Let Your Laundry Dry Free!

I haven't had an electric clothes dryer in more than a year. My old dryer broke once, and I paid to fix it ... then another problem cropped up! It just wasn't worth dumping more money into. My clothesline does the job just fine.

Of course, I considered buying a new electric clothes dryer, but we have a lot of hot, sunny days here in South Texas. I wasn't sure it was buying one, so I decided to go without. Worst case scenario, I figured, was that if we got a few weeks of inordinately cold or rainy weather, I could pop down to the laundromat. But I've never had to. ... Got down to my last clean skivvies a few times, but the weather has always worked out for me in the end. Besides, if need be, I could always wash a few things and dry them inside on hangers, chair backs or the shower curtain rod.

Save Money and Reduce Pollution

I think it's self-evident that using a clothesline saves money on electricity (or natural gas) and buying the gadget in the first place. And it means less pollution. But how much?

According to the article, "A Clothesline Will Save BIG Money, Energy and Carbon Emissions," by SimpleEcology.com:

• $120 per year in electrical cost for the average U.S. family ($60-$90 for gas dryers)
• 900 lbs. coal (most-common fuel for U.S. electricity generation)
• 2,300 lbs. CO2 emmissions (which would take 46 mature trees to offset)

Is a Clothesline Allowed Where I Live?

I don't know if you'll annoy your neighbors, but I can tell you, according to a 2012 article by Sightline Daily, that line-drying your clothes is your legal right in 19 U.S. states, including Texas. And these laws supersede any homeowners' association or apartment rules. So let you laundry dry free!

How to Air Dry Clothes Properly

Despite drying my clothes on the line for a couple years, I'm hardly an expert on how to use a clothesline "correctly." I'm a very typical guy: I rarely presoak, do mix my lights and darks, and am pretty much ignorant about every other rule to good "laundryship."

Here are two links to advice from people who seem to know how to do things properly:

• "How to Use a Clothesline"
• "Air Drying Clothes Without A Clothesline"

My One Piece of Practical Advice

My only innovation is that I dry most of my shirts on hangers, which I then hang on the laundry line, saving considerable space and taking one less step out of putting dry laundry away. I also put a clothespin on the clothesline next to each hanger top to keep them all from sliding together toward the middle of the line.

#laundry #clothesline #frugality #passivesolar