No More Crunchy Towels: How to Line Dry Your Clothes
The look of laundry floating in the breeze on a warm summer’s day is so delightfully retro, and so wonderfully country. But whether you live in the middle of the country or in the middle of an urban area, drying laundry on the line is also a modern, practical household task. It saves you money, and it makes your clothes smell lovely.
However, many people get frustrated by the wrinkled clothes and fading fabrics caused by line drying. It doesn’t need to be so! Follow these tips to dry clothes quickly, easily, and with fewer wrinkles!
Keep Your Clothes Soft
No one likes crunchy jeans and towels. Unless you like the loofah feel of a line-dried towel, you might want to add a little vinegar to your wash. Add ½ cup of vinegar to the load, and your clothes will be much softer, even after line drying!
Preserve Your Fabric
Putting your clothes out in the sun can cause fading over time. So don’t put your clothes out in the sun! Situate your clothesline in a place that doesn’t get the direct, beating sun, and you’ll help preserve your fabrics. Another tip: get people to put their clothes into the laundry hamper inside out. Keep them inside out as you wash and dry them, and you’ll preserve the fabric and keep it from fading.
Banish Weird Fold Lines
Have you gone to work with an odd crease in your shirt because that’s where your laundry was hanging? Reduce your ironing time and reduce wrinkles in general by hanging laundry correctly on the line. Hang shirts and skirts by the hem so that they don’t get as many wrinkles. Hanging shirts by the shoulders leads to little bags, which leads to odd wrinkles at the top of the shirt. Hang jeans by the waist do that they dry more quickly, and open the button and zipper so that the air can move through the top. Above all, peg your laundry! Laundry that’s folded across the line gets fold marks from the line.
Avoid the Dreaded Damp
You slip into your jeans, only to find that the sides are still damp. Yuck! To stop this from happening, avoid putting too much clothing on the line. Clothes that are tightly packed together don’t dry well. Give your clothes a little bit of breathing room on the line, and they will dry more quickly. Then you can put the next load on! Try to hang your clothes without folding them. Hanging them with clothes pegs gives the clothes a chance to sway in the breeze and get warm and dry all the way through.
Look Out Below!
What’s falling on your laundry? To avoid surprises, whether they’re leaves or bugs, make sure that your laundry line stays clear of trees, downspouts, and other messy areas.
Keeping It Clean
Keep your clothesline and supplies fresh, and you won’t need to buy new ones every year. If there are times of the year when you don’t use your clothesline, bring it inside and store it so that water, cold, and salt don’t impact it. Store your clothespins in a breathable bag indoors, so they don’t degrade in the damp.
One of the loveliest childhood memories I have is that of laundry floating on the breeze, and the smell of this laundry when it came inside. Little did I know that my parents were being energy efficient too! Use these tips, and you’ll enjoy putting your laundry on the line and love it when it comes off the line too.
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i used to dry clothes on the line think i will start again. in the spring
use vineger with your wash rinse then hang clothes out to dry they will be very fresh and soft