Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I moved into a house last year. I brought the washer and dryer(gas). I hooked up the washer, but needed someone to hook up the dryer since the house was set up for an electric one. I never bothered. In winter I just hang the damp clothes up, and the air is so dry they are easily done overnight. I use liquid softener, so they don't come out hard. I always iron my work shirts anyway. In summer I have a clothes line.
I don't miss the cost of running the dryer either. Anyone else do this? Any tricks about air dying clothes you could share?
I use my dryer all the time... EXCEPT as soon as the temp's warm up (right about now) all the sheets, blankets and rugs go outside. I love the smell of line dried sheets . Plus, huge savings on the electric bill in the summer.
I air dry a lot of clothes. I do use the dryer for linens, blankets and towels. They don't seem to dry quick enough and get a musty smell about them. When I lived in a house with radiators I would hang some of the clothes on or next to them. It added much needed moisture to the air and gave off a wonderful clean clothes smell.
Towels and clothes seem to come out a lot softer when I dry them in the dryer. I don't put blankets or anything huge in there though...those always hang because they take way too long to get dry.
I always use my dryer. I don't like fabric softner and I hate the way my clothes feel when dried outside. plus i can't stand the sight of laundry hanging outside for the world to see. Growing up my mother hung everything outside and it always bothered me. when i bought my first house i said no way everything is going in the dryer. my FIL even offered to set up a clothes line for me and i said thank you but no thank you.
I too love the smell of line dried clothes, but I'm too lazy to take the time to hang them. I use my dryer for socks, underwear, towels, sheets and blankets. Everything else I hang on hangers. I avoid buying 100% cotton clothing so I don't have to iron as much. If you choose to hang your clothes on hangers, I recommend hanging the shirts inside out so that the shoulder areas don't end up with little marks from the hanger. I use liquid fabric softener so that my jeans aren't rough.
With three small kids, I'd have clothes hanging all over my house if I didn't use my dryer. I'm really bad, I have one of those monster LG jobers - fantastic!
I've done both.
Towels are best when machine-dried or hung out on a windy day.
I never dry jeans or delicates in the machine.
When I lived out in the boonies, the smell of fresh-air-dried clothes and bedding was the best. When living closer in-town, it doesn't matter so much to me. Hanging clothes outdoors in the country is a nice experience in itself. Hanging clothes out in the middle of a suburban or urban neighborhood, ehhh, not so much.
The old fashioned wooden folding drying racks are great. Just be careful of wood 'stains' on white clothes.
Where in the world would I find space to hang all of our clothes inside during the winter Going outside would be interesting - now that we're in Wisconsin they'd be freeze-dried, back in Washington they'd be wetter than they were when they came off the spin cycle.
During the summer we'll use the clothesline for comforters and similar but everything else goes in the dryer.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. Plus, huge savings on the electric bill in the summer.
Going outside would be interesting - now that we're in Wisconsin they'd be freeze-dried, back in Washington they'd be wetter than they were when they came off the spin cycle.
