…… Clothesline

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
This is both asking for help and offering some guidance for those new to using clotheslines.

First, guidance. One, hang your clothes inside out. That way any sunbleaching occurs on the inside. If you have a long straight line, hang so the back of the shirts face the sun. For umbrella clotheslines, try to have other things protecting the front of the shirt so you don't end up with a small sunbleached space at the neckline. For pants inside out also allows the pockets and tucked areas to dry faster.

Second, when you find good clothespins - buy a lot. If I can find an online source for the ones I found, I'll share it. Right now I only find them in the discount home goods section at my local grocer. I try to get in at least once a year and buy a bunch. They are nice and big and can even hold bulky pants. But go looking for good ones. They will help you keep your sanity.

Three, you don't need direct sunlight. I promise. And direct sun tends to make the fabric stiff. An area with a decent breeze is good. And you can even dry clothes outside in the winter, it just takes longer. Make sure to hang as soon as the sun comes up in winter, if not a bit sooner. Most of the time things will be dry by nightfall.

Four, snap out your towels before you hang them. Good, solid, full towel snaps. That will help with stiffness.

Five, when you clear the lines, run the clothes through the dryer on AIR Dry. This will tend to help with stiffness, get the lint and any other debris out, and help with reducing pollen levels.


Now, the help part. I've got to replace the lines on one of my umbrella clothes lines. I've been looking for 165 foot of line with a reinforced core. All I can find it vinyl coated airline cable. There are a few issues with that, like the weight of wet items causing the holes in the "arms" to cut through the vinyl and allow moisture inside. I'm worried that will cause rusting and make the lines break within a few years. Anyone with experience with this type of line that might know? An alternate idea, would marine grade paracord work?
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
This is both asking for help and offering some guidance for those new to using clotheslines.

First, guidance. One, hang your clothes inside out. That way any sunbleaching occurs on the inside. If you have a long straight line, hang so the back of the shirts face the sun. For umbrella clotheslines, try to have other things protecting the front of the shirt so you don't end up with a small sunbleached space at the neckline. For pants inside out also allows the pockets and tucked areas to dry faster.

Second, when you find good clothespins - buy a lot. If I can find an online source for the ones I found, I'll share it. Right now I only find them in the discount home goods section at my local grocer. I try to get in at least once a year and buy a bunch. They are nice and big and can even hold bulky pants. But go looking for good ones. They will help you keep your sanity.

Three, you don't need direct sunlight. I promise. And direct sun tends to make the fabric stiff. An area with a decent breeze is good. And you can even dry clothes outside in the winter, it just takes longer. Make sure to hang as soon as the sun comes up in winter, if not a bit sooner. Most of the time things will be dry by nightfall.

Four, snap out your towels before you hang them. Good, solid, full towel snaps. That will help with stiffness.

Five, when you clear the lines, run the clothes through the dryer on AIR Dry. This will tend to help with stiffness, get the lint and any other debris out, and help with reducing pollen levels.


Now, the help part. I've got to replace the lines on one of my umbrella clothes lines. I've been looking for 165 foot of line with a reinforced core. All I can find it vinyl coated airline cable. There are a few issues with that, like the weight of wet items causing the holes in the "arms" to cut through the vinyl and allow moisture inside. I'm worried that will cause rusting and make the lines break within a few years. Anyone with experience with this type of line that might know? An alternate idea, would marine grade paracord work?
I used the vinyl coated cable for 30 years... no issues. I loved it, because it was easy to clean once a year with a sponge and soapy water... rope clotheslines always held onto the dirt (from airborne dust, etc) and would leave marks on cleN clothes after awhile.

Summerthyme
 

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Well then vinyl coated cable it is. With wire clamps.
Hopefully both lines will be fully replaced by the end of this year. But one is really badly in need of replacement. So much so that I'm not even really using the lines. I'm tossing blankets over the full stretch to dry them. But then they also dry faster that way.
 

Kathy in FL

Administrator
_______________
Your advice works for low-humidity locations and/or a place that has actual clothes drying wind. LOL

In Florida, even though we are called the Sunshine State, it can take twice as long to get a clothesline of clothes dry. They'll never dry in indirect light here. Also, air circulation can be a problem. It is why we have such a huge problem with mold and mildew in the Deep South.

I can't get a good exterior dry on "fluffy" towels but I can on "Turkish" towels. The fluffy absorbent towels that are so luxurious in the bath are also absorbent out on the drying line and will continue to suck up moisture from the air and are a nightmare to get completely dry.

Make sure your drying line is well away from anything that might cause odors like your fire pit or a smelly outbuilding (fuel) or anything similar.

Also, make sure your drying line is away from anything that anyone in the family may be allergic to like a certain kind of flower or pollen.
 

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Your advice works for low-humidity locations and/or a place that has actual clothes drying wind. LOL

In Florida, even though we are called the Sunshine State, it can take twice as long to get a clothesline of clothes dry. They'll never dry in indirect light here. Also, air circulation can be a problem. It is why we have such a huge problem with mold and mildew in the Deep South.

I can't get a good exterior dry on "fluffy" towels but I can on "Turkish" towels. The fluffy absorbent towels that are so luxurious in the bath are also absorbent out on the drying line and will continue to suck up moisture from the air and are a nightmare to get completely dry.

Make sure your drying line is well away from anything that might cause odors like your fire pit or a smelly outbuilding (fuel) or anything similar.

Also, make sure your drying line is away from anything that anyone in the family may be allergic to like a certain kind of flower or pollen.

Hmmm... I'm not that far from you state wise. You're at the top of FL, I'm at the top of AL. But we are different zones, so that may be part of the difference. It is definitely humid here though. It actually hasn't caused me any problems so far. Towels take longer but I always put that down to them being so much thicker.

It might be that most days we get at least a bit of a breeze. Not much. Not all day long. But something. Some days it's so light I can only realize it's happening because the leaves in the trees are moving.

And yeah, avoiding odors is a big. My firepit is in the backyard and not far away. But not typically in use when drying clothes.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Your advice works for low-humidity locations and/or a place that has actual clothes drying wind. LOL

In Florida, even though we are called the Sunshine State, it can take twice as long to get a clothesline of clothes dry. They'll never dry in indirect light here. Also, air circulation can be a problem. It is why we have such a huge problem with mold and mildew in the Deep South.

I can't get a good exterior dry on "fluffy" towels but I can on "Turkish" towels. The fluffy absorbent towels that are so luxurious in the bath are also absorbent out on the drying line and will continue to suck up moisture from the air and are a nightmare to get completely dry.

Make sure your drying line is well away from anything that might cause odors like your fire pit or a smelly outbuilding (fuel) or anything similar.

Also, make sure your drying line is away from anything that anyone in the family may be allergic to like a certain kind of flower or pollen.

I agree about the drying time. Here in Mississippi, we also have a problem with high humidity. To get my laundry dry, I have my clothesline in the direct sun. I also have to hang them out at daylight, and let them hang until almost dark in order for them to get completely dry, especially on high humidity days like today. Heat index of 111, no wind, and no rain.

I also use the vinyl coated cable, and love it.
 

Kathy in FL

Administrator
_______________
Hmmm... I'm not that far from you state wise. You're at the top of FL, I'm at the top of AL. But we are different zones, so that may be part of the difference. It is definitely humid here though. It actually hasn't caused me any problems so far. Towels take longer but I always put that down to them being so much thicker.

It might be that most days we get at least a bit of a breeze. Not much. Not all day long. But something. Some days it's so light I can only realize it's happening because the leaves in the trees are moving.

And yeah, avoiding odors is a big. My firepit is in the backyard and not far away. But not typically in use when drying clothes.

Actually my non-BOL location is in Tampa Bay area which is west central Florida. LOL. There are four distinct zones in Florida ... the panhandle, north Florida, central Florida, and south Florida. They all have their own growing zones and lots of microclimates. You should see the books written on gardening in Florida. Every one of them that are worth anything are usually broken down into three or four columns for every plant, tree, bush, vine, etc. It'd be silly if it wasn't such a real concern.
 

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Actually my non-BOL location is in Tampa Bay area which is west central Florida. LOL. There are four distinct zones in Florida ... the panhandle, north Florida, central Florida, and south Florida. They all have their own growing zones and lots of microclimates. You should see the books written on gardening in Florida. Every one of them that are worth anything are usually broken down into three or four columns for every plant, tree, bush, vine, etc. It'd be silly if it wasn't such a real concern.
A long time ago, many decades, we lived in Broward County. It was an interesting time in my life. But I hadn't hit the gardening phase yet so I didn't run into that. Too young and still figuring out how to be a teen.
We went back to Disney a few years ago. I don't know how I had forgotten about those humidity levels but I had. Ugh. Florida is not a destination for me anymore unless I absolutely have to be there. Although I could probably be convinced to visit the Keys again. If only so I could spend a whole lot of time out on/in the water. I'd want a week with someone else watching my son, just so I could top off the very empty "ocean time" tanks. Given a choice, I'd probably only exit the water to eat and sleep.
 

ioujc

MARANTHA!! Even so, come LORD JESUS!!!
I am also allergic to "cottonwood fluff", which I think is very weird, because as a kid, we were surrounded by HUGE cottonwoods, and I had no issues.

Never bothered as a kid, but now, can't be around them as I can hardly breathe when they are going to seed.
 

anna43

Veteran Member
When you dry your towels on the line, bring them in and run them in the dryer on air fluff or low heat for 8 to 10 minutes and they will soften up quite a bit. This works for jeans too.

I do not hang knit shirts on the line. I dry them on plastic hangers inside. Tried clipping the hangers to the clothesline but the wind blew them off.

The wind is so bad here that on 75% of days it can damage laundry. Any savings on utilities is not worth wrecking laundry in the wind. I use at least 12 pins to attempt to keep a flat double bed sheet on the line and even then it sometimes comes loose.

Hang shirts by the bottom and jeans/slacks by the waist. Straighten sleeves, collars, pockets, smooth out wrinkles etc. to prevent need to iron.

I have a 1940/50 folding laundry cart to use so I don't have to lean over to a clothes basket on the ground. I picked it up an estate auction probably 30 years ago and it was old then. I made a new muslin cover for it which is now wearing out. I was going to make a new one, but decided to use scraps of fabric to cover the worn spots. As more wear/tears appear I add more patches. It's getting to quite colorful. I also have a clothespin bag that was given to me by my late b-i-l whose father made and sold them back in the 1940/50's that I love. I believe it's on its 4th or 5th bag and about due for another. The frame is a unique design with a rectangle top opening that stays open which makes getting pins out easy.

I always use spring clip clothes pins because the push-on type are hard on fabric.

If you have any allergies, checking the local pollen count before hanging out laundry would be a good idea. You can't see most allergens like you can cottonwood fluff.
 
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