Saving on energy costs

[EweSheep]

I have two clotheslines, one in the house and one outside.

In the house, in the hallway, I have two wood poles, drilled holes for ropes and hung on opposite ends of the hallway. Fun for kids to walk under the sheets going to their bedrooms LOL! Perfect in the winter.

One outside from a silver maple branch to the carport pole. Has to be tightened three times this year. May have to change into the changing bolt or carriage bolt (the one you twist to get it tighter so you do not have to cut the cable).

 

[swift4me]

My wife and I haven't had a dryer in 26 years of marriage. We lived near San Francisco, and now here in a fairly humid climate with cold winters. The farmers all around me in the mountains don't have them either. Even in the dead of winter, if it isn't raining it seems like you can still get the job done if you pick your days. Wind seems more important than temperature.

I can't imagine the money we've saved in that time, and for me, I like the feel of line dried clothes.

Pete

 

[StupidBird]

Some tips I've been given over the years:
Fluff your shirts, pants, things you'd have to iron, about ten minutes in the dry first (I do this while hanging the rest of the load). Most wrinkles are gone this way. But I always have to iron dress shirts.
Those folding wooden racks are great for socks and underwear, or for sticking a load indoors to dry.
When the upstairs was unfinished, a pair of jeans would dry in a couple hours in the summer. If I shake things out really well, tug and flatten items out before hanging, they dry faster and look better.
I don't use fabric softener due to allergies.
I do use vinegar.
Boiling whites (socks and other nasties) actually works. I've given up on DH's white dress shirts and send them out. He spends half the time or more in the nasty warehouse so collars get impossible.
I have hooks in the walls near the ceiling in the back screened porch. This helps keep darks from fading, dogs from thinking that's the latest toy, birds and other accidents. I can also turn on the ceiling fan if it gets too stuffy.

I love the roughness of the line dry bath towel.

 

[EweSheep]

Can fabric softener make you itch?

Hubby and daughter would just scratch alot, particuarly the underwear which they would just break out in a rash within the hour they wear it. I've tried it without fabric softener and it stopped. Then once in a great while, if I change detergent, they would itch up a storm too, including the homemade detergent.

Tide is the only detergent that does not seem to bother them too much, as long I put the washer in the second rinse cycle.

 

[ChikeeMomma]

The Amish hang their clothes out all winter -- weather permitting, I'm sure! Some of them run a pulley line system from their house all the way up to the utility line. It's quite a clothesline and high in the air.

 

[Avalon1984]

My husband said we could have the dryer running all day long and use less electricty than my incubator and brooder being used all the time.

I think he means I need to stop incubating little fuzzballs.

 

[weeders n feeders]

Quote:
Yes frabric softener and detergents can cause itching, rashes and acne problems. It takes a lot of effort to figure out what can be used and what cannot. And it can even change with time due to an unknown change in formulation of the product or change in the the person themselves. In my family we have strict limits on brands of all soaps and clothes detergents and softeners and even toothpaste.

Now back to origional post-
yes I hang out my clothes all the time even in winter. In winter will usually only do one load a day to give it the full day to dry. Yes sometimes they freeze dry but not a common occurance here in charleston,sc. Now sometime even in summer I have to go down to one load a day too because the humidity is so high the clothes cut ally seem to get wetter rather than dry. Occasionally things get put on hangers and then are hung on shower rod to finish drying or tossed into the dryer for few minutes. I love the smell (at least as long as neighbors don't decide to burn their trash right after I have hung the load) and the feel. Vinegar helps the stiffnes but honestly I kinda like it. Also taking the clothes off the line before they re 100% dry helps. It takes a little practice to figure out the just how dry Is dry enough to not go stale but also not be over dried into stiffness.
Now my tips on the line itself:
Use wooden clothes pins and don't leave them out in the weather. The plastic ones - the sun will deterioate and they will break. The wooden ones will mold and mildew if left out.
Use a good rope with little stretch to it. But since all will stretch mine are hung with eye bolts. I put the bolt through the post and put the nut on just enough to hold the bolt on then pull the rope as tight as I can an tie it through the eye in the bolt with a slip knot. Then tighten the bolt as needed. When it finally get to the point that it cannot be tightened anymore I loosen the bolt as far as it can go and retie the rope s tight as I can again. I have been doing this for years now with the same line. Started out with just enough tail to tie the rope and now have several inches to a foot of "extra" rope now.

 

[CluckyJay]

I use vinegar in the rinse cycle and it prevents my clothes from getting stiff on the line.