For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for May 23, 2009

not many people do that anymore

We are not allowed to air dry our clothes in our development. You would think it would be a “natural” here in the Sunshine State. But Noooo - it may offend our neighbors to see what we wash. O well, nothing quite like the scent of dryer sheets exuding from the dryer vent!

jestrfyl i had the same thing when i stayed with my aunt in NYC that building also said no air drying.. but every apartment had its own washer dryer combo so in winter it look like some strange scifi scene with all the vent around the place letting off “steam”

pft, Ellie, you wimp! After a week long of my DD being sick, both ends, and having the laundry pile up to epic proportions including every stitch of bedding we own, I managed to dry all my laundry with no dryer and no clothesline in our apartment.

Using a dryer on a nice day. What a waste of energy!

I could put up a clothesline, but I’d have to take down the birdfeeders every time I used it…..

Nothing greener than a ‘solar-powered’ dryer.

It does look like a huge pile. Maybe Elly should do the wash more often so there wouldn’t be so much to hang out.

“My wash smells as clean as all outdoors”. Growing up downwind from the foundrys we didn’t dare hang the clothes outside.

I always use a clothesline. I can wash 3-5 loads and use the dryer once for the pain in the butt things to hang-socks undies. I think It make the clothes last longer too, not getting beat up in the dryer. MMMMM your sheets sure smell good.

Out in the country where I live, anything that is hung outside starts to smell like dirt. We have lots of trees, and a fair amount of birds, so droppings are always a hazard also.

Our dog ripped a huge tear in my prized, handmade quilt because it hung on the clothesline. After that, I didn’t use it so much. But I DO prefer a clothesline over a dryer.

I love all the arguments for both.

mmm, the smell and feel of freshly outdoor-dried linen on my bed! Got clotheslines in my garden but don’t use it as much as my brother and sister-in-law, they dry clothes and stuff outside all year (yep, up here in Iceland…)

My grandmother-in-law recalls hanging sheets out during the winter in Iowa and bringing them in frozen. Brr!

remember blue jeans so stiff you just stacked them like rifles as you took them down. But, the sweet smell of the sheets WERE really woth it.

the only down side.. is if its pollen season.. the sheats can collect it… our solution to the stiff laundry is bring it in and toss it in the dryer on no heat for about 15 min … works good

We use a clothes line as often as possible. Living on a lake there is almost always a breeze, so laundry dries fairly quickly.

I’m with Ellie…. quicker and easier… !!

awwwwww

Clothlines are greener for sure, but you have to go with where you live too. Greener often takes more effort- not a bad thing though.

LOLS @ pookid!

I used a clothesline when my dryer broke, and couldn’t afford a new one. Made my own ice cubes, before I could afford an ice cube maker, washed my own car until I could pay someone else to do it. Progress is good.

The sweet smell of fresh out door air on dried cloths. It doesn’t get any better then that. I remember it well from days gone by.

I used to hang sheets, blankets and others on the clotheslines long time ago. I live in the condo and the rule said that the clotheslines banned and not allowed us to use out of the porches. Sheeshhh! So we had to use the dryers at anytime, any seasons.

I like drying my clothes on the line, although in the Northeast where I live, drying season is pretty limited! Only problem is, no matter how much fabric softener I use, the towels end up stiff as boards. I’ll have to try that tumble press technique, cause I HATE drying myself with a stiff towel!

weird, the stuff doesn’t harden at all here, Probably because there’s hardly any calcium in the water (no need for decalcifying anything).

I’ve never had stiff laundry either, even with cloth prefolded diapers hanging inside (and my kids are just out of diapers in the past 3-5 years so it’s not like I’m remembering the good ol’ days, lol!).

Hang drying sheets and towels will make them stiff. Only machine-dried towels have that distinct fluffiness.