Simply Green Quick Tip: Go Lazy
On laundry day it pays to be lazy. Doing several loads of laundry and then drying them batch after batch saves energy. The residual heat from the first batch will help dry the second one faster. Also, pull heavier items out of the dryer while they’re still damp to air-dry, like towels, jeans and sweaters. Just hang them over chairs or a banister. Your favorite clothes won’t shrink and you’ll save electricity, too.
PS- Do you think line drying your clothes is eco-savvy or an eyesore? Share it here and I just might send you a JCPenney Simply Green tote bag as my way of saying thanks!
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I think it is definitely better to line dry your laundry. It saves on energy, your whites look lovely and bright blowing in the breeze and your washing smells great too! Line drying my laundry is a real sign that summer is here to me.
I think it’s definitely eco-savvy & we all need to rethink what an “eyesore” really is. An eyesore is our polluted earth.
Eco-savy for sure. What better way to save on chemicals (the sun will bleach them AND make them smell good) and to save on energy as well. I love to see my laundry blowing on the line!
I haven’t had a mechanical dryer since 1989. I use a line outside and wooden accordion drying gizmos indoors. I can only imagine how much energy and money I have saved.
Very eco-savy. I have retractable clothes lines. Pull them out when clothes need to dry, and let the line pull itself back in when the clothes are done.
Another vote for Eco-Savvy. My Grandmother had what she called a “drying yard”. A small fenced in area where she had her clothes lines put up. She grew vine veggies on the fence in Summer so clothes on the line were hardly noticeable. No eyesore there. And it served to keep rowdy grandchildren and puppies OUT of her clean laundry!
Currently I use a wooden hanger and a long drying rack in the basement. We’ve had a LOT of inclement weather this Spring.
Hmmm…. I think I need a “drying yard”….
Air drying at least a load a week has helped save money, time and clothing. I’ve definitely seen less wear and tear on my air-dryed clothing. I live in an apt, and the air drying also helps humidify and freshen the air.
As for the “eyesore” issue? It’s up and out in a day. It’s not permanent, like those old gym shoes in the corner, HUSBAND. Just saying.
Eco-Savvy. Also, add a dry towel to your load if you’re going to dry it. It cuts down on drying time as the dry towel absorbs some of the moisture from the wet clothes!
I have my sheets out on the line drying right now. You can’t beat the wonderful smell of lined dried sheets on your bed.
I think air-drying clothes is best for making my clothes last and isn’t an eyesore. I air-dry almost everything and it saves me $1.00/load in the dryer as well!
Now I just need to figure out a larger drying rack or hanging a clothesline somewhere on my balcony so I can dry larger things like sheets.
eco-savvy all the way! who cares if you have clothes hanging in your back yard?
I’m definitely pro line drying outside! When I was a kid we dried everything outside in the summertime except underwear. The clothes dried fast and smelled great! The neighborhood that I live in doesn’t “allow” clotheslines. So I just take a rolling rack outside on wash day and hang up the clothes on hangers on that. Works great!
Very eco-savvy. I grew up in China, where line-drying is the norm for every family. I just wished that my little apartment that I live in now had space or a yard for line drying…
A little bit of both
I don’t line dry my clothes outside because my family and I have very bad allergies so instead I line dry them inside. Our laundry room has a long hanging rod in it which all but “whites” gets hung up. For big items like blankets, I drape them over the shower rod in the kid’s bathroom. Both these options all me to close the door, save energy, and keep the pollen off our clothes.
ecosavvy for sure! i live in an urban area and can see into other people’s backyards. i think it’s actually a really beautiful sight to see laundry hanging on a clothesline. it’s like being able to share in a little of that person’s life. i think it actually makes us more human to have all our stuff “hanging out there” for the world to see
I love line-drying clothes. Nothing completes a beautiful day like a rainbow of clothes flapping in the wind. And on cloudier days, I still line-dry, which just adds a bit of color to an otherwise dreary backyard landscape.
I definitely think it’s eco-savvy! I have been 99.9% line-drying for over 10 years. It does take extra time and effort, but I’m all for doing everything I can to do my part to preserve the planet. I continue to do it despite criticism from my husband. I will be away for several weeks this summer and my mother-in-law will be at my house watching the kids. She uses the dryer (and leaves lights on all the time, etc.). I’m looking forward to seeing the difference in our electric bill and pointing it out to my husband!
I don’t believe that you will find anyone that reads your posts will call line drying an eyesore, but so many people think that it is..so sad there are so many laws banning it…so sad so many Americans associate line drying with poverty. There is nothing ugly about line drying.
Line drying your clothes is definitely eco-savvy.
Eco-savvy! I love hanging out clothes and do it all the time! Your clothes are so fresh and towels feel lovely crisp-clean. And in winter when our woodstove is heating our house with all those lovely trees the neighbors just had to cut down, they dry overnight in the house on a long bar stretched across the back of two chairs in front of the fireplace.
I love line drying my laundry. It gives an excuse to be outside and get some sun, the clothes smell nice and fresh and it saves energy. I think that the clothes line is very attractive, there have been several instances where the light has been nice and the clothing colors right and I have taken photos of the line!
I love line drying laundry! There’s nothing like letting your sheets soak up all the summer sun and then putting them on your bed right before you get in it. My husband on the other hand, would have his vote go to eyesore. lol
As a teen I hated hanging out the laundry, but now I wish I had the yard space to dry our sheets and towels (wisdom of growing older!). I now utilize kitchen chairs and the arms of the treadmill to air dry our sweaters and delicates.
Totally savy! I feel like I’m draining the planet of it’s energy when I use the dryer…….a little extreme of a reaction, I guess.
:)(:
Eco-savy. If you’re worried about an eyesore, you can also “line dry” items in your house. We have a rod installed on the ceiling of our basement, and I use it to dry a lot of my clothes even in the winter. I prefer hanging them outside, but it would need to stop raining!
For SURE it’s eco-savvy, and everything smells heavenly. I’ve been doing it for 25 years, and I live in most urban SoCal…I don’t mind seeing anybody’s laundry hanging out; there are a lot worse things to see in someone’s yard!
i do think it’s a good idea to line dry your clothes, i do it all the time. it’s all over where i live in kansas, so it’s obviously acceptable here! my new house even had the line already set up for me! the only thing are those darn kansas summer thunderstorms popping out of nowhere, you gotta watch out for those or your clothes will all be gone in seconds.
Line drying is definitely eco-savvy! I always hang my clothes on the stair banister. In some odd way, I feel it moisturizes the air in the house.
I think line drying is eco-savvy and fashion-savvy!! I have yet to shrink my clothes on the clothesline =) I live on my godmother’s farm in a tiny trailer and running the dryer heats up the entire house. We have too many free-range ducks and chickens to have an outdoor line so I bought some retractable clotheslines at the store and the rest, as they say, is history!!
I use baking soda to clean pots, pans, sink, toilet, deodorize shoes, place in a dish for bathroom refresher, flush down the toilet and flush sink drains….
I use to love to hang my clothes out to dry, and I really miss it. My clothes line was torn down by wind and the ice storm we had last year and I have not replaced it. I love the way my sheets smell when they are hung up to dry. They feel so good.
I want another clothes line!! It really safes on electricty, not just the drier, but also trying to cool the house while the drier is on.
At first thought I would think line drying was eco savy,but with new energy efficient dryers I wonder if it really is? Plus how would you dry them in the winter? Its not so much of an eyesore,as it is practicality,if you can save just as much energy with new energy efficient dryers,than are you really being eco savy.
I’m really picky about my laundry, and that means I line-dry most things. As a result, I still have T-shirts from high school (>15 years ago) that are still wearable. I have little excuse to shop for new ones, darn it!
I live in a condo with no yard, so I have to hang things to dry inside the unit. When we installed shelving in our laundry closet (which is just big enough for the washer and dryer) I put in a short length of closet bar so that I could hang things to dry above the dryer. Thus, the heat from running the dryer (yes, I do put jeans, underwear, and towels in the dryer) drifts up and makes the stuff I’m hanging dry faster. Works great.
I LOVE line drying! Some may think it’s an eyesore but seeing rows of socks always makes me smile.
No matter what it looks like line drying is the way too go.
Line Dry all the way, its fabulous, smells great, cheaper and is so easy and you don’t have to iron it if you hang it out correctly. We haven’t used our dryer for over 6 months now, maybe we should freecycle it for those who can’t line dry, poor souls……
I line dry all my sheets and towels. They smell great and look beautiful blowing in the wind. I also keep a drying rack within an arm’s reach in my laundry room. Little by little I’m working towards line drying everything like we did when I was growing up. I’ll never forget the frozen sheets in the winter…
I line or rack dry all my clothes. I love my clothesline, and luckily, I can use it most of the year.
I love the look of clothes lines in the yard. I think it is very attractive to see a clothes line with clothes hanging from it, especially on a breezy day when the clothes kind of take on a life of their own on the clothes line - to me they always looked like they were dancing in the wind. It also brings back fond memories of my childhood. I only have folding drying racks now because we move so much, but I am looking forward to getting our own house soon so I can put up a more permanent clothes line as well. As an added bonus, above the cost savings and all, by line drying I can bleach my stained clothes without using actual bleach or anything else, just the sunshine does the trick. Now that is really eco-savvy because bleach is so hard on fabric, by line drying and bleaching things in the sun my clothes and towels and stuff last much longer.
I’ve got allergies so can’t dry them outside. But do hang lots of stuff around the house on hangers and doors or a drying rack. In the winter it helps add moisture to the house too.
It’s unfortunate that people got out of the habit of using clotheslines. They save so much energy, and it is kind of peaceful to hang the clothes.
Rainy days and winter make outdoor drying difficult, but people can air dry their clothes by using a wooden laundry drying rack like this one. Being round it works really nice under a ceiling fan!
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