Tuesday, February 15, 2011

High electrical bills & Clotheslines

Happy Day! The sun was shining.. no fog.. with a slight breeze and temps in the 60's. I know that may seem hard to believe considering the weather back east.  I almost feel guilty telling you that I ran around most  of the day with a short sleeved shirt. Glorious!

The clothesline was one of the features I scoped out immediately when we first interviewed for our job as caregivers. Hanging clothes has been a long time practice that has always helped to save money.  Frankly, I find the practice quite therapeutic.

So with such a beautiful day upon us .. and laundry before me... I tried out Miss Alice's clothesline. I believe this is the first time I haven't strung my own clothesline. It's a nice one, too. Professional.



Living in someone's home we make every effort to conserve energy. I think it pleases Miss Alice that I am making an effort to stretch 'her' pennies and not just my own.

Hanging clothes is a simple task. There are few rules. I take a rag and clean the lines. You'll probably think my marbles are loose but I find a bit of satisfaction in organizing my laundry as I hang it. I like to hang 'like' items together. If I have 'unmentionables' in the load I will hang those on the back lines and place longer items on the rows in front to hide them. Never leave your clothes pins outside after dark or they won't last long and be sure to bring your clothes in before the night air falls or your clothes will be damp. If the clothing is wrinkled then I'll toss them in the dryer for 5 minutes. This practice will also take the stiffness out of the towels and underwear. Crunchy undies are not fun! :-)

No dryer sheet fragrance can compare to the fresh, crisp scent of air lined bed linens. It's one of God's free pleasures and man has yet to duplicate it.

Do you use a clothesline? Or do you prefer drying racks? Or just say 'forget the whole thing'! :-)

20 comments:

  1. I love drying racks, but mine are small so I can put them outside at summer. It's nice to just hang laundry on them and forget about it until later.

    Our dryer is over 20 years old and is pretty much on the decline so I got a compact rack which is nice.

    I like American clothes lines, the traditional kind are nice. We have these weird spinner types here and I dislike them...not to mention if you don't hang your clothes well and a breeze comes..your socks can fly around the yard lol!

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  2. We have a dryer..... our garden home has a tiny yard... no room for hanging clothes, but I sure do miss the fresh smell of sunshine on the clothes.

    Did I spot a lemon or orange tree in the back of the clothesline???? So pretty!!!

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  3. I love to hang clothes out on the line because I love the freshness it gives to the clcthes. Unfortunately I don't have one. I do have a clothes rack but it isn't the same thing and you can't get much on a clothes rack either so I seldom use it. Where I live it rains a lot so wouldn't be able to use the clothesline anyway for about half the year, lol.

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  4. I use a clothesline from early spring until late fall, then racks in the kitchen during the winter months. We don't own a clothes dryer. Hugs

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  5. We've had warm temperatures here too. So thankful! I agree that line drying is therapeutic. :-) I do like you mentioned about hanging like things together.

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  6. Love using the clothesline! I use your method for hanging things, too, hiding the unmentionables, for example and pairing the socks as I hang them.

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  7. We never use a dryer, we hang our laundry to dry all year round. In the spring, summer, and fall, we use our outside wash line. In the winter we hang everything in our basement, we have several wash lines set up and everything dries in a reasonable amount of time. I have one drying rack for socks and other small items.
    I too sort my laundry as I hang it, all the towels together, all the pants together, etc. I think it looks nice, and everything is sorted and ready to fold.
    My favorite items to dry outside are sheets and pillowcases, once dry and the bed remade I cannot wait for bedtime, the bedding feels wonderful, and smells amazing that sunshiny windblown fresh smell that no chemical compound can ever recreate - and with that I fall asleep with sweet dreams of summer days!
    I love hanging laundry outside in the early morning, the birds singing, a gentle breeze, the fresh air, it is good for my soul. It is very satisfying to see lines of laundry flapping in the breeze.
    I never really got good for my soul feelings when I used the dryer ;)

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  8. I miss it. We can't do it in our present situation.. but we'll be changing places again in the fall and that will be on my wish list--a place to hang clothes, to garden, to do my wood working and for hubby to have just a bit of private office space maybe. We shall see..
    also I always used to hide the unmentionables in back too, and I still have all my lines and pins, waiting for the next move--also glad you mentioned wiping off the line--so you don't get those 'marks' on clothes. One thing here--in summer it can actually be too humid sometimes. clothes get a bit stinky--but most of the time its good.

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  9. I use drying racks during the winter months. I can hardly wait for spring when I will be able to get to my wheelchair accessible clothesline. I will use my clothesline until the snow falls again next fall.

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  10. I get lazy in the Winter and use the dryer if the sun isn't shining...gonna' have to break that habit...PG&E just installed *Smart Meters* here at the Ranch and I think we're gonna' get a
    BIG surprise when we get our bill! YIKES!

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  11. I, too, love hanging clothes on the line. It is one of my favorite chores. And, yes, I organize it as I hang it! :) I thought I was the only slightly OC person who does that!

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  12. You wrote: Maggie.. Thank you for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. I looked for a link to email you a private question but couldn't find one. Is it possible to email you a question?

    My email address is fluttsi@gmail.com I couldn't figure out where to contact you and so tried here.

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  13. i've been catching up with your recent posts as i've been out of town for the past 3 weeks. You always inspire me!!! i enjoyed your list of things you don't throw away and while i have several of the same practices, i saw some new ways to save. Thanks!
    i, too, love to hang the laundry out but i find myself being lazy all too often. We have a small stackable washer/dryer as that is all that will fit in our laundry space. When i do hang things outside i always sort them too and use as few clothespins as possible. i always hang the jeans/pants by the waistband and the t-shirts by the hems keeping them as straight as i can to eliminate the wrinkles there. i sometimes use drying racks either inside or on the porch and should do so more often and then toss the clothes into the dryer for a few minutes to fluff them. Thanks again for the inspiration! Off i go to bless my house with loving care.

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  14. When you mentioned wiping off the line first, I got a mental picture of my mother doing that... I had forgotten she did that! When we first moved to our present home, the clothes line was about a mile long--way too long. I had my husband shorten it, then, a few years later, shorten it again, and then, finally, remove that line and stretch a much shorter one from the house to the fence, right outside my back door. I just love it. It is plenty of length for what I need. I love being able to hang items on the line--I use plastic clothes pins. I hang heavy, long drying items like my husband's jeans on the line--they would take forever in the dryer. I used to not hang my unmentionables on the line, but I decided what the heck and I go ahead and do it. I just hope the people that drive by only got a quick glimpse of the items. Like you said, line drying is good for the soul, I never thought about that before, but it is true. I think it might be because it is such a simple, peaceful, low-tech activity. We had great temps this week and I was able to hang items on the line--I loved it! And as for fluffing towels in the dryer, I finally had the revelation that having fluffy towels is not necessary-- I can live with the rough towels.

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  15. I have a very short clothesline where there is some sun but our yard is full of trees and subsequent droppings on drying clothes. I remember my grandma going out mid clothes drying to turn everything upside down. She said it would dry faster and indeed it does. I also have memories of drying diapers on the line in Africa and afternoon rains coming before I could get them all in, or before they were dry. So they would get an extra rinse and may be dry i a day or two!

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  16. I wanted to respond to your suggestion on my blog, but couldn't find your e-mail on here.

    I got on Amazon and read about the book you suggested to me. It sounds wonderful, and I've ordered it. Thanks for your suggestion!

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  17. Dolores.. please let me know what you think of, one thousand gifts. I am being changed by it!

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  18. The Forum is for the diet I'm on. We just got to talking about how this lady is dehydrating vegs. to stock up. I watched the vidios on UTube and it was prety amazing what she was doing. If you want to see go to UTube and do a search on dehydrating than click on dehydrating2store. She has about 9 or 10 videos. Linda

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  19. I enjoy hanging out laundry.I don't do it during the winter though.My Mom taught me to hang up clothes by size and"groupings"so I don't find that strange at all.I do it that way too.

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  20. I watched a neighbor years ago get ready to hang her clothes on her lines. I did too but did not prepare the load as I noted she was doing. She put the bigger flat things in the bottom of the basket with a quick shake. then put each like item of small size on the edges of the basket ready to hang. Soxs together, wash rags on on top of each other and so on. Now I do the same! It is hot here in S. Calif and by having so much already ready to hang it keeps me to get inside quicker or out and into garden work! :) Also I do keep the white tea towels , cloth napkins and such outside over night at times as the dew and the sun again the next day helps bleach out stains.. My hubby found an old rolling laundry cart for me at the used store and I love it...it is fun to use like my little red wagon I had as a kid!! Sarah

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