Clotheslines

[John in Covina]

Anybody use a clothesline?

The original solar power!

I line dry my stuff about 95% of the time. Some clothes tends to come out with a lot of lint on them and those get tossed in the dryer for a quick spin. Other than than if it's raining and I need something washed I'll use the dryer then.

Back in NY it was interesting to use the clothes line in the cold winter days as the stuff froze first.

Many people don't like the clothes or towels to be stiff as line drying tends to make them, I love it. It reminds me of my childhood alot.

Plus here in Southern Califonia when it's hot and pretty dry stuff can dry really quickly. Sheets are almost dry by the time they have been hung up.

 

[Cigarband]

^ I like the term "little tin gods." But I guess if you don't like covenants, don't move to a neighborhood that has them.

All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.-Edmund Burke

 

[Lillemor]

In response to the original post - No way! Not as long as I live in a place where they spread maneuver over the fields and burn trash any time it's clothes drying weather. So everything that can't go in the dryer hangs over the foot end of our bed. I'm not really happy with this set-up. Boys clothes all go in the dryer, most undergarments can go in the dryer, none of my clothes goes in the dryer!:rage:

 

[Flivver]

I still have a T-pole clothesline in my back yard...very convenient.

My house was built by a guy who sold plumbing supplies so the T-poles are made from galvanized threaded pipe set in cement. They've been there for almost 50 years!

 

[BinkieBaumont]

The "Hills Hoist" folds down like an umbrella, designed in the 1950's? by an Australian

 

[John in Covina]

The "Hills Hoist" folds down like an umbrella, designed in the 1950's? by an Australian

We had one like that when I was really little, plus a pulley system clothes line that went from the house eaves by the back stoop about 60 feet to one the big oak trees.

 

[AmateisGal]

The "Hills Hoist" folds down like an umbrella, designed in the 1950's? by an Australian

We had a clothesline like this in my backyard growing up. One of my favorite memories is how my brothers and I used it to make a tent - we hung sheets down from it and created our own world. Ahh...the simple pleasures of childhood!

 

[John in Covina]

When the wind is right and is coming up from Chino where all the dairy farms are, you can clearly smell cow pie, the drying clothes pick up a real rural tang to them for a day or two.

 

[KittyT]

I'm so glad that clothesline weather is back up here! I'm sick of going to the laundromat, and while I hate the lint that clothesline drying leaves, I can deal with it for the cost and energy savings of not using a dryer, and the time savings of not going to the laundromat.

I have a neat clothesline in the back yard. Will have to remember to post some photos.

 

[barra063]

Everybody had the Hills Hoist when we were kids.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hills_Hoist
Took up a big part of the back yard.We use to fly off these(when Mum wasn't looking).
You kids really missed out.
An Aussie Icon

Ah the Hills hoist. This one item says Australian suburbia. The memories of childhood swinging off the clothesline are an integral part of growing up here.
(summary execution if caught by Mum). As we grew up new party games were invented centered around the Hills hoist like goon of fortune (like wheel of fortune). A goon is the wine bladder out of one of those chateau de cardboard wine boxes. Tie one to a clothes line and then the participants form a circle around the line. Spin the clothes line and if the goon bag stops at you, you have to skull. Kinda like spin the bottle with a Hills hoist.

My hometown is the birthplace of the Hills Hoist and I would pass the Hills factory every day as I went to and from school.

 

[Talbot]

Ditto on the Hills Hoist

My house was built in 47' and it has the original Hills Hoist. Works well - the dryer never gets used.

The early ones just raise and lower. Later ones folded to use less space when not in use. Of course, its also worth keeping in mind that we have no ordnances down under (at least none I know of) that prohibit high fences all around your property line (my front fence is 10 ft high).

Pays to hang your clothes inside out. Down under we regularly have high Ultra Violet radiation days and the UV will fade your clothes noticeably.

Back on topic, a Hill's Hoist and a Sprinkler was all you'd need as a kid in summer

http://images.google.com.au/imgres?...hills+hoist&gbv=2&ndsp=20&hl=en&sa=N&start=20

 

[Celia Crowson]

Everybody had the Hills Hoist when we were kids.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hills_Hoist
Took up a big part of the back yard.We use to fly off these(when Mum wasn't looking).
You kids really missed out.
An Aussie Icon

Yep - that is what we have, the iconic Hills Hoist. Great for drying clothes, swinging on it as a kid when mum wasn't looking (my sister and I did it all the time - better with 2 you get more 'swing') and great for parties out the back (when the weather looks like it might rain - just throw a tarp over the hoist).

And we had a Victa Mower

 

[KittyT]

This is the clothesline in my backyard. The thing is immense. As you can see, it takes up almost the entire back yard. The metal bars have 12 eye screws across each side, so you can have a total of 12 lines across. I only use 8 - the others are under trees and I don't want the guck and pollen on my clothes!

 

[Inky]

I am so envious of those of you who have clothes lines! I would love to dry my clothing outside but we are not permitted to have them where we live - welcome to California!

 

[Paisley]

When she was a little girl, my Aunt Helen used to wash her doll clothes and hang them on the fence to dry. Grandma said it made the place look like a bunch of gypsies lived there. [huh] Yup, those doll-clothes-lovin' gypsies.

 

[lolly_loisides]

Here is a picture of our Hills Hoist - the gentleman in the fez & smoking jacket is my husband. No gypsies here.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Growing up, we had a T-Pole and at our Cabin, a clothesline nailed to two trees. When we built out new house and left the farm, my dad said they were no longer classy enough to have in our yard.

 

[DanielJones]

This thread has inspired me to put up a clothes line in our back yard. It'll definitely reduce our energy bill which is always a plus no matter how you look at it.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[John in Covina]

This thread has inspired me to put up a clothes line in our back yard. It'll definitely reduce our energy bill which is always a plus no matter how you look at it. Cheers! Dan

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Line drying is different than the dryer method, the clothes, sheets and towels may take on a stiffness quality to them. If you don't like that then you may want to add those liquid fabric softeners in the rinse cycle to ward off the stiffness.

Again, I like the stiffness factor it reminds me of m childhood and the laundry has a fresh outdoors smell.

 

[Paisley]

Hang-dry laundry tips

Also, you might not need as much laundry soap as the box prescribes. Too much soap will make your clothes stiff because not all of it comes out in the rinse.

Shirts can be dried on hangers. It saves space and prevents clothespin marks on the fabric. Pantyhose or stockings can be left in a lingerie bag to dry. Bras can be hooked over the clothesline.

For a clothespin holder, cut the top front out of a bleach bottle and thread the clothesline through the handle.

I have just a single line, so I wash and dry my sheets first. They dry quickly, and I can get another load of laundry on the line within a few hours.