I know that around here we are in the spring cleaning challenge.. In case you are new here you can just check out either or both of the
and or the
to get started. I have extended area 2 for another week. It seems like everyone needs about 2 weeks per area. In the mean time of getting your kitchens in order, we still all have to keep up with the laundry. I don't know about your home, but in ours laundry is a big job. When the kids are here its even harder. Clothes on the line, blowing in the breeze and in the bright sun is bliss for me. It’s a picture of days passed, or of driving through Amish country. Although it seems like fewer and fewer people hang their clothes out to dry these days, I think more and more people are doing it so they can save money.
A dryer is one of the most expensive appliances to run in the house. So why not take a few extra minutes and hang your laundry out. There are so many ways to do it even if you don't have a yard or line.
Here are some great tips for hanging out your laundry..
Launder clothes the night before (if your climate doesn’t cause them to mildew by morning) or at the crack of dawn, then get out and hang up the clothes in the morning. I guarantee it will be one of the best parts of your day. Take them down in the evening for a few minutes’ respite. Breathe the fresh air, enjoy the sun pouring vitamin-D-generators into your skin, listen to birds, and be happy you are not stuck in traffic, sitting behind a computer, listening to babies cry or whatever comprises much of your time.
Make it easy. Get the tools you need. Set up a clothesline (a traditional line, a retractable strung between home and garage, a line across your patio or a revolving “umbrella” clothesline) or you can even use a drying rack.
Get enough clothespins. The wooden ones are more eco-friendly and more lasting. Find them at dollar stores, Wal-Mart, etc. Put them in a hanging basket (even a milk jug cut out for access) to easily reach them.
Save your back. I had a rolling clothes basket that just made everything easier. And there was a time when I put the basket on a chair that I just pulled along the laundry line.
Fight wrinkles. Many garments — like linen — come out less wrinkled on the line, especially if it’s breezy. Give woven cotton garments a good shake (or three) before hanging to shake out wrinkles. Take a look after hanging to make sure a cuff isn’t turned up — it will dry that way if it is. For extra wrinkly garments, or “wrinkle-resistant” clothes that wrinkle on the line, throw them in the dryer for a few minutes while damp to get out wrinkles. If you’ve washed the garments several times, they should be fairly colorfast when they are nearly dry, and all colors can go in one load to conserve energy.
Crowd synthetics. It’s not mandatory! But if you are running out of clothesline, remember that 100% polyester and polar fleece dry very rapidly and without wrinkles. In a pinch, I hang my daughter’s fleece PJs by one clothespin and crammed together — and they still dry faster than other clothes.
Simplify socks. I pull socks out of the load as I remove it from the washer (or hang up the load and leave socks in the basket). Then I just toss them on the patio table and they dry super fast!
Flip shirts over. I hang shirts upside down (from the hem) to minimize wrinkles and ensure that if there are any weird nipply things from the clothespins, they are at the hem instead of the shoulders. (There’s nothing like glancing in the mirror at lunchtime only to see that you have a knob of fabric sticking up from your shoulder.) Or, hang clothing on hangers — but for the broad- or narrow-shouldered among us, double check to be sure the shoulders lie smoothly on the hangers. For button-placket shirts, I hang the shirt upside down with a clothespin at each side hem. Then I lap the plackets over each other and clip the center, too.
Most days for me now, I take a bit of a more different routine in hanging the clothes out. In this house, we have a high back deck and I have some big hooks out there for plants and instead I hang the guys button down shirts on hangers, watching for the shoulders to be smooth and hang them from those hooks to dry. The rest of the clothes I hang over the railings and then the smaller items on one of my drying racks. What I love is that normally all the clothes are dry within an hr or so.. so I dry 1 load and then do another. I can't tell you the last time I started the dryer. I just don't use it in the summer that much. Maybe to get some wrinkles out, or if its raining and I don't have a choice but I don't use it often at all. It's cheaper, easier on your clothes (they last longer when they don't get beat up in the dryer) and much easier on the planet.
Do any of you guys hang your laundry out?
Have any good tips!!?? Share them to be posted on here!
K Jaggers
♥
