Line-Drying Clothes

I mentioned the cost vs. time aspect of line drying in this post. Today I'd like to share a few of my tips for line drying clothes. If you have other ideas, feel free to share!

Like I mentioned before, I dry my clothes inside in the winter. It really does help keep the humidity up, and with the lower winter humidity, moisture issues haven't been a problem, even in our not-so-well-ventilated basement. We do have a dehumidifier that we run in the summer, but since I rarely dry clothes indoors in the summer, it doesn't create a problem.

Indoors we have two fold-up drying racks, and three lines that are about 8 feet each. I maximize space by hanging wider things (towels, shirts, etc) on the lines, where I can hang them without spreading them all the way out, and smaller things (the baby's clothes) on the racks. Her flat diapers I can double stack, since they are so thin, and I often do - I fold them in half, and then overlap them on the rack or line. Because I'm not trying to save laundry for perfect weather days, I typically do about two loads at a time, which fits nicely in the space I have.

Outdoors I have six lines, about 20 feet each. This will usually do 3 loads without a problem. However, I do have some issues when I do the diapers/wipes/socks/underwear load, since I have so many things that need clothespins. When this happens, I double up. T-shirts and other things that need two clothespins are strung in a line, so that they can share the end clothespins. Diapers are folded over the line and secured with just one clothespin. They will blow around when they dry, but they stay on the line. I do this with towels and blankets as well, like this. I recommend sticking at least one clothespin on, just because you never know when it might be windy.

To help save time, I hang up socks last, and hang them up in pairs. Then when I take clothes back off the line, I match up the socks as I take them down. I will also take hangers out with me when I pull clothes off the line, and hang up the things that go in closets as I get to them. Alternately, you can also use this technique, but make sure the clothes are light enough and the hangers are wide enough to avoid bumps in the shoulders of shirts.

Remember, besides the energy savings, line-drying clothes is also beneficial by keeping clothes around longer (less wear and tear from tumbling) and looking brighter (the sun is a much more gentle bleacher than using bleach or bleach substitutes). You can also get away with little or no fabric softener when drying outside; even a gentle wind will help keep clothes soft.

I line dry outside as soon as it's above 50 or so. It can be done when it's even below freezing, but by then our house is so dry that we can use the extra humidity!

As I noted previously, line drying clothes saves me about $5/hr just in energy savings. Adding in the wear and tear factor, less fabric softener, and replacement cost of a new dryer, and I figure that number is closer to $7-8/hr. However, one factor I didn't consider before is the fact that there are some things that I would never put in a dryer, or would only put in a dryer for part of the time (lingerie, nicer shirts, etc). Since it would take me at least a few minutes a load to sort those out, and since it's easier for me to match up socks and deal with hanger clothes with line drying, it only takes about 3 extra minutes per load. At $.40/load (energy cost) plus $.25/load (dryer replacement, clothing wear and tear, softener expense estimate), that makes $.65/load. It doesn't sound like much, but $.65 for 3 minutes is $13/hour. If you do 3 loads a week, that works out to $101.40 over the course of a year - more if your energy cost is higher or you do more loads per week.

Is it worth it? To me it is, but it's one of those decisions that each person needs to weight the benefits vs. time invested for themselves.