Back yard clothesline
Dec 29th, 2007 by Jill
One of our friends spent about five minutes at a holiday party trying to convince me that I should start drying my clothes on a clothes line. We have a back yard and plenty of space, and it would save energy and be good for the planet, and just think about how good all that laundry would smell.
“But I dry all my laundry on the lowest setting,” I protested. “That saves energy. And birds would poop on the laundry.”
“Just try it. Try an experiment and see how much bird poop actually hits your clothes.”
It actually sounded kind of nice, so last time I went to the grocery store, I picked up some laundry twine and some clothes pins. And it was kind of nice. I liked tying the rope around the trees, and when I hung my cloth napkins on the line, they looked like something out of a novel about kids catching frogs and solving mysteries in the summer. I liked it. No birds have pooped on our laundry so far, but the bath towels are kind of crunchy.
If our duplex were a backyard (instead of front yard) unit, I’d totally have a clothesline! I have a big love of clotheslines…loved drying our clothes on the balcony when we lived in the islands. I’m so envious of our duplex neighbors who do have clotheslines. Crunchy towels always make me think of my Italian grandmother. She never owned a dryer…ever. And I can remember many years when she was still using a WRINGER washer. What cracked me up about her towels is that after she brought their crunchy selves inside…she ironed them. Who irons their towels?! Maybe it made them less crunchy…
Trying drying your sheets on the clothesline. They smell delicious and are definitely crunchy but it feels kind of good to soften them up
The crunchy towels could be a 2-for-1 special – towels plus a loofah!
I love the smell of line-dried clothes. I don’t have a clothes line right now, though.
Do you use liquid fabric softener? That might help with the crunchiness
My father never uses the dryer. Despite living in Vancouver (rainy — comparable to Seattle) clothes at his house just seem to get dry either hanging all over the house on chairs and clotheshorses, or just hanging outside on the line in-between rainstorms. My observation is that if you air-dry clothes in Vancouver, you can do so anywhere. I should add that my father is not really an environmentalist: he just hates listening to the sound of the dryer running. Pollution comes in all forms, I suppose, including sound.
Okay, and my other dryer story is from when I lived in Palo Alto. Following my father, I learned that using the dryer at all is abnormal, and proceeded to set up a clothesline for myself immediately upon moving to Palo Alto. I’m not sure if it’s officially illegal to hang clothes in Palo Alto, as it is in some municipalities, but one of the neighbours did actually complain that it made the neighbourhood look unsightly. Let us know, Jill, if you receive any complaints!
So far, so good! No one has said anything yet. Although it is in our back yard, so I think it should be okay with the neighborhood.
Hi, I happened upon your blog today while looking for a picture of a clothes line. I am doing a post about them and I was wondering if I could use your picture? I just love the smell of clothes and blankets that have been hanging out doors. Thanks
Sure! Please just say that the photo is by me and link back to this post.
Hi,
I happened on your little blog & I completely agree. I have tied a line between two fence posts. Sorta primative, but it works. I can’t remember why I haven’t done this sooner. At any rate I live in Ca & my cousin in PA both think this is the best idea. Thank you for your pretty pictures & nice blog.