Putting It All On The Line

Smells often trigger the past. And nothing triggers the past for me like the smell of line dried laundry. Growing up, I remember that my mom used a clothesline to dry clothes in the summer on nice days. When times were hard or the dryer was broken, no matter the weather, the clothesline was the fall-back plan. I spoke to my mom recently (she currently uses a clothesline since she doesn't have a dryer) and she explained how much her electric bill has gone down since she has line dried. We have a high efficiency front loader washer and dryer, but I am very aware that NO energy use is better than even a little.

So, last week I went to Walmart and bought a retractable clothesline for the whopping investment of 7.68. We hung it proudly, yet not in the best location that night. The next morning I could not wait to get a load of laundry of the line to see how long it would take to dry and how the clothes would feel. The first two loads took me about 20 mins to hang on the line and within a few hours they were dry! I decided since they were a bit stiff hard as a rock, to throw them on the air dry cycle (no heat) for a few mins. And thats all it took- 4 mins -and they were soft and just like they were dried in the dryer. Another option to soften line dried laundry is to add vinegar to the rinse cycle. The vinegar smell will not remain but you will have a natural way to soften!

This is what a clothesline in a small home looks like. Everytime I take my daughter to nap, she plucks the clothes from the line for me. Such a little helper.....

Although, it did take more time than just throwing it in the dryer and walking away, I was willing to sacrifice the small amount of time it took to "get paid" to line dry. During my research I found, for every hour you spend hanging laundry, you are saving $10 (estimate). That will add up. In the US, dryers consume 70 billion kilowatt hours each year!!! According to Green Energy Efficient Homes, If every American line dried once every seven loads, they would reduce energy demand by one billion kilowatt hours!!

Even with the most efficient appliances, its best to remember that ANY energy use costs money. Also, buying dryer sheets or laundry softener can be a thing of the past! If you find an alternative, use it. It make take so extra time but a penny saved is a penny earned. Get paid to save. Think about it like this. If you hung your laundry each month, you could afford to go to the movies or out to dinner. Even better, you could put it into savings!

I will keep you updated as to whether we run into any problems and feel free to write comments for suggestions to others! :)

For additional information on line drying, check out these links:

http://www.green-energy-efficient-homes.com/energy-efficient-washer-and-dryer.html

http://www.instructables.com/id/Lazy-Line-Dry/