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Mack I'm not concerned about the time it takes clothes to dry, if I have to go through the effort of hanging a sock on the clothesline I don't see the point of putting it in the dryer first.
Good point. I just returned my HE front loaders and I am moving here in two weeks. When I arrive to the new place I plan on just picking up a washer and a drying rack.
QUESTION for those of you that dry with a drying rack...
When placing things on a rack is it best to get the wrinkles out then or will it matter? How do wrinkles compare to rack drying, clothes line drying, and drying machine?
When placing things on a rack is it best to get the wrinkles out then or will it matter? How do wrinkles compare to rack drying, clothes line drying, and drying machine?
I don't put things on rack, I have a narrow laundry room and with shelves opposite the washer and dryer that are about 1 foot in depth but it's 8 foot wide. What I did was get some SS cabinet handles that were 1 foot long, 4 of them centered on 2 foot underneath the shelves. All this this stuff was purpose built to fit the space. Put the stuff on hangers and hang them up... I usually only hang shirts and jeans.
Last edited by thecoalman; 08-01-2020 at 05:30 PM..
I don't put things on rack, I have a narrow laundry room and with shelves opposite the washer and dryer that are about 1 foot in depth but it's 8 foot wide. What I did was get some SS cabinet handles that were 1 foot long, 4 of them centered on 2 foot underneath the shelves. All this this stuff was purpose built to fit the space. Put the stuff on hangers and hang them up... I usually only hang shirts and jeans.
Hangers are a great suggestion, I will probably implement something similar, but I will most likely just use a tension rod as the hanger rod. For jeans I will get some hangers with clips as well so they can hang from the tops and not have to be folded over. Boxers and socks will go on a rack.
Hangers are a great suggestion, I will probably implement something similar, but I will most likely just use a tension rod as the hanger rod.
I would of used a 8 foot steel pipe but there is no depth, the width in that picture is all I had to work with. the edge of the shelve is only about 3 inches from the edge of the door. That's why I posted it because I know a lot of people are in the same boat without enough space for pipe. If you only have small space that's what will work, they are high enough off the ground you can hang pants.
Put the stuff on hangers and hang them up... I usually only hang shirts and jeans.
What, you actually wash your jeans? That's so last century, Dude. The hip thing to do is to put them in the freezer, as Tommy Hilfiger and other style mavens recommend...
Personally, I do have to wash mine to get all the backwash from using my weed-eater off them, and the mud from working in the garden. Besides, the $15 jeans I wear don't need babying, but I know people who obsess over their expensive designer jeans and actually do this to get extended wear out of them between washings... or worse, dry cleanings!
In any case, where I live it is too rainy to hang clothes outside much of the time, and it's already too humid to dry them inside, and besides, if left damp too long... very long at all, really... they get moldy. So a good dryer is a must here, even though they are very expensive to run. So one thing I do is keep a "dry closet," which is a regular closet with a dehumidifier in it, that I use for silk shirts and other items I don't want to put in the dryer.
This isn't scientific, but my opinion is that the reasons line dried clothes typically aren't as soft as those put in a dryer are that 1) the tumbling action mechanically flexes the cloth, breaking up any deposits or residue on the fibers, and 2) slow drying, as on a line, tends to wick any impurities in the rinse water to the ends of the fibers or the surface of the cloth where we feel it. Really thorough rinsing in very soft (mineral free) water, such as rainwater leaves nothing to wick up... and fast machine drying leaves any minute impurities distributed through the fibers where they are not so easily detected.
Fabric "softeners" are an abomination, adding a coating to the fibers to make them feel softer. I can't use them even if I wanted to, because they give me dermatitis, as they do many others. Not everyone notices.
Mack I'm not concerned about the time it takes clothes to dry, if I have to go through the effort of hanging a sock on the clothesline I don't see the point of putting it in the dryer first.
I see your point. Yes, it does take time but we're talking maybe 30 seconds. What it does it save time in drying on that line and the clothes don't stiffen up as much. I guess it all comes down to trade offs. In the height of summer the clothes will dry no matter what. Take the spring though or even winter (if not below freezing) and the extractor makes it possible to line dry then too.
You are right though, it is extra time and just hanging them on the line works good too. It is just an optional thing if you want faster line drying time.
I happen to notice though, that the water extracted is a bit sudsy (even if very little detergent is used) because the rinse cycles don't really get out all the detergent. Instead of that drying in the clothes and being left behind as residue, it gets extracted as much as possible. That might not be a factor for some, in certain clothes you can tell.
Now what I really want to try is to make a go cart using that motor. It really spins fast and has decent power. I'm thinking it might give some cars a run for the money.
I rather just hang them and get them the next day.
putting clothes in a dryer for a few minutes then hanging them, sounds ridiculous. might as well just hang them.
Our old laundromat did have one of those extractors, they really work good at removing the water from the clothes, they were almost dry if that could be possible, but that was long ago....and the washers in the laundromat, to me, dont really extract the water too good, and then if you use the dryer there, it takes forever, so I hang them on the clothesline and take them off the next day.....
even my portable washer has better extraction than the laundromat.
I dry my T-shirts and pull over over shirts on a rack though, so I dont get the clothespin marks at the bottom of the shirt, they dont come out wrinkles. My rack can hold around 12 shirts good.
I rather just hang them and get them the next day.
putting clothes in a dryer for a few minutes then hanging them, sounds ridiculous. might as well just hang them.
Our old laundromat did have one of those extractors, they really work good at removing the water from the clothes, they were almost dry if that could be possible, but that was long ago....and the washers in the laundromat, to me, dont really extract the water too good, and then if you use the dryer there, it takes forever, so I hang them on the clothesline and take them off the next day.....
even my portable washer has better extraction than the laundromat.
I dry my T-shirts and pull over over shirts on a rack though, so I dont get the clothespin marks at the bottom of the shirt, they dont come out wrinkles. My rack can hold around 12 shirts good.
Dirty little secret in the laundromat business is they make money off the dryers (usually). Years ago many places cranked up their gas dryers so the often sopping wet laundry that came out of top and front loading washers would dry quickly, but from what one has seen that is often no longer the case.
There are so called "high speed" extraction laundromat front loaders but they cost more than standard units and many mat owners feel the cost benefits aren't there to warrant additional price. Then again they would be losing money on the dryers so would have to increase something somewhere to make up that difference.
Regarding those (Bock) extractors; yes at one time they were common in Laundromats especially when top loading washers were the norm. However out of liability and insurance issues today they are rarely seen. Supposedly todays front loaders extract enough water to make a separate extractor not necessary.
Extractors originally were used in all laundries because early washing machines did not spin, but washed and rinsed laundry only. This is why you see some machines still called to this day "washer-extractors" telling that they perform both functions.
Drying clothes outside is not a good idea for those of us with dust and pollen allergies. The wet clothes become dust and pollen magnets.
Only a few times of year do I choose the dryer over the outside line, and pollen season is one of them. Right now, everything in my yard is covered in fine yellow blue spruce pollen. Next, it will be the cottonwoods. Then I'm home free until monsoon season arrives in mid-summer.
To combat stiffness in line-dried clothing, try using less detergent. It really doesn't take much to get clothes clean and fresh. I use plain white vinegar as a rinse agent, rather than traditional fabric softener.
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