Does anyone dry clothes on the line anymore in the US?
When I was a boy, the project did not have the amenities they do today. There was no Laundromat in complex. They had a hookup for a washer—in the kitchen, but no place for a dryer, but they did have clothes lines in the back for people to dry their clothes. I never thought anything of it; I thought all of America did it that way. When I was old enough I remember helping my mother bring the clothes in after they were dry. The clothes smelled really fresh, and the sheets felt crisp. I have never quite noticed the same from a dryer even with those softener sheets. I know in many urban areas it would be near impossible to line dry your clothes, but what about rural areas? Has the practice died there too? Do people even know how much better their clothes might smell and feel if they did?
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22 Answers
I do! We have a huge clothesline here on the farm.
I do sometimes, but birds poop on my clean stuff. It’s discouraging (and a bit insulting!!!).
If I had a clothesline I would.
Traditional ‘greenie poles’ are still used for washing lines in the UK but they are not as common as they once were.
GQ by the way. I only had to read it once and it made perfect sense.
We use the clothes umbrella most of the time. The weather is usually perfect for it, it keeps the electric down and I love the smell of sun-freshened clothing.
A lot of people I know who live in rural areas do. My mom would dry our clothes on a clothes rack, though we always kept it inside.
In some places it’s illegal because of elitist that need everything they look at to be neat or it offends them.
My grandparents had clothes lines at their house and so I grew up that way. My mom has a clothes tree thing similar to what @Yetanotheruser showed, and she uses it a lot, in addition to her dryer. I have no clothes line but I will put a few things on chairs on the deck, or on the railings. I love the way clean clothes smell and I love how they feel crisp, like @Hypocrisy_Central said.
I should add that the problem around where I live is that it is cold from around December to April, so it’s hard to dry things outdoors with that kind of weather.
^ Ummm…..I am not sure how my mother did it in winter, but i guess she found enough sunny days because the clothes were always clean, and none of the neighbors had dryers either.
I have a neighbor that just installed a new “umbrella” clothes dryer in their back yard.
I use one of those foldable racks. My roommate who has the deck (lucky him) uses the clothesline on it.
I didn’t have a dryer for 3 years.
They’re forbidden in my apartment complex.
Because all that “go green” BS they love talking about means nothing when your efforts to harness green living in southern “surface of the sun” california makes them look ‘ghetto’.
@Yetanotheruser No, they have a pool and are on a corner, so the backyard is visible without looking over a fence.
Not in the US and I dry my clothes on the line all the time. We have a dryer but hardly ever use it.
@sinscriven, what is forbidden? Tumble dryers or washing lines?
If you take a drive through Lancaster County, PA.(Amish country) you’ll see plenty of clothes line drying in the sun.
They’re not allowed automation so they have to deal with it winter or summer.
How is it they aren’t….oh. PA. Amish. Got ya.
I am beginning to get back into the practice of drying clothes outdoors on a clothesline.
All the time! We have a rotating clothes hanger on our big deck here, down at the end and hang out most everything in summer now except towels and jeans that dry too stiffly. I have about 8 little summer sundresses that I hand wash and hang out all the time and, you just reminded me I have sheets in the washer right now from this morning ready to go out. It is a warm breezy day and everything will be dry in about 30 minutes, even less perhaps.
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