I am in love. My clothesline is actually making me happy. I find the few quiet minutes it takes to hang the clothes up both meditative and satisfying. Wait. Did I just say laundry makes me happy?
This isn’t my first clothesline, but so far, it is the best. Granted, it’s new, so I don’t know how it will stand the test of time. But I really love the design. Which is funny. I actually wanted a traditional, two post with lines stretched between set up. I envisioned my kiddos running between the sheets as they hung on the lines. But we’re short on space, so we went for the umbrella style. And I love it. Here’s why…
It holds a lot. A LOT a lot. Like four or five loads. Maybe more. More clothes than I have clothespins for. All the cloth diapers, inserts and wipes, all the kids’ bedding, all of my clothes and towels, tons and tons.
It spins. This means that I can hang the whites on one side and the darks on the other. Then I can rotate it so the whites get bleached by the sun, and the darks stay in the shade. Awesome. Also, I can stand in one place, with the sun behind me, to hang and turn the line as I fill each side instead of moving around or staring into the sun.
What are you hanging under there? In the past, I would hang lots of items, but not everything. I never hung our unders up, for example. I didn’t want the whole neighborhood ogling my ultra sexy nursing bras. 😉 But with the new line, that’s just not a concern.
The trick to hanging the tightie-whities is pretending you’re wearing them – they go under all your other clothes. That’s right, if you don’t want the neighborhood to know if the husband wears boxers or briefs, keep them on the inside. Those t-shirts and dish towels are totally concealing the undies from prying neighborhood eyes.
Clothesline? What Clothesline? I can take it down and put it away if we’re having a garden party or something. Not that this has happened, but it’s a nice option. Also I think taking it down in the winter to protect it from the weather will probably make it last longer.
It is pretty and it smells good. Ok, that is true of drying clothes outdoors, no matter what kind of line you are using. But that doesn’t mean I don’t still love it. Nothing smells so nice as sun-dried sheets. And I really love how laundry looks on the line. I feel like I’ve accomplished something when I see a full line fluttering in the breeze.
Do you hang your laundry out? What do you love about it?
The Lazy Homesteader 
Don’t own a tumble drier, so it’s always the clothes line for me. Unless it’s raining, and I HAVE to do a wash, then I hang it under the cupboards in the laundry, and the heat from the freezer and small fridge seem to dry it overnight. (if you’d like to see what I”m talking about then it’s the 1st photo on this page ” http://ecofootprintsa.blogspot.com/p/trying-to-make-difference-start-of-our.html ” )
I really wish I used my line more often – I’m just so disorganized right now, that I can’t find the time! It’s especially hard when I don’t get around to doing laundry until 9pm! I have an indoor rack though, that helps somewhat. Sometimes I use the tumble dryer for about 10 minutes then hang everything up – that’ll dry the clothes in no time!
I adore sun dried sheets…the smell lulls me to sleep.
I love that! Makes me want to hang out mine more often…
Where did you get your clothes rack and what the name/model? We recently moved and need to install outside lines, but our neighborhood covenent forbids permenent clothes lines. Retracable or removable are fine, so we’re considering what kind would work best and your’s looks really useful. Thanks.
We got ours at the local Ace Hardware. I think this is it: http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1340336&kw=clothes+dryer&origkw=clothesline – it was around $50 here.
I love the minutes it gives me outside, the smell, the children picking raspberries ad telling me stories as I work.
Me too. 🙂
I line dry our laundry everyday. If its raining, ill hang the most needed items in the bathroom. Every winter, I get frost bitten hands.. Every now and then, Ill use the laundrymatt, if I just cant bare the thought of the fridged air. But, most generally, I hang all year around.
Thanks for the undies under others idea. I’m sure I would’ve figured it out to but…