# Amish clotheslines



## lynpea (Feb 11, 2003)

I was in PA. this past weekend and was quite taken with the clotheslines of the Amish. Does anyone know if there is a certain distance that works best, or can I just attatch it to the tallest tree?

I just loved the way that they had the clothes hanging out according to size and shape. It was interesting too, I was in Intercourse on two different days and all the laundry was the same. On thurs it was the dresses, shirts, pants. Fri. was the sheets, a few balnkets and rugs. It was like that at every house I passed that had laundry hanging out.


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## jen74145 (Oct 31, 2006)

???
The Amish dry their clothes differently? Thought a clothesline was a clothesline...


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## keljonma (Dec 27, 2006)

I think it may depend on the region. I've noticed most of our Amish neighbors wash whites first then colored clothing .... and that's how they get put on the line. 

I'm not Amish and my grandmother used to do the same thing - completed the clothes needing the hottest water first, as she had to boil her water for that first load. The pots for wash would go on the stove at the same time as the stew and coffee pots....


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

I've always hung like items together. That way I can fold and stack as I take them off the line...all towels in a row, washcloths next, underwear together, shirts, etc. Just makes for less work.


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## uncle Will in In. (May 11, 2002)

There's a few Amish in Lagrange county Ind who have a clothes line on two pulleys. One at the porch, and the other at the peak of the barn about 150 feet away. Really a sight to behold when it is loaded with laundry.


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## Guest (Jan 9, 2007)

I try to do loads of wash (and therefore put them on the line) according to who wears them. My toddler girls have one load, my boys the next and then DH and I get the third. That way when I take them down I don't have to make additional trips through the house. Towels get their own load and then sheets.

I'm also weird because when I put a kids clothes on the line I'll put the undies together, then the shirts, socks, etc. That way I don't have to open a bunch of drawers, either.


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## NorthernWoods (Jan 10, 2006)

Just hang it that manly way; working your way from the top of the pile to the buttom.

Maybe a white sheet, then a single red sock, then a towl, then some underwear...


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## FreightTrain (Nov 5, 2005)

around here they seem to hang the lines North-South so the prevailing westerly winds blow across the wash... also all the buttons are fastened before hanging


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## Lynne (May 10, 2002)

Most of the Amish setups that I have seen near here have a cable clothesline, so that you can stand in one spot while hanging and removing clothes. Most times the line goes from the porch to the top of an outbuilding (a longggg ways). I did adopt (steal) that idea and have mine running from the deck to a higher point on a tree. 
Off Topic Warning
Once I saw two Amish children using an old rotary mower to cut the lawn. The girl pushing may have been seven years of age and a young boy (maybe 4) was pulling a piece of baler twine tied to the frame to help. Another time two children, I mean like age 3 and 4; pushing and pulling a little red wagon full of firewood to the house. Seeing these families helping each other around the farm, no matter at what age; is great and I have to wonder how they do it.


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## Zipporah (Jul 30, 2006)

http://www.pbase.com/terry434/image/44139836


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## Ninn (Oct 28, 2006)

OK. I looked at the photo. I don't see how this is any different from the clotheslines I see everywhere, including in my back yard. This is the same setup I have, just longer. If you have someone around who is strong enough to get good tension on the line before putting that thingy on there, you can hang a cinderblock from these things.(hey, that might be a good way to tighten mine up) It takes letting the rope get wet and stretched out several times before you get a good tight line, tho. I hang 3 or 4 loads at a time on mine and it is less than 100 feet long. There are days I wish I had 3 of them...lol.


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## Queen Bee (Apr 7, 2004)

I have the same set up--it's like a troll line. I can stand on the deck and hang four loads of clothes --including sheets, quilts and the never touch the gound.. I love it.. the deck has a pulley and the largest tree has another pulley and dh run pastic covered wire through them and connected them w/ 'u' shaped bolts. I have had mine up for 20yrs and only replaced it once.. QB


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## pasotami (Jun 1, 2006)

I do not have a tree close enough to the house to attach a line like the Amish have. I bought one of the square ones on a pole and put it right off the porch at the end of the concrete. Not too far to go and it is in the full sun with lots of wind to dry. I can hang 3-4 big loads on it....


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## tallpines (Apr 9, 2003)

We use this 2 pulley "clothesline" for hanging our numerous birdfeeders.

I can stand on the deck----reel them in, fill'em up, and reel them out again!


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## Horselover (Mar 22, 2006)

lynpea said:


> I was in PA. this past weekend and was quite taken with the clotheslines of the Amish.
> 
> I go to Lancaster County several times a year and I too love to look at the clotheslines. What I get a chuckle out of is the pulley clotheslines that have the clothes hung out over the barnyard. Talk about sweet smelling laundry!
> Maybe so.


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## wilderness1989 (Feb 23, 2006)

jen74145 said:


> ???
> The Amish dry their clothes differently? Thought a clothesline was a clothesline...


A clothesline is a clothesline everywhere I've ever been. :shrug:


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## MelissaW (Jun 18, 2003)

uncle Will in In. said:


> There's a few Amish in Lagrange county Ind who have a clothes line on two pulleys. One at the porch, and the other at the peak of the barn about 150 feet away. Really a sight to behold when it is loaded with laundry.


A lot of the Amish around here have the same thing. I think it's a great idea! Some of the women with really big families have quite a parade of clothes hanging up that line. They must be expert pinners. I can imagine a good wind gust up near the top of the line could send clothes hither and yon!

I just have a plain double one (like two little telephone poles). I only wash for three, so it's plenty.


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## beaglady (Oct 7, 2002)

If Lynpea is referrring to the kind I'm thinking of, the pulley wheel is as big as a small bike tire. It's not the wimpy little pulley they sell for clotheslines at an non-Amish hardware store. If hubby and ever agree on wher to fasten the far end, we're getting one. The pulleys are around $40 at an Amish hardware store.


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## lynpea (Feb 11, 2003)

beaglady said:


> If Lynpea is referrring to the kind I'm thinking of, the pulley wheel is as big as a small bike tire. It's not the wimpy little pulley they sell for clotheslines at an non-Amish hardware store. If hubby and ever agree on wher to fasten the far end, we're getting one. The pulleys are around $40 at an Amish hardware store.


Thanks Beaglady, I wasn't very clear in my original post, but I got the info I needed. 150' with a large pully. My next visit will include an Amish hardware to get the needed supplies.

Thanks Zipporah, I saved the pic for my DH to use when he goes to put it up.


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## Helena (May 10, 2002)

I would think the reason for all like clothing being washed together and hung that way is because of how they are washing their clothes. Probably have a wringer washer powered by a gasoline motor. You would wash your whites first in the hottest water and then the dark clothes in the same wash water and then perhaps a few rugs etc. Wash the "cleaner" clothes first down to the dirty dark ones last. You can get a couple of loads with one tub of water before emptying it out. This is how I wash our clothes and then hang them out..no fancy line...just a few lines between the trees in the back of the house..seems to work just fine. It would be nice to have a pully if you had a back porch you could hang them from and then pull them up to a higher tree. But...clothes will dry just about any where !!


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