When I think of using a clothesline, I think of a conversation I had when I still lived in the city. While hanging my laundry, my neighbor’s little boy poked his head through the fence.
”Whatchoo doing?”
“挂我的衣服。”
“你没有烘干机吗?”
“我们摆脱了它。太阳和风吹得衣服很快就干了。它是免费的!”
“Oh!” He glanced up at the sky as if noticing the sun for the first time. “Didn’t know you could do that!”
Little did he know that I was only two months into that exact same realization myself. At the time, my husband and I had just decided to move off-grid, and so we had started practicing the skills that we’d need when we finally found our homestead.
Looking back, it’s embarrassing to realize how hard it was for me to give up that dryer. But now that I’ve gone five years without it, I certainly don’t miss it!
If you want to scale down your energy use, save money, get off-grid, start homesteading, or even just spend more time outside, you’ve got to start using a clothesline. Let me tell you why!
How To Make A Clothesline
如果你有一根绳子，一些衣服别针，和一些稳定的东西来系绳子，你就有了晾衣绳。就是这么简单。我的城市晾衣绳是一根不雅的绳子，系在我家后门廊的一棵橡树上!
There are many types of clothespins, from the old-fashioned kind that uses friction to hold your clothes down to fancy plastic ones. Though I am not usually a fan of plastic, I do love usingthese pins. They don’t fall apart like flimsy wooden spring pins, and paper wasps don’t chew away at them. Mine have been outside for more than a year, and they look as new as when I bought them!
As far as line goes, I am a fan ofcotton cord. Mine has been in two different states and been tied to numerous surfaces, and it’s still going strong. Whenever it does break down, I can even compost it! Just know that cotton will stretch over time, so you’ll need to tighten your line every so often.
Trees are convenient, but a tight cord around a tree may girdle it, and the shade offered by its branches will block the sun. Erecting some sturdy poles in a sunny, treeless place and stringing your line there is the best plan.
Our homestead clothesline was designed on the spot by my husband. He recycled old fence posts from our land and made this multi-tiered behemoth that can handily dry at least three loads of laundry. Plans are easy to find to build your own though—check outthis clearly laid-out designand这坚固的设计。
If you don’t have an old fence to recycle and aren’t in a building mood, you can buy a clothesline. You can spend as much or as little on a clothesline as you want.Brabandia’s umbrella-shaped clotheslineis a bit pricey but super sturdy and able to handle around two loads. If you’re feeling creative,you might even get the posts for your clothesline custom-designed让你的线条成为一件艺术品。
If you feel like you have to shell out triple-digits for a clothesline, however, I feel like you’re totally missing the point. This is a simple thing that anyone can and should afford. Don’t overthink it … just enjoy it!
The Benefits Of Using A Clothesline
Using the sun’s light and heat to dry things is something that we’veonly recently forgottenin modern life. But that free gift is still shining outside, just waiting for you to string up a line and take it up again.
1. You’ll Save Energy
The typical dryer uses 3000 watts in 15 minutes.Obviously, line drying does the same work for nothing.
你计算了一下一年下来为你的家庭节省了多少钱，你可能会奇怪为什么你不早点把这个耗能的东西从你的房子里赶出去!
Related Post:20 Energy Saving, Eco-Friendly DIY Clothesline Ideas
2. You’ll Save Your Clothes
Line drying is also a lot more gentle on your clothing. Rather than rasping against each other in a machine, felting away months and years of potential use, even your most delicate clothes are gently dried and will last a lot longer.
3. Your Clothes Will Be Cleaner
People have known for centuries about the sanitizing power of the sun, even if they couldn’t explain the exact science of it. As someone who has done my fair share of washing cloth diapers, I can personally attest to the power of UV sanitation.
I’ll spare you the details, but unspeakable stains, when hung in direct Ozark sunlight, fade to almost nothing.
4. Yes, You Can Do It Year-Round
You can also line-dry year round in most areas. Just as in the summer, the biggest thing you need to be aware of in the winter is the humidity. Even if it’s cold, if it is dry outside, your clothes will get dry enough! If it is a dry, sunny day, you may find that your clothes are dry nearly as quickly as in the summer.
To help them along, flip the side that is in the shadow toward the sun halfway through drying. They may feel frozen stiff, but as soon as they warm, they’ll loosen up. And if all else fails, a line strung above a wood stove does a good job as well!
5. Your Clothes Smell Great!
Line-dried clothing also just smells amazing. There’s a reason they sell “fresh cotton” and “breeze”-scented dryer sheets, but those artificial chemicals pale in comparison to the life-giving aroma of a face-full of clean, airy towels.
最后，晾衣服有一种令人难以置信的享受和治疗。蓝天在头顶，鸟鸣在轻柔的风中拍打着你的背部，清新的微风等待着注入你的枕套，晒线是我每隔一天就会期待的事情。我喜欢我现在可以出去，而不是被困在地下室的地牢里。
The Disadvantages Of Using A Clothesline
The disadvantages of using a clothesline are minimal compared to the benefits, but there are some things to take into account.
1. The Weather
第一个挑战是天气。除非你有一个有顶棚的空间，否则雨天就不是洗衣的日子!此外，洗衣服的时间也很重要——如果你早上挂衣服，但发现要到晚上才能取下来，有时湿度的变化会让你的衣服再次潮湿。
I find that the best time to “harvest” laundry is 2 p.m.…and no later than 6 p.m. on summer days. If you do find your clothes damp again, you can leave them overnight and retrieve them once the morning has warmed (and dried) the air. Another option if it’s not going to rain overnight, is to hang clothes in the evening and then take them down once the morning has warmed.
2. It Takes Longer To Haul The Laundry
You also need to take the time to haul your clothes outside. With small children, this might take a bit of orchestration. Sometimes, you may spend as much time getting everyone “set” as you do actually hanging the wash!
3. Bug And Bird Invasions (Kinda)
I know that some folks may fear that birds will poop on their clothes or that they’ll be crawling with insects. In my five years of line-drying, I’ve had exactly two bird droppings hit my clothes, so as long as you don’t put your laundry beneath a fruit tree, it’s nothing to worry about.
至于昆虫，你可能会时不时地发现困惑的蛾子或迷路的蚂蚁，但只要你在把衣服放进洗衣篮之前好好“啪”一下，你的“搭车”包袱也就不成问题了。
Some folks are ready to throw in the towel when it comes to line drying, fearing a tick in their bed sheets. I can assure you, as a resident of a backwoods area crawling with ticks, that I’ve never found them in my line-dried clothes. And even if I did, it wouldn’t be a big deal. Just flick it off, like you would any other bug, and you’re good to go! If you’re still somehow worried, just make sure that the grass under your clothesline is trimmed regularly—ticks far prefer being in tall grass than sun-dried towels.
4. Your Clothes Might Be “Crunchy”
如果你习惯了用滚筒烘干的衣服，那么有一个小障碍需要克服。虽然风吹干的衣服和用烘干机烘干的衣服感觉几乎完全一样，但如果在安静的天气里晾着，你可能会发现衣服有点“脆”。
一旦你穿上衣服，这种感觉就消失了，它只是“接受吧，毛茛!”“部分线干燥。一个月后，你甚至不会注意到。
5. Your Homeowner’s Association Might Not Let It Fly
The biggest issue you may face with a clothesline is human in origin.Clotheslines, for many communities, symbolize a less affluent time. Your neighbors may believe it to look unsightly. Passers-by get offended by the sight of underwear flapping in the breeze.
Many homeowners associations have restrictions against clotheslines. Reasons for these restrictions vary, ranging from claiming they are unsightly, that they take down property values, or that they are a “strangulation danger for children.” For the record, I tried researching how many children had been strangled by clothesline accidents—I was able to find two. I found a far higher number of children killed by bicycle helmets.
Thankfully, there is a movement in several states that gives you the “Right To Dry.” If you live in Florida, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Vermont, Oregon, or California, state law overrides any regulation imposed by an HOA, condo, or apartment community. If you live in Indiana, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Illinois, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Nevada, Louisiana, Virginia, Arizona, or North Carolina, you do have the right to dry, but it does not override a contract. If you live in any of the remaining states, you may not have any legal backup if you encounter community backlash over your clothesline.
To ensure safety for children, make sure your clothesline is high and taut and teach children not to play with the drying laundry (a bad idea in the first place).
所以，无论你是决定选择一个小小的非暴力反抗，请愿改变你的社区的限制，还是决定搬到一个更偏远的地区，没有人管你的事，这都取决于你!
I could compose sonnets of my love of line-drying, and I’m not embarrassed about that. Giving up my dryer was one of the first choices I made on my journey to becomea homesteader. In exchange for that energy-sucking, clothes-shredding, dependency-fostering machine, I got blue skies, shirts that smell like the freshest of summer days, and a whole lot more appreciation for the small joys in life. Why miss out on that?
你好鹪鹩，在我住的地方，如果可以的话，在室外晾晒衣物是很正常的。但是我想给你一个关于纸尿裤的小建议，在美国的纸尿裤。尿布上任何难以清除的污渍，比如尿布疹药膏上的污渍，都可以用少量洗涤苏打结晶在炉子上的大锅里煮沸，让它们再次变成雪白的。这不是一种洗涤剂，但同样的技巧对洗碗布也很有效，已经变成灰色。
That is a great tip! As my kids get older, the stains get stronger, haha. We’ve been including washing soda in our homemade detergent as well–it’s amazing how the simple things are usually all you need to fix a lot of cleaning problems. No need to douse anything in crazy chemicals (especially if it’s going against Baby’s skin, right?). Thanks so much for sharing!
几年前，我曾经晾过衣服，但当我们的后门坏了，我就放弃了，因为它似乎太不方便了，总是在房子周围挂和取回洗好的衣服。最大的原因可能是我们的7个孩子;这意味着要洗很多衣服!然而，现在他们都长大了，我可以轻松地在周末洗衣服，有空的晾衣绳杆等着用!(事实上，我的丈夫刚刚跟我说要把它们拿掉，因为它们不用了，我在寻找晾衣绳杆的“其他”用途时发现了这篇文章!)你鼓舞了我，让我再次振作起来!谢谢!
I come from a family of 6 kids, so I can totally imagine how much laundry your kids used to make! I’m so glad to hear that we’ve inspired you to take it up again. Let us know how it goes!
-Leigha
What an encouraging comment! I am so glad that our experiences can help you get back outside with laundry in the sun. The satisfying feeling of a full clothesline and an empty laundry basket is such a good one that more people should experience.
Haha, that would be a lot to wash. Since I do my family’s laundry by hand out here, I feel tired even thinking about it!
Most of my adult live I have lived in communities where clothes lines were banded. Now…I’m in the country where I can hang clothes…LOVE it! Earlier comment read, I saw to mention of bedclothes….. there’s nothing like getting into a bed of fresh clothesline dried linens!!! Wish I had the energy to wash and hang my sheets daily!
I have a totaly private area in my back yard where I have my clotheslines . Nothing makes one really feel back to nature then hanging clothes on the line in the buff . Feeling the breeze and the sun and knowing that I can thumb my nose at the power company