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July 05, 2007
The line drying lifestyle.
Tags: conservation, environmentLJ Urban quotes a post from another blog about the benefits of line drying. In addition to being green, line drying will save you some green. If your dryer is in the house, it will also eliminate one source of heat. We’ve been doing something like line drying since about mid-May. Our bill went down about $20 for part of a month — I’m hoping a full month’s reduction will counteract the electric bill.
Although a clothesline is ideal, you may live in a space with limited outdoor access or you may be a renter with landlords who might look askance at hanging a line. Our solution? Buy a couple of free-standing drying racks at Ikea. It will take a little longer to dry your clothes because there isn’t as much air circulation. However, while the weather is hot enough to cook eggs, your clothes will dry in just a few hours–even those you’ve folded over on themselves. I put the clothes in this picture out at around 2pm, as the Mercury was approaching 100 degrees. By 5pm they were dry.
Two racks and an octopus (neat invention) will hold a full load of laundry.
Also, if you live in a development where your homeowner covenant or, [insert deity here] forbid, your local government, prohibits clotheslines, this might be a better solution as the racks will be below the fence-line.
We should figure out a way to hang a line (our landlords are pretty laid back), but I’ll admit to being lazy.
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I’ve always line dried my clothes. And I do it all year long since I do it inside. Not to be green, but because clothes don’t shrink and seem to last longer. The only things I throw in the drier are my sheets and whites…mostly to kill any and all germs. With the low humidity here, line drying doesn’t take very long at all.
Did I just comment about my laundry habits? Sheesh. This heat must really be frying my brain.
July 05, 2007 @ 8:22 pm
It’s a great idea in theory, but I’ve found it to founder somewhat in practice here in the Southeast. It’s hideously humid here, and clothes often will start to mildew (or, if in sun, at least to get very funky) before they’ll dry. Depressing.
July 05, 2007 @ 9:33 pm
SF Chick74 I just read a post on another blog from an Australian woman that said the sun actually kills more bacteria than the dryer. Go figure!
Matthew I know that sucks. Trying to hang a beach towel in the tropics just doesn’t always work.
July 05, 2007 @ 10:39 pm
I’ve got longer than average arms and legs, so my clothes haven’t been dried (save towels, sheets and undies) since I was in high school. Otherwise I’d be a fashion outcast. I have to admit that I love the added greenness of necessity.
I also wash everything in cold water, save the aforementioned towels, sheets and undies. And, not having a yard or balcony, I find that my bathroom makes an excellent place to dry stuff. It works less well in the winter, though.
July 06, 2007 @ 11:45 am
Sacramento has pretty ideal weather for line drying: not a lot of rain, generally dry heat (actually more like average humidity.)
The only down side with line drying is that if your wardrobe includes a lot of black, it fades things pretty quickly. It’s a good strategy for colors, though.
mental note: get one of those IKEA racks and put it near my heat exchanger in the backyard. At least that way I’m getting a bit of double duty while running the air conditioner.
July 09, 2007 @ 8:58 am
wburg - what a great idea! Unfortunately, my a/c is rooftop. And as laid back and my landlords are, I seriously doubt they’d support my putting my laundry on the roof!
July 09, 2007 @ 12:58 pm
Living in Minnesota in the wintertime has its advantages. The air inside most houses is pretty dry. I set up my rack in front of my furnace vent in the bedroom. This adds much needed humidity to the air (less dry skin and nosebleeds) and dries the clothes quickly. This past winter I did not use the dryer, not even for large sheets or blankets. I just folded them over and flipped them inside out to dry all the sides.
May 17, 2008 @ 10:17 pm