Question of the day... drying laundry

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
- Do you rely on an electric tumble dryer or clothesline when drying clothing and washables?

- If you have a clothesline, is it an old-fashioned pulley line?

- Do you have an umbrella clothesline?

- Do you use wooden or plastic clothespins?

- When do you hang laundry out to dry (mornings or evenings)?

- Do you have a wooden drying rack?

- Have you ever had something get wind-blown off the line?

- Do you line-dry throughout the cold and winter months?

- How long have you been line-drying for (years, months)?

- Do you use a clothespin bag?

- Where do you keep your clothespins when not in use?
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
- Do you rely on an electric tumble dryer or clothesline when drying clothing and washables? Both. Clothesline from Spring until Fall, tumble dryer throughout the colder/wetter months (Winter, etc)

- If you have a clothesline, is it an old-fashioned pulley line? Yes

- Do you have an umbrella clothesline? No, but I've used one before

- Do you use wooden or plastic clothespins? Wooden all the way!

- When do you hang laundry out to dry (mornings or evenings)? Early morning is my favourite!

- Do you have a wooden drying rack? Yes. One of the best investments I ever made!

- Have you ever had something get wind-blown off the line? Yup, sure have... rubber pants!

- Do you line-dry throughout the cold and winter months? No

- How long have you been line-drying for (years, months)? Since I was a young girl. Stared off helping my mom hang-dry laundry, then hung my own while still living at home, then used a line as a homemaker and mom

- Do you use a clothespin bag? Yes

- Where do you keep your clothespins when not in use? In a wicker basket in the porch
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Dryer. Never used a line. But my dear, dear grandmother hung laundry even at her apartment. She called it a clothesline and told me she liked the way clothes smelled after drying in the fresh air.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I dont remember, Old Hand. My grandmother totally refused new inventions for much of her life, even air conditioning. But my mother had no trouble accepting these inventions so I dont remember things like hanging laundry out to dry, at least not in my house. My mother didnt have a dishwasher at first. I dont know if she ever got one while living in that house but, like me, never liked to was dishes so she did them quickly and let them air dry and also used paper plates. I love paper plates and have no need to be formal. Even on holidays we use decorated paper products to eat on.

Bah, humbug! I dont like dishwashing! The few times I do, i let the stuff air dry too. I have clean rags for drying if perchance I want to, but nothing fancy or pretty. Any clean rag does the trick.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
I dont remember, Old Hand. My grandmother totally refused new inventions for much of her life, even air conditioning. But my mother had no trouble accepting these inventions so I dont remember things like hanging laundry out to dry, at least not in my house. My mother didnt have a dishwasher at first. I dont know if she ever got one while living in that house but, like me, never liked to was dishes so she did them quickly and let them air dry and also used paper plates. I love paper plates and have no need to be formal. Even on holidays we use decorated paper products to eat on.

Bah, humbug! I dont like dishwashing! The few times I do, i let the stuff air dry too. I have clean rags for drying if perchance I want to, but nothing fancy or pretty. Any clean rag does the trick.
Love your commitment and honesty towards convenience, SWOT! :)
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
I hung out my laundry on a clothesline when I first moved to the mountains of Arizona. Electricity was expensive when we lived there, and I was trying to be frugal.

I don't care for line-dryer clothes, as they feel stiff. I am pretty sensitive to fabrics, so maybe others don't have the same experience.

I purchased a house with a gas heat (previous house heated with a wood stove) and gas dryer outlet. I bought a gas dryer and stopped hanging clothes out on the line.

When we left Arizona, I sold the gas dryer with the house, as my new house in Kansas had an electric dryer outlet (and electricity was comparable to gas there.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
I don't care for line-dryer clothes, as they feel stiff. I am pretty sensitive to fabrics, so maybe others don't have the same experience.
I learned three tricks related to helping to eliminate stiffness in line-dried things.

Trick #1. Before hanging clothes on line, put them in the electric tumble dryer for a few minutes, then hang on line.

Trick #2. Don't line-dry mid-day when it's the hottest out. Line-dry early in the morning (before the heat), or later in the evening.

Trick #3. Take goods down off the line while still slightly damp and finish off the drying process in the electric tumble dryer.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Lol. You had a dryer and still hung them outside???

I am feeling lazy.

Correction.

When it comes to anything housework related, I *am* lazy. Nothing bores me more. Nothing.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
Lol. You had a dryer and still hung them outside???
It's true, I did! LOL! Having babies got me started on line-drying in a big way... diapers and rubber pants, baby sleepers, baby t-shirts, baby pyjamas, baby bedding (crib sheets, rubber sheets)... and it seemed like a load everyday! Let me tell you, it wasn't always pure love! LOL!
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Old Hand. I take my hat off to you. I have a form of undiagnosed ADHD regarding anything tedious and I am sloppy about details. I loved the fun part of raising kids, but was soooo not into doing the less exciting stuff a minute more than I had to. Bet you love to clean your house! Bet it sparkles.

I dont like housework. It is a chore to me. Often hubby does it :)
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
Old Hand. I take my hat off to you. I have a form of undiagnosed ADHD regarding anything tedious and I am sloppy about details. I loved the fun part of raising kids, but was soooo not into doing the less exciting stuff a minute more than I had to. Bet you love to clean your house! Bet it sparkles.

I dont like housework. It is a chore to me. Often hubby does it :)
That would be hard. We know someone with acute ADHD, and they take medication for it, but even then they struggle with it daily.

I am a fussy housekeeper, however, the lead-up to getting everything clean can be somewhat of a trying time for me, especially now that I'm getting older. I just don't have the umph that I used to, so I have to spread things out over the course of the week. A little today, a little tomorrow, and so on, that way I don't burn myself out.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I have never been diagnosed with ADHD. I was teasing. By nature, I would rather do anything as fast as possible though. Tedious cleaning is not my thing. Tedious anything is not my thing. I probably or could have ADHD for real, but not interested in pills for it. Last thing this gal needs is a stimulant.

I am comfortable being disorganized ;)
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
I have never been diagnosed with ADHD. I was teasing. By nature, I would rather do anything as fast as possible though. Tedious cleaning is not my thing. Tedious anything is not my thing. I probably or could have ADHD for real, but not interested in pills for it. Last thing this gal needs is a stimulant.

I am comfortable being disorganized ;)
I go crazy when I tackle tedious things like cleaning the blings all through the house. I clean slat by slat, pinching each with a damp cloth and wiping from side to side. The repetitive movement and ritual almost makes me sick to my stomach.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
I use a dryer. When I was a child in Chicago. Everyone heated with coal. As a result, there was a huge amount of soot flying around which happily stuck to any laundry hung out on the fire escapes. The rest of the year one had pigeon poop, general dirt, etc.

Those of you who are younger cannot imagine who filthy the city was in the poorer areas during the 60s. (I remember playing in alleys piled high with garbage and dog poop.)

When we moved to the suburbs in 72, we had a yard and it was much cleaner, however, with me being the poster child for allergies, we discovered that clothing hung out to dry gave me hives due to the pollen stuck to it.

In the house in the suburbs (Highland Park for SWOT), we had a washer and dryer. In Chicago we had a mangle washer in the basement but no dryer. I can remember frying my brains weekly at the laundromat with my mother and sister. Truly miserable during the summer months as airconditioning wasn't a thing.

Our big treat was a nickle Pepsi in the small glass bottle from the vending machine.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Reading this makes me wonder if we were more well off than I thought. In Lincolnwood, where I grew up, i was teased for our house, our car, my clothes (not nice enough to be okay in this well off suburb). Thebkids tried to shame me. Most did have newer, nicer stuff to very nice. But we had a washer/dryer, i took private drama and singing lessons, and we did get central air when I was near or in high school. The air was clean.

Funny about perceptions. I was defiantly modest and shopped at discount stores, which the kids in my area made fun of. I did not think we were poor, but did not think we were doing that well either.

Reading this I know it was financially better for us than many, although not in Lincolnwood. And a kid only knows what she sees.

I grew to be very non materialistic because material goods were so valued by those I grew up with and I never cared even young about the best and most expensive. I still dont.

At the same time, I dont have warm fuzzy memories as a child. Many people do. I just wanted to grow up, get the hell out of Dodge and never see anyone from Lincolnwood again.

Most of you sound like you enjoyed your childhoods. I am happy for your nice memories. My best memories are after 40.

Interesting thread.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
I use a dryer. When I was a child in Chicago. Everyone heated with coal. As a result, there was a huge amount of soot flying around which happily stuck to any laundry hung out on the fire escapes. The rest of the year one had pigeon poop, general dirt, etc.

Those of you who are younger cannot imagine who filthy the city was in the poorer areas during the 60s. (I remember playing in alleys piled high with garbage and dog poop.)

When we moved to the suburbs in 72, we had a yard and it was much cleaner, however, with me being the poster child for allergies, we discovered that clothing hung out to dry gave me hives due to the pollen stuck to it.

In the house in the suburbs (Highland Park for SWOT), we had a washer and dryer. In Chicago we had a mangle washer in the basement but no dryer. I can remember frying my brains weekly at the laundromat with my mother and sister. Truly miserable during the summer months as airconditioning wasn't a thing.

Our big treat was a nickle Pepsi in the small glass bottle from the vending machine.
Oh, yes... bird poop, pollen, ash, even dirty, dusty Spring air... all clothesline drying nasty's!

I love a Spring and Summer where we get regular rainy days, because it helps clean the air and keep contaminants down.

Yes, as a child, I, too, remember the trips to the Laundromat with mom. I still remember the chemical and detergent smell of the Laundromat... it was similar to that of a dry-cleaning place.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
Reading this makes me wonder if we were more well off than I thought. In Lincolnwood, where I grew up, i was teased for our house, our car, my clothes (not nice enough to be okay in this well off suburb). Thebkids tried to shame me. Most did have newer, nicer stuff to very nice. But we had a washer/dryer, i took private drama and singing lessons, and we did get central air when I was near or in high school. The air was clean.

Funny about perceptions. I was defiantly modest and shopped at discount stores, which the kids in my area made fun of. I did not think we were poor, but did not think we were doing that well either.

Reading this I know it was financially better for us than many, although not in Lincolnwood. And a kid only knows what she sees.

I grew to be very non materialistic because material goods were so valued by those I grew up with and I never cared even young about the best and most expensive. I still dont.

At the same time, I dont have warm fuzzy memories as a child. Many people do. I just wanted to grow up, get the hell out of Dodge and never see anyone from Lincolnwood again.

Most of you sound like you enjoyed your childhoods. I am happy for your nice memories. My best memories are after 40.

Interesting thread.
We were poor, and I remember my mom washing clothes and laundry in the bathtub (by hand), using one of those glass faced washboards. On her knees, she'd wash everything, rinse it, then hang it up on the line outside (inside during the colder months).

I remember the wooden drying rack with diapers on it (colder, snowy months).
 
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