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Clothes Lines – The Pros and Cons

Victor M — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:56:49 +0000

Clothes Lines – The Pros and Cons

In this fast-paced world of electronic gadgets, many people have forgotten the simple things in life. For many years air drying your clothing was the status quo and clothes smelled great and lasted much longer as well. Have you ever noticed how much lint is in your dryer trap? These are actual fabric fibers that are being worn away by dryer use!

Pros

Clotheslines provide an easy way to dry your clothing leaving them fresh smelling while saving you money on your energy bill. Besides, we could all use a little more time out of doors! Simple, sweet smelling and economical, these are all great reasons to use a clothesline.

City Living Flat Line Washing Line and Low Line Attachment Up

Cons

On the downside, not everyone has a large yard conducive to constructing a clothesline. Small or nonexistent yards can make it difficult to put up a clothesline capable of drying your clothing. In addition, many homes are built in areas that have very restrictive building codes. This means the color of your home, clothesline, and even the state of your garage (open or closed) is strictly regulated.

Solution

The good news is even if you live where there is no yard at all or the most restrictive codes you can employ one of the many urban clotheslines on the market. These products offer you the option of having a retractable clothesline, indoor clothesline or even ceiling mounted dryers.

Conclusion

There are many good reasons to air dry your clothing. You will save money on energy bills, have fresh smelling clothes and they will last longer to boot! Check out the many options available from Hills clotheslines which is a leading retailer of all kinds of urban clotheslines. They offer great warranties and will ship units in the USA and Canada.

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Drying Dirty laundry is More Than Just Saving Money

Victor M — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:56:45 +0000

Airing my dirty laundry? No. Just saving $$ and the environment

Connie Prater | October 26, 2009 | Living with credit

This week’s New York Times editorial about using clotheslines to dry laundry with the crisp freshness of the afternoon sun reminded me of what has become a ritual in my home. For the past three months — all through a very long, hot summer in Texas — I’ve been hanging some of my clothes outside to dry. (Er, not everything, mind you; undies hang on racks in the garage.) On the days when it was 100 degrees or more, this didn’t take very long.

To air is divine
Why air dry? The heating element in my gas dryer stopped working and I haven’t bothered to get someone out to take a look at it. After the clothes come out of the washer, I shake them out, put them on hangers and place them along the top rail of a gazebo in my back yard. I don’t know how much this practice has saved me on my utility bills. It was both a frugal and environmental gesture on my part (and avoidance of making an appointment for yet another repairman to come to my home).

The Times editorial talks about how much both electric and natural gas powered clothes dryers drain our energy resources. In the United States, nearly 80 percent of households own dryers, according to a commentary by Alexander P. Lee, executive director of Project Laundry List, a nonprofit group that promotes energy conservation one clothesline at a time.

The right to dry
As the Los Angeles Times reported in this February 2009 article, line-drying is making a comeback and pitting “right-to-dry” advocates against code enforcement officers who say they are illegal, unsightly nuisances.

Many cities, communities and homeowners’ associations ban the dreaded clothesline as an eyesore, a property value downer. It’s true you don’t see many clotheslines in well-manicured neighborhoods. And let’s face it, many clotheslines are pieces of rope strung between tree branches or held up by rickety poles or leaning metal posts. As the New York Times reports, some cities are working to prohibit clothesline bans. At least one college has set aside space for students to set up indoor drying racks for their clothes. What the green movement wants us to realize is that hanging clothes out to dry saves the environment. Financial advisors also point out that it saves money on energy costs.

As a child growing up in South Florida, my mother always hung her (I mean, our) clothes out to dry, even when she owned a dryer. “I like the way my clothes smell when they dry in the sun,” she used to say. For my brother and I, it meant schlepping clothes out to the line and then in. The whole process seemed to add oh-so-many steps to the weekend chores. When an afternoon rain shower whipped up, we’d have to dash out there to take in those clothes or endure a lecture from my mother about why we let the clothes get wet.

I remember my adolescent and teenage years and hauling clothes to and from a clothesline was back-breaking work. I also remember vowing to myself back then to have a dryer and actually use it when I grew up. Fast forward to today: I’ve got a dryer but I’m not using it. And, well, I’m OK with that.

Footnote:
This blog was featured in the frugality section of The Centsible Life for the 229th edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance. Each week, a different blogger hosts the carnival, which features the best of the blogsphere in personal finance topics.

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Tips on Drying Your Clothes and Laundry Outside

Victor M — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:35:15 +0000

Tips on Drying Your Clothes and Laundry Outside

It seems the clothes line has almost become extinct, which is sad really. Drying your clothes out of doors gives them a fresh scent that only nature can provide while potentially saving you a ton of money on energy bills. If you have been searching for areas you can cut expenses on it may be time to revisit the classic clothes line.

Many people are loathe to put up a clothesline for fear it will drop property values or look tacky. This is a valid concern especially if you live in an area controlled by a homeowners association. Thankfully, someone thought of these issues and others when they created quality retractable clotheslines.

A retractable clothes line is only seen while it is in use and easily stores away the rest of the time. These are also handy for small laundry room situations. These can be single or multiple line clotheslines and can be used with a pole kit or without.

A nice example of retractable clotheslines for the medium to large family is the Hills Sietro 6:

Six individual lines
Store away cabinet
Individual line tensioning
Wide line spacing
Useable between walls, wall – post or post-post
Rust resistant
PVC coated lines
Handles all sheet sizes

The Hills Sietro 6 clothes line is easily useable by the elderly and is available in the USA or Canada. Do not let limited space or aesthetics keep you from the joy of hanging your clothing on a clothesline. You can save money on your energy bills, have fresh smelling clothes and do your part to help the environment. Not a bad combination for a simple idea.

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The Urban Clothesline – How the Clothesline is making a come Back in the USA

Victor M — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:18:35 +0000

The Urban Clothesline – How the Clothesline is making a come Back in the USA

Remember the days when grandma brought the sheet in off the clothesline? The wonderful fresh clean scent made bedtime perfect! Today many people live in urban areas where there is simply no room for the classic clothesline from days gone by and yet they would love to save energy and achieve that dried in the sunlight scent that simply is not artificially reproducible.

This is where one of the many urban clotheslines can come in quite handy. One popular model is the rotary clothesline. People all over the USA and Canada are finding these clothes lines to be quite practical if not a bit stylish.

You can find rotary clothes lines available in many colors and some are even adjustable in height. Now you can pass the tradition of hanging your laundry out doors with your children too! These devices will hold a lot of laundry and are one of the easiest and cheapest ways to enjoy hanging your clothes outside. In addition, they are perfectly sized for use in even the smallest backyard or courtyard.

For instance if you have very limited space you could pick up a compact rotary clothesline in the USA like the one made by The Hills. This device has an amazing 96 feet of line space but a head diameter of only 9 ft! Perhaps best of all the lines are all PVC coated to protect your precious clothing. The unit adjusts from 5’4″- 5’9″ and is perfect for the medium size family.

Many people are searching for small ways to cut back on utility bills and help save the planet. Using an urban clothesline is a perfect way to do just that. Enjoy the fresh clean scent of air-dried clothing while saving money and the environment.

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