adds much needed moisture into the house saving me from needing a humidifier.
You are right all farmhouses need a clothesline!
On September 13, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Melissa says:
My apartment is in an old Victorian house and has no dryer, just a washer. I’ve lived here almost 4 years and have to say that my clothes are in much better shape then when they were dried all the time. We use the clothesline until it gets too cold, and then I have drying racks set up. It becomes second nature after a while.
On September 13, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Jill Harper F says:
I had a clothesline before I had a washer and dryer! I love my clothes dried on the line. I plan my laundry days around the weather forecast. I get up and hang out a load of clothes before I have to be at work at 7am, then get them off as soon as I get home from work. My mom and my grandmothers have clotheslines and my great grandmothers, did too. (All from Roane County, BTW) I love my clothesline and would give up my dryer first.
On September 14, 2009 at 6:47 am
Beth Brown says:
:chicken: One of my most favorite – if not THE most favorite thing – is bedsheets dried out on the line! And Morgan just may change her mind – my daughter hated the smell of her clothes hung out. Then when she was in Iraq, I sewed her and her fellow soldiers pillowcases, hung them out on the line for days and packed them in individual ziploc bags. My daughter said I had sent her the scent of Pennsylvania! Now she loves her sheets and pillowcases hung out.
BTW, we also have an underwear tree. I hang as much of the big clothes on the line but the little stuff: socks, undies, get hung on the branches of a young oak tree.
My neighbors think I’m ‘interesting’!!!
Beth aka oneoldgoat
On September 14, 2009 at 8:29 am
Carmi says:
I have a clothesline. It’s one of those round ones. But it was free and I love it. I dry my whites out there, I think the sun is a natural bleacher. Of course, on windy days I love to have my sheets out on the line. I love my clothesline!
On September 14, 2009 at 8:43 am
Mary says:
I got a clothesline two years ago for Mother’s Day. (I asked specifically for it). I love it. I use it every week for sheets–just love the smell of sunshine on fresh sheets–and now my neighbors all want clotheslines. I don’t can and freeze anymore but I had summers like you are having. Enjoy your harvest. You have earned it.
On September 14, 2009 at 8:52 am
Cheryl says:
I have a clothes line and use it exclusively. My dryer quit working 6 years ago and I decided I did not want another one. I love hanging out my clothes and I have found that I like the scratchy towels better. They seem to absorb water so much better. I even hang them out in winter. I have to get an early start so they will get dry. I also have an indoor line and drying rack. I’ll never go back to the dryer I enjoy the outdoors too much!
On September 14, 2009 at 9:02 am
Melinda says:
I had a clothes line..Then my husband took it down to move it and therefore I DO NOT have a clothes line now…:( Which makes me sad. When you hang sheets out on the line they stay FRESH for days and days….Makes me HAPPY! :shimmy:
On September 14, 2009 at 9:54 am
Katie says:
I have one and use it every week. I’ve gotten the gas bill way down.
On September 14, 2009 at 11:12 am
Alexandra says:
Oh, how your post and the comments made me laugh! Here in Argentina you are considered rich if you own a clothes drier. Everyone hangs their washing on the line. I`m glad to think we’re “green” pioneers!! :happyflower:
On September 14, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Ruth says:
I would so love to have one here–but, you know, rental house and Pacific Northwest do not bode well for clotheslines! I lived in Tehachapi, in the Mojave Desert, for three years and used a clothesline there for two babies diapers. I could go down the line hanging them up and get to the end, turn around, and take them right back down because they dried so fast! And these were the thick ones with the padded centers. I have to say I really envy your way of life at times. Someday I’ll have my farm too–just hope it’s before I’m too old and broke down to work it.
On September 16, 2009 at 4:28 am
Ruth says:
I just remembered my mother-in-law told me they would hang small rugs on a line in the snow to get them clean! Somehow it pulls the dirt and grime out.
On September 16, 2009 at 4:34 am
Catalina says:
I saw the cutest closepin holder.
Take a toddler’s sundress (the best are blue jean overall dresses) and sew up the bottom of the dress.
The straps of the sundress go over the closeline.
Voila! Add closepins.
So cute!
On September 17, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Nicky says:
Does it count if you hang them indoors? I use this round laundry drying rack that has found a great spot right under my ceiling fan. The air movement keeps the clothes from getting crunchy.
On October 15, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Shirley Corwin says:
I have a long clothesline between two trees and two clothes poles just like my mom had. My brother-in-law made them for me. I like to hang out my sheet too. I hang out lots of things and even towels. If you take the towels in when they are not quite dry and give them a few minutes in the dryer, it softens them right up. I blogged about my clothes line and hanging clothes out last summer too.
On February 12, 2010 at 4:01 pm
MousE says:
We have a clothesline thingy that looks like a very large umbrella. It’s nice to use in the summer, if you don’t mind the smell of car exhaust on your clothes. We live in a suburb by a very large city.
On February 25, 2010 at 9:59 pm
BJDavis says:
I don’t remember ever being without a clothesline…..bed linens smell heavenly as well as towels. I’m not much ‘into’ trendiness. Enjoy this website sooo much!
On June 15, 2010 at 6:49 am
sb158 says:
If I actually had a house at which I could put up a clothesline, you bet your sweet bippy I would use it! Not for everything – especially not for jeans – but you just can’t beat that fresh-air smell. And sunshine is free, but electricity is very expensive.
On July 10, 2010 at 4:56 am
Missy says:
I used to have a clothesline when my kids were growing up. They are now ages 29, 26, and 21. I hung my sheets out to dry and also used cloth diapers and hung them out to dry on my clothesline. I was “going green” before “going green” was COOL !
On July 19, 2010 at 5:06 am
Wendy Curling says:
I love,love,love my clothesline and I use it a lot! It has six lines strung approximately 15 feet between 4×6 T-crossed posts with white latice decorating one end. I begged for it until hubby finally put it up. He saw the huge drop in the electric bill and now he loves it, too. I look forward to hanging out clothes. It has become an unlikely source of meditation.The best bonus is drying off after my shower with hard, scratchy towels (kinda like an after shower loofah)and then snuggling between fresh-air dried linens.Delightful.
On September 4, 2010 at 10:34 am
cindi says:
I realize this is an old post, but I feel compelled to comment regardless! lol
I LOVE my clothesline and wouldn’t want to be without one again. It’s certainly nothing fancy, but I love the smell of clothes, towels, sheets & blankets dried outdoors. I also like secretly feeling like I’m ‘flipping off’ the electrical company. :devil2: I used to only line dry in the summer, but when our dryer finally died this past winter, we bought an indoor rack large & strong enough to manage all the laundry. It’s a bit more of a pain than being able to line-dry outdoors, but it still beats the electricity bill from using the dryer!
Even back when I lived in an apartment in the city, I had bought a drying rack that I would set up on my balcony. Some folks strung up small clotheslines across their balcony. Hey, whatever works… The Amish houses we saw in upstate NY recently had clotheslines strung up across their porches. I like that idea too, but since we don’t have a porch we’ll be sticking to the clotheslines we already have. :yes:
On May 27, 2011 at 9:37 am
pugwaggin says:
:sheep: I live in a neighborhood that does not allow clotheslines!! However I will be putting up a decorative one up this spring. It will be shorter in length so as not to cause issues. I will use it though. My 85 year old mother still hangs hers out on her clothesline. I do like my drier and will keep using it.
On January 27, 2014 at 9:22 am