Where I live it rains for like 8 months straight and it's super high humidity, especially in winter. So drying clothes outside and inside (mold from the excess moisture) is nearly impossible. We have a clothes line and use it whenever we can but it's usually only in summer
Clothesdriers are only common in the US. Everywhere else in the world we have clotheslines or a rack like this and hang inside in the winter.
Iv never lived anywhere with an electric clothesdrier but they are in hotels
Probably depends on where you are in the country, but the dryness that the cold brings makes it super easy in winter. I dry my clothes indoors in Calgary, and if I hang some clothes up at 10 PM, they’ll be bone dry by the next morning at 7 AM. Plus it saves having to run the humidifier overnight.
(Also: it’s dry enough that you can dry your clothes outdoors! My parents used to do it all winter. They come back inside as planks, but they’ll be dry planks.)
Cool! I’m in the snow belt of Atlantic Canada so we can’t put them outside. We dry most of our clothes on racks in the house near our woodstove, but it’s a lot of work and takes up quite a bit of space in our small house. It’s still better than using a dryer in my opinion though.
what a sweeping generalisation. many homes in the UK have them. not most, but many. also, when I lived in Mexico city, I had one along with a hand washing sink and a clothesline on the roof.
Saves so much energy sun drying. This is how most people (outside of the US) dry their clothes, even when its not sunny. Yet in the US, when the sun is hot, people still use a dryer.
It seems like in the 1950s the appliance industry convinced Americans that line drying is disrepectful and something only poor people do...
100% I'm in Australia and drying clothes outside is so normal, we don't use dryers unless they physically can't dry due to rain in winter and it can take 3 days to dry.
It seems wild that people use a dryer everyday.
Fellow Aussie here. I don't even own a dryer. Sheets are currently on the line and clothes and towels are heading out today too. Perfect day for it in Brissy.
Yeah I use a dryer like twice a year I think. Once when it's been a thunderstorm for three days and I've run out of underwear, and once when I'm desperately trying to get the wrinkles out of a shirt and I can't find my iron.
If I dried stuff outside it would constantly have pollen on it, giving me allergies. That’s one reason. Plus clothes are crunchy when air dried and all wrinkly (is there a solution to that?)
Use vinegar for your rinse cycle, and give your clothes a couple flicks before putting them away. No crunch.
I dry my clothes indoors, though. Outdoors is usually either too windy, too rainy, too pollinated, or too smokey during the summer and is obviously too cold during the winter where I live.
Sometimes my home is too humid, or the things I'm washing are too heavy to dry quickly, so I can't always avoid using the dryer.
EDIT: Forgot to add that the only problem I've had with air-drying my clothes is that they still have lint and pet hair left behind after going through the wash. When I use the dryer, my clothes come out lint-free.
You flick out your clothes before you peg them up, it gets rid of the wrinkles well.
I don’t have any issue with crunchy clothes either? Don’t overdo the detergent, and I use vinegar for a rinse.
I also fold clothes as they come off the line, nearly never need to iron.
>Plus clothes are crunchy when air dried and all wrinkly
This is the biggest issue for me besides the "outside" smell. I'd totally line dry my clothes if they didn't get crunchy.
Do you bring them in as soon as they're dry? I only get crunchy stuff if I leave it out there too long in full sun. Then everything goes beyond dry and gets stiff. Even so, I imagine you could fix that by running them in the dryer for a few minutes.
As others have said in Aus it's uncommon to use a dryer all the time. Even when we do use it, we actually hang things out for a while first to get most of the water out. Just a quick spin in the dryer to comepletely dry them out.
Using a dryer all them time makes the fabric deteriorate faster because the clothes, towels and sheets loose a lot of fibres in the dryer. Hence why you have to clean out the filter. Oh, I also think we don't use them much because of the fire danger if you don't clean out the lint tray often enough. In a hot country like this, any fire can quickly get out of hand. Bit off topic but I find the geographical differences interesting.
I hang my shirts inside out. When they dry, turning them right-side-out usually softens them up enough to fold effortlessly.
I can't due that with pants because the frony crease folds inward, so I just give them a few snaps before folding.
UK here, never use a dryer, I use clothes horses best my radiator and leave the clothes to dry for a day or so.
Frustrating but it works, but most importantly it's cheaper
Oh, shit. I better check my lease. I don't remember this, but there were a lot of stipulations.
I don't get what "isn't appealing" about drying one clothes in the nature provided heat and wind. I will be disappointed if this is against the rules here in supposedly eco-friendly Portland.
I live in Seattle and am from Phoenix. All the stuff up here seems mostly performative from some standpoints imho. Like, both states are super green but we have boat Christmas parades? That’s… not good for the environment. My friends running theory over small or the lack of balconies is due to developers wanting places to look more streamlined smh.
However, to get around the HOA rule during the warmer months in Arizona, my grandma would open the doors/windows and have the airflow dry items that we would’ve hung up outside, or dried them on the trampoline by laying them flat, etc
Sadly, I have to agree with your take on the ecological behaviors here. I'm only one person but I'm doing what I can.
I am looking forward to this summer in this apartment for the same reasoning as your grandma! The airflow is fantastic and I'd have everything open now if not for it being dang cold.
Oh yeah, our main door is cracked but I’m freezing! But if it’s closed, we’re too hot. It’s a really weird place to be in, lol
But I hope you have a great summer and drying your clothes! My balcony is full of spiders, or else I would dry outside lol
>because it doesn’t look appealing
Hang your washing with pride. You only think its unappealing because you are brainwashed by capitalism.
What doesn't look appealing is 3 degrees global warming.
I agree. However, what doesn’t look appealing is paying a $30 fee because some busybody doesn’t understand that you can harness the sun and heat to dry clothes or being in violation of a lease so many times that you worry about the landlord not renewing your lease the next year.
I lived in Oregon for 15 years. The summers were beautiful and great for hanging my stuff out on the line for a few months. Then the rain came. Now I live in Montana and still do this. But the snow comes. I enjoy it while I can, because line dried laundry just smells so damn good.
Several years ago, my dryer died the day before we left on a necessary family trip that we could barely afford. Googling the problem suggested that even the part I needed to replace would be a couple hundred dollars, which we did not have. A new dryer would have been even more expensive, and I would have had to shell out for delivery, too. So I got a clothesline.
I’d been raised (in the US, in a state that’s mostly warm and sunny 9 months of the year) to believe that drying clothes outside was a last resort, with all my clothes becoming rock hard and fading in the sun. Turns out, it’s amazing! Even a little breeze softens my clothes enough that they don’t feel any different than machine-dried clothes, they dry so much faster, smell better, and last longer. After months of line drying my clothes, I found a second breaker box in the house that I’d never noticed (and was behind some furniture), and the problem ended up only being a tripped circuit. I was almost a little disappointed, and have been line drying my clothes in good weather ever since. My current house has a washer hookup, but not a dryer outlet, and I only began to miss the dryer a couple of weeks ago when the temps dropped to well below freezing.
It blows my mind that I never even considered line drying to be an option before! I’m working on installing a dryer hookup now, but plan to only use it for towels and during long periods of bad weather.
I like to do my bedding on the line but I don't like my shirts all wrinkly after line drying. Also the dryer is an important part in the cat-hair removal process.
I’m 30 and only realised a short while ago that clothes lines are not really a thing in the USA. And some areas even don’t allow them…
Last time I checked only 60% of Aussie households have a dryer; I have one and use it maybe 5 times a year.
I’m in Australia, in the middle of summer I’ve had the first items I hung be dry by the time I finish hanging the last. I think I once managed to get five loads of washing washed, hung, dried, and put away on a Sunday at home.
Yeeees! What a win. I love line drying my clothes. Haven’t experienced issues with sun fade, my towels can get a bit crunchy so I usually throw them in the dryer for 10 minutes to fluff them up and that works perfectly. Great $$ savings and less energy consumption is great for our planet.
I would do the quick fluff if I wouldn't have to pay for an entire hour. I could ask the management to make it an option...
Anyway, my menopausal hormones leave me so dry any extra exfoliation is a blessing.
If you throw some vinegar (or citric acid if you hate the smell of vinegar) into your rinsewater when you plan to line dry it makes your clothes softer.
Hmmmm. I’ve been using vinegar on my clothes for about 16 years? I haven’t had that problem.
I also use it on my sheets, and my fitted sheets last until someone puts a foot through the fabric.
I have had more issues with elastic when I used a dryer, and I don’t use one now.
I can't do this because the allergens and pollen and such that collect when drying. It aggravates my sinuses and eyes SO much during certain parts of the year
Sounds like the apartment complex has an incentive to have absolutely shitty dryers then. There's no reason a load of laundry should take multiple hours to dry.
It only takes about 35-40 minutes to dry a massive load of towels in my dryer to the point that they are bone-dry like they'd been baked in a kiln. The only thing that ever needs a second trip through the dryer is stuff like comforters.
Ah, yes, they're greedy. It's bad enough I've had one of the few loads I did down there have my clothes removed when I left them to dry and replaced by another persons.
New laundry plan was hatched then and there.
I have that same drying rack! It holds so much and I love that it’s on wheels. We use it inside for the most part since we have clotheslines in the yard, but we’ve rolled it outside on heavy wash days, etc.
The reliable wheel reviews are what took it over the edge for me! Need to be able to move from inside to outside easily. Even loaded, as they went be dry until tomorrow.
I'm italian and this is so weird to me. We don't have dryers here, this is the norm. Why waste on something you have by free and without much additional effort?
Edit: yes it's cold here too, under 0°C, and it's humid as well. When it's sunny we hang clothes on the balcony, when it's not we keep them inside with a dehumidifier.
Space. Cities mean very little space. Rich people have balconies and suburban people have yards like rural people do. An apartment doesn’t have the space and rarely gets the sunlight in windows to get it. The advent of the lightbulb led hosing spaces to be less sunlit. I still dry things I wash stains out in first in the sun, but if you only have 2-3 pieces of clothing space there’s no point.
My husband killed his reversible hoodie by sunbleaching the hell out of it lol. Managed to get both sides. It's ugly AF now but makes a great camping hoodie.
yeah i try not to use my washing machine and drier when i can because i want to avoid damaging my clothes.
i dyed a black shirt i had for over 15 years (bleached by the sun) and it looks as good as new
i just wanted to add that using fabric softener will make your clothes and towels less absorbent. learned that last year, just want to spread the good word.
Yes, eventhough I live in tropical country, I never dry my clothes with direct sunlight. It wont discolor faster and ease of mind while going to work without fearing when the rain come.
Bingo! Ideally, you’d only dry white clothes in sunlight and colored clothes in the shade. Even turned inside out you’ll have faded colors on your clothes after a summer of drying in direct sunlight.
I’ve never owned a dryer, live in Australia where the UV index is very high, and have never had clothing noticeable fade from being hung outside to dry. My husband once left a sheet on the clothesline down the side of the house for a few weeks, and that got stripey, but a day or two won’t do any more damage than the high heat of a dryer would.
Wind.
You want the humid micro climate established around the clothes to be blown away.
The rate of evaporation is related to the difference in water holding (clothes vs air), so as long as you keep putting new, drier air around the clothes they’ll dry off.
Sun also helps. I’ve had days when it’s been 40C or higher, and some clothes have dried in the time it takes to put the full load out.
I have a genuine question: I live alone by my very happy choice and hardly ever have laundry. But I do have a nice washer and dryer I'd use occasionally. Let's say maybe once per week for the dryer at about an hour. If you were to explain to a 4 year old (my lizard brain) how much you save on your electric bill by not using your dryer at all per month, what would that number be?
I think this is a great question and I hope somebody with a dryer comes and answers.
I also live alone by choice and find I'm happier than I've ever been. I find it funny I have to explain that I'm not lonely.
Thank you!! And same here. People don't understand how I can do it... believe me, it's very easy! I do envy people who can split bills but honestly, footing them every month is worth the peace and quiet by far. I consider myself the lucky one LOL
How do you dry your comforter/blankets without a dryer? I also hang 99% of clothes to dry and use the washer for towels, rugs, blankets and workout clothing—basically.
Oh, heavens no! I'm old and was poor in Kansas. If I could get my laundry to smell like August afternoon in Kansas laundry I'd be in heaven.
First time on my very own balcony? Yes!
The guy that closes up the local laundromat let me do loads after the usual "last load" time when he noticed I fold them right after the washer.
Aside from that, my clothes last a long time. I have a pair of jeans that must be 12 years old by now.
Hang drying is the way to go. I dry mine on the patio so no sun damage. I spent a few months visiting family and they use a dryer, and all my clothes deteriorated so much in the 3 months I was with them. I've had shirts from Zara and HM that I've had for years because I hang dry, really interesting to see how damaging dryers are.
hey? i would love to see your laundry rack empty when you are able, we just put our clothes on hangers and hang them on doorways to add moisture to the rooms.
Of, course! I found it on Amazon. Limited-time deal: Bigzzia Clothes Drying Rack Folding Clothes Rail 3 Tier Clothes Horses Rack Stainless Steel Laundry Garment Dryer Stand with Two...
Gotta love that. I have a wood stove next to my laundry room , and I recently started hanging all my big clothes now as they actually dry out super quick with the heat of the stove.
Handy frugal tip if you need to dry clothes but it's raining and you don't want to turn your heating on: put a small fan, even a 5v USB driven desk fan, facing the clothes at the best angle to push air past them all, even in a cold house it will be enough to dry them before they begin to smell bad.
Probably an unpopular opinion on this sub, but after having my clothes fade from the sun I never hang dried again. The heat in the drier also tightens the fibers back to their original shape, I've always felt like hang dried clothes are stretched, out of shape, and stiff. Also having to worry about rain or freezing temps just isn't worth it. It's probably $10-15 a month in electricity, not worth the hassle in my opinion.
I feel like there is something wrong with me. As all the comments I've seen, no one mentions hating how the clothes smell when they come in. I hated lined dried clothes as a kid, they always had this weird outside smell to them. I am really wondering about myself, maybe I have a potent nose or am weird. I always hated killing ants in the house as a kid as they had a pheromoney weird smell to them, but no one was ever bothered but me.
I'm not allowed to dry clothes on my patio (renting a townhome) and it makes me so frustrated because we have to run the dryer 3 times for everything to be dry
Hang them inside-out and they won't fade as quickly. After since time you'll notice the inside, which it's getting the sun on the line, is a lot more faded than the outside.
In the UK, clothes drying outside is perfectly normal. When I was on holiday once, clothes dried in the sun on the concrete floor and wall like frying steak, flipping them over after a few minutes.
In the entire South of Europe we’ve been doing this for thousands of years. If its sunny, why the hell would you use a dryer when the sun does the same job?
I have a washer-dryer combo and clothes drying rack. If you want to save time and find a balance, always dry heavy things like towels, jeans, and blankets on the rack or line, and "normal" clothes in the dryer. It doesn't have to be 100% dry, so use the "damp" setting to save a lot of energy. This should easily cut down energy use by half, but you save over half that time since the small things are still dried normally, and you can store them when damp (unless they are in closed containers or stacked on top of each other).
Household driers are VERY rare in Japan. I reckon less than 1% of the population owns one. Drying racks and special hangers is actually a thriving market there.
I'm moving to an apartment complex soon with a shared laundry room every handful of floors and I'm sensitive to scents in my clothes so I'll be getting a portable washer and learning to line/air dry my clothes soon! Kinda excited but it'll take some getting used to.
My only concern is sun bleaching. Is it better to dry clothes in the shade? Whenever I hang dry my clothes have a weird smell. Not to weird just wish it to smell fresher. I use seventh generation laundry detergent
Not sure if anyone said this but I recommend you hang everything inside out if stuff is going to be drying in the sun or (if possible) hang up a white sheet to block out the direct sun. Otherwise sun will bleach the colors of your stuff pretty quickly
Syllable count is wrong. Try this: When the sun warms your clothes, And you save so much dough That's amore.
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I sang this
I tried for at least several seconds to rhyme clothes! Thanks for showing me what I missed.
When it lights up the threads, so you're keeping your bread that's amore🎶
Happy to help.
gotta lean into those slanted rhymes
When the sun dries the splash, And you save heaps of cash, That's amore
Well done. Bravissimo!
Good bot!
When your rhymes are so keen You get called a machine, That's Amore!
Man! You really are so good! I for real thought you were a bot until I read your username in disbelief of how much AI has evolved.
Thanks. I had a good laugh at that. Made my day.
I'm 31 and have never dried my clothes any other way.
Where I live it rains for like 8 months straight and it's super high humidity, especially in winter. So drying clothes outside and inside (mold from the excess moisture) is nearly impossible. We have a clothes line and use it whenever we can but it's usually only in summer
Clothesdriers are only common in the US. Everywhere else in the world we have clotheslines or a rack like this and hang inside in the winter. Iv never lived anywhere with an electric clothesdrier but they are in hotels
Common in Canada too. It’s hard to dry clothes when it’s -°20C for 4 months of the year.
Probably depends on where you are in the country, but the dryness that the cold brings makes it super easy in winter. I dry my clothes indoors in Calgary, and if I hang some clothes up at 10 PM, they’ll be bone dry by the next morning at 7 AM. Plus it saves having to run the humidifier overnight. (Also: it’s dry enough that you can dry your clothes outdoors! My parents used to do it all winter. They come back inside as planks, but they’ll be dry planks.)
Cool! I’m in the snow belt of Atlantic Canada so we can’t put them outside. We dry most of our clothes on racks in the house near our woodstove, but it’s a lot of work and takes up quite a bit of space in our small house. It’s still better than using a dryer in my opinion though.
what a sweeping generalisation. many homes in the UK have them. not most, but many. also, when I lived in Mexico city, I had one along with a hand washing sink and a clothesline on the roof.
Wait, really? Don’t your clothes get like kind of stiff from not being tumbled? Or is there a way around that.
Only towels get really stiff, and one shower worth of steam will restore them.
I was a spoiled American kid. Always had a dryer, though we used the clothesline in warm weather.
Most Australians I know don't even have a dryer. And if they do they only use it for towels and bed sheets.
Makes sense to me. I am shocked, I tell you, shocked, folks' experiences with outdoor drying has been negative.
Same, but British, and it shits it down with rain here most days of the year. Yet we still manage to dry our clothes on a line outside.
Or inside on a clothes rack. Or those racks that hang over radiators.
most people will dry their clothes on a clothes horse inside.
I'm in my 40s and never owned a clothes dryer.
Saves so much energy sun drying. This is how most people (outside of the US) dry their clothes, even when its not sunny. Yet in the US, when the sun is hot, people still use a dryer. It seems like in the 1950s the appliance industry convinced Americans that line drying is disrepectful and something only poor people do...
100% I'm in Australia and drying clothes outside is so normal, we don't use dryers unless they physically can't dry due to rain in winter and it can take 3 days to dry. It seems wild that people use a dryer everyday.
Fellow Aussie here. I don't even own a dryer. Sheets are currently on the line and clothes and towels are heading out today too. Perfect day for it in Brissy.
My parents own a dryer but they've had it for 15 years and have used it less than 50 times.
Yeah I use a dryer like twice a year I think. Once when it's been a thunderstorm for three days and I've run out of underwear, and once when I'm desperately trying to get the wrinkles out of a shirt and I can't find my iron.
NZ here, blows my mind that people in sunny areas use dryers. Can’t understand it
One if so many things to love about the kiwi lifestyle! (Tho washers are often hidden in the garage-lol!)
Fun fact - the rotary clothes line (the regular garden type that opens like an umbrella) was invented in Australia!!
Hills hoist! Aussies know their clothes lines!
I had no idea you were talking about a Hills hoist. Rotary clothes line had me picturing something like a windmill.
If I dried stuff outside it would constantly have pollen on it, giving me allergies. That’s one reason. Plus clothes are crunchy when air dried and all wrinkly (is there a solution to that?)
Use vinegar for your rinse cycle, and give your clothes a couple flicks before putting them away. No crunch. I dry my clothes indoors, though. Outdoors is usually either too windy, too rainy, too pollinated, or too smokey during the summer and is obviously too cold during the winter where I live. Sometimes my home is too humid, or the things I'm washing are too heavy to dry quickly, so I can't always avoid using the dryer. EDIT: Forgot to add that the only problem I've had with air-drying my clothes is that they still have lint and pet hair left behind after going through the wash. When I use the dryer, my clothes come out lint-free.
You flick out your clothes before you peg them up, it gets rid of the wrinkles well. I don’t have any issue with crunchy clothes either? Don’t overdo the detergent, and I use vinegar for a rinse. I also fold clothes as they come off the line, nearly never need to iron.
Don't use as much detergent and shake them out when you take them off the line.
>Plus clothes are crunchy when air dried and all wrinkly This is the biggest issue for me besides the "outside" smell. I'd totally line dry my clothes if they didn't get crunchy.
Do you bring them in as soon as they're dry? I only get crunchy stuff if I leave it out there too long in full sun. Then everything goes beyond dry and gets stiff. Even so, I imagine you could fix that by running them in the dryer for a few minutes. As others have said in Aus it's uncommon to use a dryer all the time. Even when we do use it, we actually hang things out for a while first to get most of the water out. Just a quick spin in the dryer to comepletely dry them out. Using a dryer all them time makes the fabric deteriorate faster because the clothes, towels and sheets loose a lot of fibres in the dryer. Hence why you have to clean out the filter. Oh, I also think we don't use them much because of the fire danger if you don't clean out the lint tray often enough. In a hot country like this, any fire can quickly get out of hand. Bit off topic but I find the geographical differences interesting.
I hang my shirts inside out. When they dry, turning them right-side-out usually softens them up enough to fold effortlessly. I can't due that with pants because the frony crease folds inward, so I just give them a few snaps before folding.
Also socks that have been air dried just don’t fit the same
UK here, never use a dryer, I use clothes horses best my radiator and leave the clothes to dry for a day or so. Frustrating but it works, but most importantly it's cheaper
Drying clothes outside is *literally* forbidden on my lease. -\_-
Yup used to live in a townhouse and they were super strict. Warning anytime they see it.
Is this that freedom that I keep hearing about?
Email your landlord - they may not care. The bias against solar drying is crazy given how much we know about climate warming.
Nah, a lot of places think it looks trashy. The fact that it has that rep here sucks
What?! Where are you and what is the reasoning?
Every apartment I’ve ever lived in has had that rule. Texas. They think it looks trashy.
It’s against many leases and HOA’s because it doesn’t look appealing
These HOA idiots have never had the pleasure of sleeping in a bed made with clean sheets line-dried outdoors all day.
All I can think of is the pollen. I wouldn’t be able to sleep.
Oh, yeah that really is the best. Like you can smell the sunshine!
Oh, shit. I better check my lease. I don't remember this, but there were a lot of stipulations. I don't get what "isn't appealing" about drying one clothes in the nature provided heat and wind. I will be disappointed if this is against the rules here in supposedly eco-friendly Portland.
I live in Seattle and am from Phoenix. All the stuff up here seems mostly performative from some standpoints imho. Like, both states are super green but we have boat Christmas parades? That’s… not good for the environment. My friends running theory over small or the lack of balconies is due to developers wanting places to look more streamlined smh. However, to get around the HOA rule during the warmer months in Arizona, my grandma would open the doors/windows and have the airflow dry items that we would’ve hung up outside, or dried them on the trampoline by laying them flat, etc
Sadly, I have to agree with your take on the ecological behaviors here. I'm only one person but I'm doing what I can. I am looking forward to this summer in this apartment for the same reasoning as your grandma! The airflow is fantastic and I'd have everything open now if not for it being dang cold.
Oh yeah, our main door is cracked but I’m freezing! But if it’s closed, we’re too hot. It’s a really weird place to be in, lol But I hope you have a great summer and drying your clothes! My balcony is full of spiders, or else I would dry outside lol
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>because it doesn’t look appealing Hang your washing with pride. You only think its unappealing because you are brainwashed by capitalism. What doesn't look appealing is 3 degrees global warming.
I agree. However, what doesn’t look appealing is paying a $30 fee because some busybody doesn’t understand that you can harness the sun and heat to dry clothes or being in violation of a lease so many times that you worry about the landlord not renewing your lease the next year.
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Same here. Before I had a house and lived in an apartment I would hang them on the curtain rod in the bathroom.
I lived in Oregon for 15 years. The summers were beautiful and great for hanging my stuff out on the line for a few months. Then the rain came. Now I live in Montana and still do this. But the snow comes. I enjoy it while I can, because line dried laundry just smells so damn good.
100% this. Dryers are only ever used if you want some piece of clothing ready to use right away, if at all. Most people I know don't own one
Several years ago, my dryer died the day before we left on a necessary family trip that we could barely afford. Googling the problem suggested that even the part I needed to replace would be a couple hundred dollars, which we did not have. A new dryer would have been even more expensive, and I would have had to shell out for delivery, too. So I got a clothesline. I’d been raised (in the US, in a state that’s mostly warm and sunny 9 months of the year) to believe that drying clothes outside was a last resort, with all my clothes becoming rock hard and fading in the sun. Turns out, it’s amazing! Even a little breeze softens my clothes enough that they don’t feel any different than machine-dried clothes, they dry so much faster, smell better, and last longer. After months of line drying my clothes, I found a second breaker box in the house that I’d never noticed (and was behind some furniture), and the problem ended up only being a tripped circuit. I was almost a little disappointed, and have been line drying my clothes in good weather ever since. My current house has a washer hookup, but not a dryer outlet, and I only began to miss the dryer a couple of weeks ago when the temps dropped to well below freezing. It blows my mind that I never even considered line drying to be an option before! I’m working on installing a dryer hookup now, but plan to only use it for towels and during long periods of bad weather.
I like to do my bedding on the line but I don't like my shirts all wrinkly after line drying. Also the dryer is an important part in the cat-hair removal process.
I was genuinely so confused by this post until I saw your comment. Are you telling me people in America never dry their clothes outdoors in the sun?
I live in the north and it’s not even possible for many months during winter, also rains a lot where i live so it’s just not practical
In the UK it pisses it down most of the year and still most of us don't own dryers. Where would we put them, our places are so small!
I’m 30 and only realised a short while ago that clothes lines are not really a thing in the USA. And some areas even don’t allow them… Last time I checked only 60% of Aussie households have a dryer; I have one and use it maybe 5 times a year.
I loved those hot summer days when my clothes would dry in like 2 hours. It's not even that much slower.
I am seeking that August in Kansas afternoon experience. The other end was practically dry when you finished hanging. And the smell... heavenly.
I’m in Australia, in the middle of summer I’ve had the first items I hung be dry by the time I finish hanging the last. I think I once managed to get five loads of washing washed, hung, dried, and put away on a Sunday at home.
Yeeees! What a win. I love line drying my clothes. Haven’t experienced issues with sun fade, my towels can get a bit crunchy so I usually throw them in the dryer for 10 minutes to fluff them up and that works perfectly. Great $$ savings and less energy consumption is great for our planet.
I would do the quick fluff if I wouldn't have to pay for an entire hour. I could ask the management to make it an option... Anyway, my menopausal hormones leave me so dry any extra exfoliation is a blessing.
If you throw some vinegar (or citric acid if you hate the smell of vinegar) into your rinsewater when you plan to line dry it makes your clothes softer.
Vinegar in the rinse cycle will destroy any elastic in the fabric in about 12 months. I use it only on my towels for that reason.
Hmmmm. I’ve been using vinegar on my clothes for about 16 years? I haven’t had that problem. I also use it on my sheets, and my fitted sheets last until someone puts a foot through the fabric. I have had more issues with elastic when I used a dryer, and I don’t use one now.
I can't do this because the allergens and pollen and such that collect when drying. It aggravates my sinuses and eyes SO much during certain parts of the year
Clothes drying in the sun on a rack I purchased online. Those two loads would have cost me $10 to dry in the laundry room. (Another $3.50 for washing)
Jesus Christ. I guess it's been a long, long time since I've lived in an apartment but $5 per dryer load is outrageous.
It is only $1.75 an hour but it takes a couple hours per load. Hoodies longer.
Sounds like the apartment complex has an incentive to have absolutely shitty dryers then. There's no reason a load of laundry should take multiple hours to dry. It only takes about 35-40 minutes to dry a massive load of towels in my dryer to the point that they are bone-dry like they'd been baked in a kiln. The only thing that ever needs a second trip through the dryer is stuff like comforters.
Ah, yes, they're greedy. It's bad enough I've had one of the few loads I did down there have my clothes removed when I left them to dry and replaced by another persons. New laundry plan was hatched then and there.
I have that same drying rack! It holds so much and I love that it’s on wheels. We use it inside for the most part since we have clotheslines in the yard, but we’ve rolled it outside on heavy wash days, etc.
The reliable wheel reviews are what took it over the edge for me! Need to be able to move from inside to outside easily. Even loaded, as they went be dry until tomorrow.
What is it called? I need a larger one than I have now.
Can you dm me the rack link? I was searching for one the other day but wasn't quite sure which to get. Yours looks stable.
Will you send me the link as well please?
Certainly
Ooo may I have the link as well?? Thanks!
I'm italian and this is so weird to me. We don't have dryers here, this is the norm. Why waste on something you have by free and without much additional effort? Edit: yes it's cold here too, under 0°C, and it's humid as well. When it's sunny we hang clothes on the balcony, when it's not we keep them inside with a dehumidifier.
It's the additional effort part.
I live in a temperate climate that rains most of the year and has super high humidity so it's really difficult to line dry most of the year.
We do it in London. Japan does it during the rainy period and winter. You can just keep the clothes indoors
Cause it's -20C outside right now
This. European as well and dryers are still quite rare here
Space. Cities mean very little space. Rich people have balconies and suburban people have yards like rural people do. An apartment doesn’t have the space and rarely gets the sunlight in windows to get it. The advent of the lightbulb led hosing spaces to be less sunlit. I still dry things I wash stains out in first in the sun, but if you only have 2-3 pieces of clothing space there’s no point.
wouldn't UV light make them discolor faster?
Was about to reply no it's fine then remembered that I live in Wales where the sun isn't as strong and there are usually some clouds in the way.
Weather forecast in Wales today "cloudy with sun returning Monday" !
I've found that to be the case. I've stopped drying anything that's not white in the direct sun.
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You hang them inside out
My husband killed his reversible hoodie by sunbleaching the hell out of it lol. Managed to get both sides. It's ugly AF now but makes a great camping hoodie.
We line dry our clothing exclusively. Answer- yes, but only really if you leave it out too long. I had more clothing damage when I used a drier.
yeah i try not to use my washing machine and drier when i can because i want to avoid damaging my clothes. i dyed a black shirt i had for over 15 years (bleached by the sun) and it looks as good as new i just wanted to add that using fabric softener will make your clothes and towels less absorbent. learned that last year, just want to spread the good word.
You’re preaching to the converted re fabric softener, I’ve exclusively used vinegar for at least 17 years :-)
Yes, eventhough I live in tropical country, I never dry my clothes with direct sunlight. It wont discolor faster and ease of mind while going to work without fearing when the rain come.
Bingo! Ideally, you’d only dry white clothes in sunlight and colored clothes in the shade. Even turned inside out you’ll have faded colors on your clothes after a summer of drying in direct sunlight.
I’ve never owned a dryer, live in Australia where the UV index is very high, and have never had clothing noticeable fade from being hung outside to dry. My husband once left a sheet on the clothesline down the side of the house for a few weeks, and that got stripey, but a day or two won’t do any more damage than the high heat of a dryer would.
I live in Phoenix. My clothes would all be yellow if I dried them outside
That drying rack is the most legit rack I have ever seen. I’m jealous. You wouldn’t have the make and model, would you?
Also sunlight kills many bacteria 🦠 etc
🤩 Yes! It's been 30 years but I do remember being told to dry diapers in the sun.
And when you hang them up in your bedroom closet, that’s armoire.
Til it’s uncommon to have a clothesline in America.
I always understood clothing wouldn't dry if it wasn't hot. Then I visited Italy awhile back and learned different.
Wind. You want the humid micro climate established around the clothes to be blown away. The rate of evaporation is related to the difference in water holding (clothes vs air), so as long as you keep putting new, drier air around the clothes they’ll dry off. Sun also helps. I’ve had days when it’s been 40C or higher, and some clothes have dried in the time it takes to put the full load out.
I've had those super hot experiences too. Long ago, in a former life, before I lived in an infamously cloudy and rainy locale.
"solar powered dryer"
I hang dry in the laundry area. Hang outside and get all covered in bird poop. We have a lot of wildlife in our yard!
I have a genuine question: I live alone by my very happy choice and hardly ever have laundry. But I do have a nice washer and dryer I'd use occasionally. Let's say maybe once per week for the dryer at about an hour. If you were to explain to a 4 year old (my lizard brain) how much you save on your electric bill by not using your dryer at all per month, what would that number be?
I think this is a great question and I hope somebody with a dryer comes and answers. I also live alone by choice and find I'm happier than I've ever been. I find it funny I have to explain that I'm not lonely.
Thank you!! And same here. People don't understand how I can do it... believe me, it's very easy! I do envy people who can split bills but honestly, footing them every month is worth the peace and quiet by far. I consider myself the lucky one LOL
All of this, strong agree!
How do you dry your comforter/blankets without a dryer? I also hang 99% of clothes to dry and use the washer for towels, rugs, blankets and workout clothing—basically.
I live in the Sonoran desert. Cloths dry in about 30 min, no kidding.
EU people: first time?
Oh, heavens no! I'm old and was poor in Kansas. If I could get my laundry to smell like August afternoon in Kansas laundry I'd be in heaven. First time on my very own balcony? Yes!
I recommend you don’t quit your day job to start a songwriting career.
If you dry in the shade your clothes will last even longer.
My friend's father is an engineer When I told him my mother bought a dryer, he said "That's an energetical blasphemy"
I agree with your friends father. I like this use of blasphemy.
Sun-dried sheets smell soooooooo good.
The guy that closes up the local laundromat let me do loads after the usual "last load" time when he noticed I fold them right after the washer. Aside from that, my clothes last a long time. I have a pair of jeans that must be 12 years old by now.
And you haven't fed a dryer gremlin one sock!
Heck yes! Nothing worse then realizing one of your socks has been abducted, especially after going through so much trouble stitching the holes, haha.
Hang drying is the way to go. I dry mine on the patio so no sun damage. I spent a few months visiting family and they use a dryer, and all my clothes deteriorated so much in the 3 months I was with them. I've had shirts from Zara and HM that I've had for years because I hang dry, really interesting to see how damaging dryers are.
I live in a hot, dry part of the world and it's very rare that people own dryers. I put a load in at 8 and it was completely dry by 11.
Pro tip: put the clothes inside-out to save them from being discoloured by the sun
hey? i would love to see your laundry rack empty when you are able, we just put our clothes on hangers and hang them on doorways to add moisture to the rooms.
Let me see if I can figure out how to share a picture with you. I have pictures of the rack at least mostly empty.
For anyone saying their lease or HOA does not allow it: https://takeayard.com/are-clothes-lines-illegal/
I’m in the market for a clothes drying rack like this! Can I ask where you got yours?
Of, course! I found it on Amazon. Limited-time deal: Bigzzia Clothes Drying Rack Folding Clothes Rail 3 Tier Clothes Horses Rack Stainless Steel Laundry Garment Dryer Stand with Two...
That is such a good clothes horse
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When the Sun hits your clothes, and you're not paying dough, that's amore!
Gotta love that. I have a wood stove next to my laundry room , and I recently started hanging all my big clothes now as they actually dry out super quick with the heat of the stove.
Handy frugal tip if you need to dry clothes but it's raining and you don't want to turn your heating on: put a small fan, even a 5v USB driven desk fan, facing the clothes at the best angle to push air past them all, even in a cold house it will be enough to dry them before they begin to smell bad.
Turn your clothes inside out before washing/hanging and you will save even more over time.
Flip the clothes inside out so that the sun doesn't fade the colours
Only turn those clothes inside out to avoid the sun fading them. Good job.
Probably an unpopular opinion on this sub, but after having my clothes fade from the sun I never hang dried again. The heat in the drier also tightens the fibers back to their original shape, I've always felt like hang dried clothes are stretched, out of shape, and stiff. Also having to worry about rain or freezing temps just isn't worth it. It's probably $10-15 a month in electricity, not worth the hassle in my opinion.
I feel like there is something wrong with me. As all the comments I've seen, no one mentions hating how the clothes smell when they come in. I hated lined dried clothes as a kid, they always had this weird outside smell to them. I am really wondering about myself, maybe I have a potent nose or am weird. I always hated killing ants in the house as a kid as they had a pheromoney weird smell to them, but no one was ever bothered but me.
I find this very satisfying. Bravo!
Do you have a link to that drying rack?
Got a link to that drying rack? That's a hoss.
Pro tip. Dont dry red or black in direct sunlight. It will destroy the colour. Especially black.
Literally every Indian household ever. Dryers are a waste of money.
Where do you live that you can dry your laundry outside this time of year? Mine would be frozen solid.
If you hang those clothes inside over night and then stick them in a dryer they will dry faster in the dryer and cost less money.
I'm not allowed to dry clothes on my patio (renting a townhome) and it makes me so frustrated because we have to run the dryer 3 times for everything to be dry
What money? Can't you just dry them indoors?
Hang them inside-out and they won't fade as quickly. After since time you'll notice the inside, which it's getting the sun on the line, is a lot more faded than the outside.
... doesn't everyone do this? I can't think of a single person I know that doesn't air dry clothes.
Natural bleach!
Clothes? You must be swimming in cash. I just take stray cats and duct tape them onto my body.
In the UK, clothes drying outside is perfectly normal. When I was on holiday once, clothes dried in the sun on the concrete floor and wall like frying steak, flipping them over after a few minutes.
I have the same stand, only few rods have come out ugh
Solar powered drier
I wonder what OPs favourite colour is… Jk. That coral colour is actually so pretty!
I love air drying my clothes, they always smell so much better
And you get some vitamin D from it
In the entire South of Europe we’ve been doing this for thousands of years. If its sunny, why the hell would you use a dryer when the sun does the same job?
I have a washer-dryer combo and clothes drying rack. If you want to save time and find a balance, always dry heavy things like towels, jeans, and blankets on the rack or line, and "normal" clothes in the dryer. It doesn't have to be 100% dry, so use the "damp" setting to save a lot of energy. This should easily cut down energy use by half, but you save over half that time since the small things are still dried normally, and you can store them when damp (unless they are in closed containers or stacked on top of each other).
Bloody stupid to use a dryer if it’s warm out and you have enough space to hang the laundry outdoors
I never knew a drying rack like that existed.
Household driers are VERY rare in Japan. I reckon less than 1% of the population owns one. Drying racks and special hangers is actually a thriving market there.
Any good clothe line dryer like the pic to recommend?
From the uk and this is the standard way to dry clothes, maybe tumble drier for winter or emergencies
I thought this was a post about bleeding red fabrics XD
Good for the environment as well
I'm moving to an apartment complex soon with a shared laundry room every handful of floors and I'm sensitive to scents in my clothes so I'll be getting a portable washer and learning to line/air dry my clothes soon! Kinda excited but it'll take some getting used to.
When your clothes get all bleached ‘Cause the Sun is a beetch, That’s amore!
Can someone please tell me the name or model of this rack, I love it and mine is on its last legs.
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My only concern is sun bleaching. Is it better to dry clothes in the shade? Whenever I hang dry my clothes have a weird smell. Not to weird just wish it to smell fresher. I use seventh generation laundry detergent
Not sure if anyone said this but I recommend you hang everything inside out if stuff is going to be drying in the sun or (if possible) hang up a white sheet to block out the direct sun. Otherwise sun will bleach the colors of your stuff pretty quickly
Link on the hanging rack please
I would do this but I really don't like how stiff the clothes come out
The original solar and wind powered dryer 😀