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Back Again

April 26th, 2014

My solar dryer is back in service, it’s so nice to have sun dried clothes once again! Yesterday was the first warm sunny day we’ve had this spring. Other days have been sunny, but not nearly warm or long enough to dry a load of clothes. Yesterday was PERFECT!
solar dryer 1
solar dryer 2
There’s nothing quite like things that have been freshest by the power on the sun. I especially love my line dried sheets, I’ll be pulling them off the bed on the next sunny day we have. It’s certainly nice to be able to hang things on the line again.

Do you ever dry your clothes outside?

17 Comments to “Back Again”
  1. Lemongrass on April 26, 2014 at 5:10 am

    drying clothes outside is the best. have been doing it almost all my life. thankfully i am able to do it year round.

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  2. Ilene on April 26, 2014 at 5:27 am

    I use my clothesline about 9 or 10 months out of the year. Sometimes it’s pretty uncomfortable hanging things out but I love the fresh smell. I’ve always told Hubs, if I were ever to become wealthy, I’d have fresh sheets on the bed every night and a massage every day! Heh.

    None of my neighbors hang out their wash. I think they kind of think I’m related to the Clampitt’s, anyway…..

    I hang my shirts differently than you do. I hang t-shirts by the armpits, folding them over the line at the chest. This way the hems don’t stretch out. And shirts with collars, I fold the collar over the line and put the pins in that strip that attaches the collar to the shirt.

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    • Kathi Cook on April 26, 2014 at 8:26 am

      Haha,Ilene, I always say the same thing about fresh sheets every night! It seems like the ultimate luxury.

      Reply to Kathi Cook's comment

  3. Sara on April 26, 2014 at 7:20 am

    Yay, I hung out a few loads yesterday too. We finally got a front load washer and I love that the wet clothes are slightly lighter to carry (our machine is in the basement) and they dry super fast outside, so I’m hanging on even cooler days. I spotted one of our newer neighbors hanging clothes out yesterday too, it made me feel good–normally it’s just me and the one of the original neighbors (70s) on the block, ha.

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  4. Meg on April 26, 2014 at 7:54 am

    Yep, been using clotheslines for years though not in the dead of winter. None of my neighbors do but I’ve got a half dozen friends who hang their clothes and linens out to dry. One dries outside year round and shovels the snow out from under her line. Brrrrr!

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  5. Kathi Cook on April 26, 2014 at 8:29 am

    I hang laundry out to dry every chance I get. Since I have an in town house, it is a little tricky because everyone can see my laundry so I take it down as soon as it is dry.

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  6. Nebraska Dave on April 26, 2014 at 8:33 am

    Susy, nope don’t hang clothes here. Although I did have clothes lines in the back yard eons ago that were never used so I took them out and gave them away. I’m not sure that technically it’s allowed in the neighborhood. Urban living has it rules don’t you know.

    I’m glad to hear the weather is better. It’s much better here too. Things in the garden continue to grow and soon (three weeks) the tomatoes , peppers, and other warm weather plants will be planted.

    Have a great solar drier day.

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  7. Jennifer Fisk on April 26, 2014 at 8:48 am

    I don’t have lines but I should. The only thing that I prefer the dryer for are towels.
    My Mom always had a clothes reel in the back yard. She would hang the sheets and towels on the outside and her undies on the very inside so no one could see them from the road. Sure was a different era in the 50s and 60s.

    Reply to Jennifer Fisk's comment

  8. DebbieB on April 26, 2014 at 9:13 am

    You are the 5th person who has brought up line-drying to me in the past few days, I think the universe is trying to confirm my desire to do so. :) We bought this house from my husband’s parents (so he’s lived in this house all his life). My MIL dried her clothes on a line, and the T-shaped pole that supported one end of her line is still standing – the other end was supported by a tree that was cut down long ago, that’s where my vegetable garden is now. I’m trying to figure out a new spot for a line, and how to support it. Seems a shame not to use her old support, but it’s in the wrong spot now, and moving it is not an option. Right now it’s just supporting hanging baskets. Still thinking…

    I love that red shirt – “Enjoy This Beautiful Day”. :)

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  9. Misti on April 26, 2014 at 9:24 am

    My grandmother always hung her clothes but I’ve never done it. I think there would be a very narrow window for us to do it here in SE Texas. The humidity wouldn’t allow anything to dry for most of the year.

    Reply to Misti's comment

  10. daisy on April 26, 2014 at 3:04 pm

    Every chance I get. We are able to line dry every season but summer. Too danged humid. But it is truly a feeling of Zen when I’m out there listening to the birds and seeing the brilliant blue sky. It’s definitely one of my favorite household tasks.
    Enjoy!

    Reply to daisy's comment

  11. Terri on April 26, 2014 at 5:30 pm

    I dry my clothes outside most of the year. I won’t shovel snow to get to the clothesline but as soon as it is fit to get to the line out the clothes go. There is nothing that smells better than laundry dried in the fresh air and sunshine!

    Reply to Terri's comment

  12. Joan on April 26, 2014 at 7:04 pm

    We hang ours up year round – inside in the winter and outside in the summer. Even though I need to wear mittens to do it, we hang ours out even if it is near freezing – as long as there is some wind and we hang them early enough in the day they will usually dry just fine. Sometimes we need to bring them in and hang them up inside overnight though, if they don’t dry completely. My first load went out over a month ago… And yes, yesterday there were clothes out on the line!

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  13. Katherine on April 26, 2014 at 8:44 pm

    I don’t actually have a line as most of my backyard is too shady, but I have a drying rack I put on the deck and I hang clothes on hangers from the deck and the patio umbrella. I love the way the clothes smell and feel (I do fluff them in the dryer for just a few minutes first). I also love not heating up the house in the summer with the dryer. In the winter I put the rack in front of the glass door to the deck or in front of a heating vent and the clothes dry fairly quickly.

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  14. Amy S on April 26, 2014 at 10:21 pm

    Had our bedding out on the lines yesterday. I love going to bed smelling fresh sheets.

    Reply to Amy S's comment

  15. Caroline on April 27, 2014 at 12:15 am

    Now that spring/summer are almost here I’m excited to line dry.
    I gave it a shot for the first time toward the end of last summer.
    I just didn’t like how “crunchy” the clothes were. I bought some fabric softener a few days ago so when it’s finally warm enough, I’ll give it a try and hope for better results.

    I don’t have a true line, I simply have a rope tied between two trees!

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  16. Lorna on April 27, 2014 at 4:25 pm

    I hung clothes up year-round in the UAE; even though it was humid next to the gulf, the sun was pretty intense and dried clothes faster than I could hang them! (No one there uses a dryer–it’s almost impossible to find them in the stores). But now in New England I hang them out six months of the year and drape them over the radiators the other six.

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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