Clotheslines - Who has one?

[australorpchick]

Now that I can have clothesline on the property, I'm not sure what kind to get. Who has a clothesline, what type (portable, retractable, permanent T-pole, etc.) and would you recommend it? I think the front yard would be the best site or on the deck, so I'm leaning away from something permanent.

 

[kla37]

I had a retractable one at my last house. Can't have one where I am now though, but I can have chickens! Go figure. I loved not having to pay to run the dryer.

 

[chicmom]

My husband built me a permanent T-pole clothesline, and I just love it. It's great for drying sheets, rugs, blankets, t-shirts and jeans......I don't like to use it for socks, underwear or towels. The towels seem to be scratchy if they dry on the line.

I use it as much as possible in the spring, summer and fall, but not in the winter at all. I do live near some Amish, and they use it all year long.

I think you'll enjoy using it!

 

[Orchid]

I have a permanent T-post clothesline with six lines that are in constant use from approximately the end of April through mid-October. Right now there's about 2 feet of snow underneath it so only the little birds are using it.

Mine has plastic-coated cables for lines that can simply be retightened if they stretch out.

 

[RoeDylanda]

I'm short, so I'd need a stepstool to put sheets out on a t-line. I've got a pulley looped around a tree in the backyard about 15 feet high, which lets me hang sheets and comforters without folding them over the line. This lets me use the line April-November, and when I take it in there's just the pulley in the tree. It's pretty unobtrusive, and the plastic-coated line is thin but strong. If you go this route line tighteners are a must-- the first few towel/jeans loads stretch it by quite a bit! I like the scratchy towels, but you can cut that down a lot by snapping them good and hard when you take them down to fold them.

Good luck!

 

[babylady4]

I have the retractable kind. Totally worth it!

 

[PotterWatch]

I have a rotary dryer so I can't fit anything larger than towels on it, but I love it! I would like to have a regular t-post line to use for blankets and sheets.

 

[biddyboo]

The last time I had a clothesline was 45 years ago when my first baby was born. I was washing with my mom's old wringer washer, and I still remember bringing frozen diapers, towels, sheets, and shirts into the basement to final dry down there. You'd think I'd hate to imagine line drying again, but that's not the case. I can close my eyes, picture those lines full of freshly dried laundry, and breathe in that unexplainable fragrance of outdoors and sunshine on the clothes. I've thought about setting up a pair of t-posts and lines since we moved to the country five years ago. Enough already! I'm segueing to the internet to see what I can read about building and installing posts and lines. I'll be ready soon for some February sunshiny thaw days to hang out my laundry! Thanks for this thread ~G

 

[herfrds]

I have a T-post one with 6 wires on it. Has one part on the top that needs to be replaced, it has rotted.
i love it during the summer. Only thing I do not dry on it is the socks, I keep running out of pins and space, even doubling up.


We think nothing smells better then the bed sheets, pillow cases and blankets washed and dried in the sun. Can hardly wait for spring.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I want one sooooooooo bad.