Tips for doing without a dryer:
- Install a clothesline.
- Plan to do laundry on sunny, breezy days whenever possible. Wash and hang clothes in the morning.
- Using the dryer for just a few minutes can help “fluff them up” so they dry without wrinkles. This is especially helpful with front-loader washers, which spin so fast that clothing is often pressed tightly together.
- Hang shirts on plastic hangers to dry. The hangers can be hung on your clothesline outside, on a shower bar, or on a closet rod installed in your laundry room.
- Use folding racks to dry things indoors. These are especially useful in winter, but can be used any time of year.
- A retractable clothesline installed in the basement adds drying space when needed, but is easily moved out of sight when not in use.
- Clothes last longer when not subjected to dryer heat.
- If your laundry smells of mildew, it is probably not drying fast enough. Hang it as soon as the wash cycle is done, and make sure there is sufficient air circulation around each item. Also try adding a small amount of vinegar to the rinse cycle.
- Some home owners’ associations have rules against outdoor clotheslines. However, in many places these rules are not enforced.
Also, for more clothes drying tips, see http://www.betterbudgeting.com/articles/frugal/dryingclothes.htm
Tim, I had to laugh at you last suggestion about home owner's association not enforcing the rules. Here in Springbrooke, they do enforce the rules. I've never seen a clothes line here. We use an wooden rack to dry some clothes and hang up some also. It definitely is one of the downsides of condo and home-owner associations to not be able to use a clothes line.
ReplyDeleteYes, John is right with the association problem. We have 3 wooden racks and hang our clothes all the time. It's not the same as outside line drying. It does ad a lot of humidity to the house in the winter when the furnace is running!
ReplyDeleteYes, John is right with the association problem. We have 3 wooden racks and hang our clothes all the time. It's not the same as outside line drying. It does ad a lot of humidity to the house in the winter when the furnace is running!
ReplyDelete