Homesteading: A Woman's Journey

Clothes Drying questions

I am trying to keep from using the electric clothes dryer to cut down our expenses further and have a couple of questions.

When I dry the clothing on the clothesline, some of the clothes (jeans for instance) come off the line very stiff and rough feeling.  I notice that it happens the most with the clothes that have a high percentage of cotton content.  Unfortunately, nearly everything we wear is cotton.  How do you avoid this problem?  I am having to put the line-dried clothing in the electric dryer for a few minutes to soften them, which completely defeats the purpose.

My other question is for the cold months.  Do you know of any way to dry the laundry without using the electric dryer during the fall & winter?  If I put them out on the line in the winter, they will simply freeze.  Our house has small rooms which prevents using a clothing rack to hang the clothes on. 

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10:01, Thursday, June 12, 2008 .. Posted by AnIntentionalPeasant

Unfortunately that is the down side of drying the clothes on the line. Most everything dries stiff. That is why women use to iron everything after drying, including sheets. Just make a day of ironing and a turn it into an enjoyable chore. Listen to some books on tape or a preaching. If you have children read have them read to you while you iron or have them help. My youngest son really enjoys the ironing chore. Towels are my biggest complaint with how they dry on the line. They are the one thing I will throw back in the dryer, even ironing doesn't help them. As for winter, I do use a clothes rack around our wood stove but we also have strung a close line to the ceiling in an entrance hall way to dry. We too have a small home and it does make it awkward at time but getting it into a routine does help. I have never tried it but they say close will freeze dry outside in winter and then you can iron them to finish the job. I'm not sure how that works though.
The Intentional Peasant at The Hard Times Cafe

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10:52, Thursday, June 12, 2008 .. Posted by southernbelle

I wondered the same thing and tried putting them back in the dryer (but felt like I defeated the purpose too). I have now totally switched from dryer to clothes line - something I never thought I could do- and trust me when I say, you get used to the feel of the laundry off the line. Over time you just get used to it. I rarely iron anything but the only thing I will do is on Monday's after washing church clothes (dress pants, dress shirts, skirts, slips) I will throw them in the dryer for maybe 3-5 minutes then hurry and hang on clothes hangers to dry. The wrinkles fall out and usually the only thing needing a bit of ironing is hubby's dress shirt on a Sunday morning. I also find that a bath towel absorbs 2 times the amount if hung on the line so I am able to use it twice before washing again.

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11:10, Thursday, June 12, 2008 .. Posted by borderling

My daughter borrowed a pair of jeans from a friend and wondered "Wow, Mom, how come her jeans are so soft?" I told her. :) She said we should get a dryer. Vinegar in the rinse is supposed to help a bit, but the best natural fabric softener is a good brisk wind. Then my clothes come in so soft. Even jeans. Now this is something you can't just order, so... Also, have you tried a retractable clothesline. It hooks to a couple of walls and reels in out of sight when not in use. I hang my clothes down in the basement during the winter. It also adds much needed moisture to the air.
From Glory Farm,
Rhonda

Dog chain clothes line for hanger clothes

01:50, Thursday, June 12, 2008 .. Posted by BeckyTom

I too, no longer use the dryer. I went to the hardware store ( took one of my plastic hangers with me) and found a dog type chain that the hanger would go through. We have a short hallway, So I put the hanger on the chain to see how far away from wall to get, and hung the chain. You can't see it if you are not looking for it. When rain or cold weather comes, I fold a towel in half and clothes pin it to a hanger and put on chain and is usually dry by morning. We have a covered porch, there is a chain out there too. This works great here, when it's windy the clothes stay on hangers. You can pin pants, wash rags, underware ect to clothes hangers. And with shirts already on hanger, it makes put up time real fast. My kids love this part. Hope this helps. Becky

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02:54, Thursday, June 12, 2008 .. Posted by Citygal

New Zealanders (I'm convinced) are the Kings and Queens of laundry. It is still hugely popular here to hang clothes outside. Dryers are starting to sneak in, but only just. If you hang your clothes out on a windy day, they don't get stiff; however, if windy days are not common, you can try hanging out your wet clothes and bringing them in before they are completely dry (still damp), and put them overnight in your hot water cupboard (I don't know what you call them over there), but we usually have shelves built around our hot water cylinders for airing clothes. It makes the clothes a little less stiff, and I'm afraid you have to iron them as well.
An old lady once told me about the freeze drying under a porch during winter. I have never tried it, but she was convinced it worked. Also, another really popular thing that we do here is have a clothes rack that comes out at night and gets put in front of the fire. That way it doesn't get in the way during the day. I find that the clothes are nearly always dry in the morning when I have used this method. The other option is to get a pulley rack put on the ceiling. At night you lower it in front on the fire. You do have to iron when drying without the dryer though. My grandmother always used to sprinkle water on the stiff clothes too, before she ironed. That softens them up a little too. I love ironing because I get to put on a dvd or an audio book while I'm working. It helps to make the time pass more pleasantly.
Hope this is helpful.
Rachel from NZ

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03:10, Thursday, June 12, 2008 .. Posted by mountainmama

We are just used to the stiff clothes and don't think about it. I grew up hanging our clothes out during the summer and winter. They will freeze dry.

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03:35, Thursday, June 12, 2008 .. Posted by haflinger

Well living in Maine we do have cold weather..
The way not to have stiff clothes is alot of softner and iron..

I have three racks that attach to me molding one in each bathroom and one next to my woodstove that we don't use any more do to having an out door furnace..

I have three drying racks two large ones and a small one..

Plus I have lines down in my basement about six of them..

Lehman's Non- Electirc
Have the nice racks that bolt onto the molding
Also u can get some nice ones at the hard woodstore
Or some Antique shops have some nice ones also for a small amount..

U can do a search for Lehman's and see what I'm talking about.. Mine is all woods

Hope I helped some

Blessing Sister Brenda

Such great advice!

11:19, Friday, June 13, 2008 .. Posted by lancelotacres

Such great advice, I wish I had more to add. I don't even have a clothesline yet (it's in the plans), so I use a drying rack exclusively. I have one smallish wooden drying rack (found at a yard sale for $4). I put all of the small items on that to dry, and then I hang all shirts on a hanger and hang them in various places around the house. DD's go in her room, hanging from her shelf, and mine and DH's hang from our shower rod. Mine and DH's pants hang over the crib rail (DD sleeps with me...LOL). I'll just be glad to get a clothesline!

On the stiff clothes...I don't mind the stiff towels, but I do sometimes have pretty stiff jeans. We just bear with it usually.

Hugs,
Lisa

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05:56, Saturday, June 14, 2008 .. Posted by mequit73

I found this site that might be helpful...

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/06/06jun19a.cfm