Outside Clothes Drying

Save Money, Cut Carbon Emissions and… Get Outdoors!

By Noel Smith

• Drying clothes outside is coming back. Using the timeless combination of sun and wind to dry clothing and linens is becoming popular. It reduces your Gas and Electric bill, lowers carbon emissions, helps your clothing and linens last longer by eliminating wear and tear, sunlight is a natural sanitizing agent, it provides a great excuse to get outside, without artificial scents gives your fabrics that fresh outdoor smell, and line drying is kinder to your clothes.

Here are some tips about outside drying:

• First, find out if it’s allowed. In many places outside drying is against the rules. If so, work to get the rules changed.
• Clothes can be dried on a foldaway rack, retractable clothesline, freestanding rotary frame (umbrella) clotheslines, pulley clotheslines, an old-fashioned clothesline hung between any two poles or walls.
• Use Nylon or cotton rope but even spare telephone wire will work.
• Old-fashioned clothespins are wooden pushdown types while the modern clothespin is a spring clip made of wood or plastic.
• Garments or fabrics that stretch when wet such as wool and loosely knitted garments should be dried flat on a sweater drying rack placed outside, not on hung on a line
• Hang whites in the sun and colored articles in the shade
• Hang your colored clothing inside out
• Hanging clothing neatly on the line helps prevent wrinkling
• A good breeze is more important than direct sunlight
• Avoid hanging clothes on extremely windy days
• Hang clothes over the line about 3-4 inches and pin at each end, to keep them on the line
• Hang heavier items one third to a halfway over the line, pin at each end with several pins between.
• Hang shorts and pants/trousers by the waistband
• Hang dresses or skirts from hangers if possible, straight dresses and skirts from the shoulders or hem and a full or gathered skirt from the hem
• Hang socks by the toes, bras by the hook end, fold the waistband of underpants over the line and pin either side onto the line, place handkerchiefs in half over the line and pin at each end
• Shake towels with a “snap” then fold them over and pin at each end. Shake towels again when removing them from the line
• Fold sheets hem to hem so they can’t reach the ground before pinning over the line
• Hang blankets and other heavy items across two lines, or more
• When hanging 100 percent cotton items, don’t stretch before pinning
• Check while hanging that all items can’t reach the ground.
• Keep your clothesline clean and wipe with wet cloth before using
• Wash off your clothespins regularly
• Fold the clothes as you take them off the clothesline
• Don’t store damp clothes.

Remember, get outside, hang up those clothes, then sit back and have a cool one while they dry… and don’t forget your sunblock.