# going to use the closeline



## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

:rock: its suppossed to be 55 and sunny! tommrow the wash is going to go out on the line where it belongs. i love hanging laundry alot of people think im nuts.


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## Ninn (Oct 28, 2006)

Supposed to be gorgeous today in PA as well. The temps are still low right now, but the sky is bright and the comforter is in the washer. I intend to get all the blankets done today! I love my clothesline! The only thing I don't like to dry on it is blue jeans. No matter how much softener I use, they are still stiff. SO, I hang them till just damp and then toss them in the dryer for 10 mins to soften the fabric. Works like a charm. DS (with highly sensitive skins) says they feel ok, so I keep on doing it. The best smell in the world? Clean sheets off the clothesline!!!


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## Rockytopsis (Dec 29, 2007)

I am going to get DH to redo my clothes line as we just had not too long ago a increase in our power rates.


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## cow whisperer (May 3, 2007)

I too am using my clotheslines today..... As long as it's not raining I always have clothes out..... Even when it's 5*, and my hands freeze even with gloves on! But it's so worth it.... My dryer sits, unused, not even plugged in..... LOL


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## MoGrrrl (Jan 19, 2007)

I'm jealous of all of you with clotheslines. I'm going to try again this year!

We have a small urban yard, but it is nice and sunny. We have a privacy fence on one side of the yard and a low fence on the other side. I had been running the line between the two fences about four or five times, but I'd like to get something that's higher off the ground.

I'm wondering if one of those umbrella style could be set in a patio umbrella base? We have a base that you fill with water, as well as one that is made of concrete (with a pretty mosaic pattern), about 36 inches across. 

I'm not really keen on pouring a square of concrete in the middle of the tiny yard.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

well its not as warm or sunny as the weatherman said but there still out. at least its not raining. closelines are such a simple pleasure. its too bad many people have forgotten how good they smell when they come off the line, the world would be a better place.


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## QuiltingLady2 (Jan 3, 2007)

I have a clothes line and I use it! We live in an area of home where a clothes line is po-pooed and thought of as low class. Ha! I'll use mine and save some money! If they want to gossip about my undies that just fine with me!


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

i feel the same way quiltinglady2. here on li with all the rich suburbanites it is really looked down upon. im not rich so i dont care what they think.


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## QuiltingLady2 (Jan 3, 2007)

Good for you Dreamy. We need a clothesline revolt! Get out your baskets people and use'um like you mean it!


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

thats just what i did. i think the neighbors are looking at my unmentionables so i try to pin em with shirts/pants.


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## lickcreek (Apr 7, 2006)

Dreamy, you just have to rub it in ~ using your clothesline ~ don't you?! LOL! Ain't gonna happen here today, it is once again, you guessed it, raining! It is only suppose to be for this afternoon and evening, then partly cloudy but no rain tomorrow. I may join you tomorrow. A day late, as usual.

My "unmentionables" are in such poor shape I really hate to hang them out for everyone to critic! LOL! DH's briefs and DS's boxers do make it to the line however.

I think this is what I miss most in the winter. I love line dried clothes! And sheets! And towels! And...


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## Ninn (Oct 28, 2006)

No need to pour concrete directly into the yard for clothesline poles. Just use quick setting concrete in a five gallon bucket to hold up the pole. pour a smidgin of the concrete around the outside of the bucket to anchor it and then plant around it! Voila! I'm running 3 more lines this year, as I have wonderful cross winds through there all summer. I have 1 load of jeans left to do today and then there is ZERO dirty laundry. (unless, of course, I attempt to cross the barrier into my son's room. I think there might be bodies in there. Can't tell for all the clothes on the floor!)


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

lickcreek said:


> Dreamy, you just have to rub it in ~ using your clothesline ~ don't you?! LOL! Ain't gonna happen here today, it is once again, you guessed it, raining! It is only suppose to be for this afternoon and evening, then partly cloudy but no rain tomorrow. I may join you tomorrow. A day late, as usual.
> 
> My "unmentionables" are in such poor shape I really hate to hang them out for everyone to critic! LOL! DH's briefs and DS's boxers do make it to the line however.
> 
> I think this is what I miss most in the winter. I love line dried clothes! And sheets! And towels! And...


me too i always think the neighbors get out their binoculars. :nono:don't feel bad its suppossed to rain here tommrow. got the curtains washed and out today though, boy was it nice.


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## Colorado (Aug 19, 2005)

I use a clothes line. Do not own a dryer. I have 4 rows of line and no close neighbors, but you can hang things on the center lines and that will block the view. And if neighbors have nothing better to do anyway.


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## r7flock (Mar 5, 2008)

I took my sheets off the line a few hours ago...and can't wait to go to bed tonight...if I could think how to bottle that smell I could make millions...as for my unmentionables...mine don't usually make it out there...but everyone else's do...LOL :shrug:


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

lol. i always try to line dry sheets. thats the greatest feeling after a hard day.


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## RoseGarden (Jun 5, 2005)

The fragrance of line dried laundry is great, can't find it in a bottle! I have a clothesline with about 6 lines stretched between two T shaped posts. I also have three of the folding wooden laundry racks that I use on the porch. I usually use those for my socks, stockings, undergarments and washcloths. That way if the weather turns real fast I can just pick up the whole rack and bring it inside quickly instead of standing there in the rain picking four dozen things off the clothesline. I usually just use the lines for larger things like towels, dresses, aprons, nighties, sheets and bedclothes, etc. 

Funny thing, I had a neighbor lady stop some time back to offer use of her dryer because she thought mine was broken. She saw my laundry hanging and assumed my dryer was broken! I told her I always hang my clothes out unless there is really prolonged bad weather. Kind of funny but still nice of her to offer.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

line dryed laundry is the best. can't beat it. i hate using the dryer. i rarely do, in the basement there are 5 or so lines which i put my clothes on if its raining. only thing with that is it dosen't smell as good.


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## Murron (Oct 17, 2007)

Dreamy - What a nice reminder. Thank you. I was finally able to put out a few loads of towels and such outside yesterday and today. I have a few lines strung between trees outside right now, but DH promises he will construct me a real clothesline very soon!


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## MilkTester (Sep 28, 2007)

Used my clothesline today! It felt so great!!!


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## r7flock (Mar 5, 2008)

I am so jealous of you girls with your clotheslines...it has rained here all week and more rain in the forecast until Sunday...yuck...when will it ever get nice here...


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

suppossed to rain here all weekend.:Bawling: mabey i could borrow someones sunshine?


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## Janette (Sep 4, 2003)

I don't line dry because it means dragging all the heavy laundry up the stairs and onto the deck. To save my back I use the dryer. Don't have a main floor laundryroom, and my back's been shot for many years. Need to save it for other tasks.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

i know what you mean those wet clothes are heavy. i drag mine up though just for the little pleasure it gives me.


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## cow whisperer (May 3, 2007)

I see the sun shining already this morning..... I'm all caught up on my laundry, but we want to get these flannel sheets off the bed, so I'll have our regular sheets and the flannel to wash and hang out! I'm so excited..... :bouncy:.....


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## r7flock (Mar 5, 2008)

Can you send some of your East Coast sunshine to the Midwest...it is raining with a little snow mixed in...and that is the forecast for the weekend..:grump::grump::grump:


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## farmergirl (Aug 2, 2005)

cow whisperer said:


> I see the sun shining already this morning..... I'm all caught up on my laundry, but we want to get these flannel sheets off the bed, so I'll have our regular sheets and the flannel to wash and hang out! I'm so excited..... :bouncy:.....


Now THAT'S the spirit! LOL 
I, too, have been hanging laundry out to dry in the last several weeks. I HATE paying for electricity to dry clothes when the sun does it with zero pollution and for FREE! I'm comforted to hear that I am not alone in the pleasure I find at hanging the laundry out to dry. As for the neighbors, they're all old rancher types and seem perpetually impressed by how "old school" our farming operations are, so I'm sure they are delighted to see me hanging the clothes out to dry :clap:


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

i wish my neighbors were like that . tommrow if its sunny the clothes must go out.


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## Jan Doling (May 21, 2004)

Our farmhouse is blessed with porches. I ran a clothes line through the rafters and use a pole to get the clothes hangered stuff up there. We call it "harvesting the laundry!" We also have a folding wooden contraption for the under garments and the sheets and towels I throw over the old dog kennel (10' x 10' cattle pannels joined in a square out in the yard). The sun slants into the porch but the rain is kept out. The harvested items go straight to the closet and the lines are folded on a long table (where we also can picnic or do crafts when we want).

Each load from the washer goes into our drier for less than 10 minutes to get the wrinkles out, then hung up, either on a hanger and up onto the porch line, on the folding rack, or over the cattle pannels. I don't mind doing laundry as long as I can stay outside.:baby04:


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## Ninn (Oct 28, 2006)

I've had several days of beautiful weather. The laundry stays pretty much caught up during this time of year. However, I seem to see many blankets making repeat trips through the washer every few days. Called my kids on it-"they don't smell nice any more, mom!" Ok-wash them n hang them again. No problem, if it makes them sleep in their beds instead of on my sofa. 

Still drying towels in the dryer for the most part. Not all that impressed with how vinegar softens them. I'm wondering, if I hang them out until dry, then just fluff them in the dryer for a few minutes, will I get the same soft texture? Gonna try it tomorrow and see what happens.


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## catmar (Nov 25, 2006)

Dreamy said:


> suppossed to rain here all weekend.:Bawling: mabey i could borrow someones sunshine?


This time we'll have a great weather weekend, I can't believe it hit 82 today.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

it hit 77 yesterday here boy was it nice. i did laundry on thursday it was id say high 60's and sunny so the clothes went out. i love to see clothes on the line.


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## Sully (Feb 29, 2008)

If it was up to me, no clothes dryer at all. 
My wife runs tiny loads through dryer and the meter just spins. Her grandmother had a clothesline and she remembers being "forced" to bring in the things off the line. My grandmother had one too and I was the only grandson she would allow to help her hang things on line (old bloomers and all). 
Cool memory of being five or six and lugging in a handmade willow basket of fresh smelling clothes.
I can still hear the sound the sheets made in the breeze.

My opinion of dryer sheets is not printable here. I like a towel to be absorbant, not soft to the point of being slick. 
Grandma used the old style clothespins. She would let me have a few and paint them with watercolor set to make little cowboys. I didn't know clothespins came with springs.


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## Murron (Oct 17, 2007)

AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!  So, there I am, happily trotting out with a fresh basket of towels to hang out this morning... I'm looking... I'm looking... And I see no clothespins. Hmmmm... My hanging pin bag ran away last fall, so I've been leaving the pins clipped to the line with no problems. Yeah, more time consuming... I should get a new bag... Anyhoo... I know that DH brought the last load in yesterday morning. So I ask him if he knows where the clothespins went? "Oh, I just made a pile on the ground next to the tree."  * This time* I only lost about thirty of them to the chipmunks! :cute:

Now I need a new bag... And new clothespins!


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

yep same thing happens here murron except the dog eats them.


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## bigfoot2you (Oct 3, 2007)

ME TOOOOO I have a longgggggggggg line from the deck to the barn and FILLED it twice today.................smells soooooo good!!
Bigfoot


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

sure does.:goodjob: theres not a better smell in the world.


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## Murron (Oct 17, 2007)

Jan Doling said:


> Each load from the washer goes into our drier for less than 10 minutes to get the wrinkles out, then hung up, either on a hanger and up onto the porch line, on the folding rack, or over the cattle pannels. I don't mind doing laundry as long as I can stay outside.:baby04:


Jan ~ Thanks for that **awesome** tip! I've been putting the wet loads in for a few minutes on the "fluff" cycle (low heat) before hanging outside. Voila! No wrinkes, and the clothes are softer, too.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

i kind of like my clothes a little stiff. i just put a huge load on the line. its 3:30 here so i dont know if they'll dry but theres a breeze.:happy:
on the other hand my power detergent i got from lehmans has'nt been disolving so my clothes are'nt that clean. don't tell anyone though.


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## Murron (Oct 17, 2007)

Well, in lieu of a "constructed" clothesline, DH has decided to use a couple trees as posts, and run some 2x4's with lines for me. The optimal spot, of course, is in the path of the shed/barn, so he's going to make something that he can unhook (or whatever) so he doesn't drive into it with his lawn tractor. I'm thrilled! I don't mind running from tree to tree...to tree, but I'll have more lines this way!


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

thats great murron. its nice out today who has their clothes out? going to wash mine and out they go.


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## Skip (Mar 13, 2008)

I just caught part of the news and if I heard correct it said it is legal to hang your clothes where ever you live in Ontario, meaning no one can say no clotheslines. My mother uses her's year round. I'm lazy and just started using it this year again. The clothes sure smell nice.

Anyone hanging dark clothes may want to turn them inside out. My teen had a tshirt become bleached from the sun and she has yet to forgive me and it has been years.


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## AnnieOakley (Aug 28, 2006)

We love the way laundry smells when you hang it on the line. We only use the dryer when we have days of bad weather.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

i try hard not to use the dryer. i use it only if im in hurry. i have lines in the basement i use if the weather is nasty.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

now that spring is officially here who has been using their line?


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## lickcreek (Apr 7, 2006)

Yes, spring is probably still here, but the rains haven't left us quite yet. We did have 2 days in a row with no rain, but of course I have been at work. Now they say rain tonight, Wed, Thurs, no rain Fri, and rain again Sat. Makes it really hard to work it in. But I'm gonna try for Friday.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

its been really nice here, today it was 70's and sunny!:hobbyhors


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## cow whisperer (May 3, 2007)

My clothesline gets used year round.... I do have lines & racks in the basement for when we days and days of rain, or when the temps dip down to 10*..... I have a brand new dryer sitting in the basement, right next to the washer.... it sits, not hooked up, covered up..... 

I love the feeling of a nice stiff towel when I get out of the shower..... oh and line dried sheets..... :zzz:.... ain't nothing better to sleep on....

Well out I go with the 2nd load for today....


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## debbiebofjc (Jun 11, 2006)

I hung my clothes out on the line on Monday, it was really nice here (mid-Missouri). It was the first time this spring. I get in a rut over the winter, using the dryer (get lazy more like it). I like to call my clothes line my "solar clothes dryer". I'm sort of a fair weather clothesline user. If it's too cold, I use the dryer. How do you keep from freezing your fingers when you hang out wet clothes in the winter? I guess you'd have to have waterproof, insulated gloves!
Debbie


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

well in the winter i hang mine down the basement. here in suburbia id get a ton of weird looks if i hung them out when it was 20 lol. tommrow its suppossed to rain here and it just so happens to be laundry day. oh well mabey this weekend.


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## dixiegal62 (Aug 18, 2007)

Murron said:


> Well, in lieu of a "constructed" clothesline, DH has decided to use a couple trees as posts, and run some 2x4's with lines for me. The optimal spot, of course, is in the path of the shed/barn, so he's going to make something that he can unhook (or whatever) so he doesn't drive into it with his lawn tractor. I'm thrilled! I don't mind running from tree to tree...to tree, but I'll have more lines this way!



does hanging from trees cause any problems with bugs for you, or tree sap? I have been begging for a cloths line since we bought this place and clearly it aint gonna happen! I could however handle running lines to trees myself and goodness knows I have enough of them!


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## amyquilt (Apr 26, 2008)

I love using a clothesline!! But up here in the danged Texas Panhandle...the winds are crazy bad and you never can tell when a ton of dust will get caught up in the wind. There's ALWAYS some dust in the air(not that you can tell until it lands on your furniture to be cleaned), so I just don't try it here. Once we move at the end of the year...I'll be all over a new clothesline ;-)


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

yikes dusty just washed clothes. thats a bummer because i find so much joy in just hanging the clothes out. its just so simple. also back breaking, but imo worth it.


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## designer (Aug 19, 2004)

How do you keep spiders off your clothes? I used to hang out my clothes years ago until I got bit by a spider in the leg of my jeans right after bringing them in. 

I have a line between trees that I put up to hang comforters because they take so long to dry but DH's bloodhound pulls them down and I have to rewash.


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## lickcreek (Apr 7, 2006)

I Have Towels On The Line! :happy: I washed them late last night, and since there was finally no call for rain, I hung them on the line!!! :dance: Not much, but it's a start. 

It's actually looking like we'll finally have several days without rain. Really hoping to get to all the bedding this weekend and get it out on the line. LOVE those sun-soaked breeze-dried linens!!!


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## Queen Bee (Apr 7, 2004)

First time, my sil came over and I had clothes on the line he asked if my dryer was broken!! It didn't dawn on me that he was asking because I had the clothesline loaded down!!  

I love my clothesline and use all the time if it is above freezing and no rain/snow/ice. 

I have a great line. It's on a 'trolley' system and it will hold four full loads of clothes -if I fold the sheets and hang the pillowcases together. I usually do my wash at night and hang them first thing in the am! Oh, it's so much fun to see them on the line, knowing they are gonna smell good..


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

i have a trolly line too. the only problem i have is if it gets too loaded down it touches the ground or gets low enough for the dog to pull it.


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## Queen Bee (Apr 7, 2004)

Mine is off the deck and runs to a huge oak tree and is about 15ft off the ground.. No dragging and no dogs can pull on it!! :dance: :dance:


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

lucky you mine runs off the deck to the garage. and its id say 9 or so ft off the ground. got the clothes out on the line today.


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## dixiegal62 (Aug 18, 2007)

I had a trolly at our old home and loved it, too many trees here and no clear spots to put one up high enough, so I hung regular lines from the trees the other day now Im just waiting for the rain to stop so I can use them  I am kind of nervous about having lines in the woods ( our back yard is all woods ) all kinds of creepy crawling things out there!


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

dixiegal62 said:


> I had a trolly at our old home and loved it, too many trees here and no clear spots to put one up high enough, so I hung regular lines from the trees the other day now Im just waiting for the rain to stop so I can use them  I am kind of nervous about having lines in the woods ( our back yard is all woods ) all kinds of creepy crawling things out there!


i bet the smell of fresh air well be worth it.:dance:


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