Save Energy By Using a Clothesline
Using a clothesline or drying rack indoors can save both money and energy.
Even if you sometimes hang laundry outside, you should have something available inside, too. Set up a drying rack in your laundry room or string a clothesline in your basement. After all, what if it’s raining out the next time you need to launder an item that specifies “line dry”?
But you’ll find an indoor clothesline handy a lot of other times, too. For instance, if a load has come out of your dryer with some items still damp, you don’t have to run the entire load through again. Just hang up the damp items.
Jeans are often expensive, can shrink in the dryer, and take longer to dry than other items. Hang them on the line and they’ll stay in great shape. Not only will you save the price of the jeans, you’ll save on energy, too.
If you’re like me, when you use the dryer, you throw in a load and forget about it. Permanent press shirts and blouses dry nicely, then just sit there until they’re as wrinkled as your pet Shar-Pei. You might be tempted to dampen the clothes and put them back into the dryer, but even running the dryer on “air” uses energy. And if you forget to take them out in time, you’re right back where you started.
Instead, set the dryer to stop while the clothes are still a bit damp, then hang the clothes on the line with clothespins.
Better yet, hang each shirt or blouse on a plastic coat hanger, and place the hangers on the clothesline. (Plastic hangers are better than metal hangers because the dampness might cause rust on the hangers, which could stain your clothes.) If the hangers bunch up, use clothespins as stoppers on the line to give each item space to dry. When you come back, the shirts and blouses will be wrinkle-free. Since they’re on hangers, they’re all set to be placed directly into your closet.
An indoor clothesline is also handy for items you might not ordinarily throw in the dryer, such as pantyhose. In the springtime, it’s also a convenient place for jackets, sneakers and other rain-soaked gear to drip.
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I love it,Excellent article.I am decide to put this into use one of these days.Thank you for sharing this.
I agree with you about the plastic hangers better than metal hangers.
because my clothes have been dyed.From then on, I would like to use plastic hanger.
It’s unfortunate that people got out of the habit of using clotheslines. They save so much energy, and it is kind of peaceful to hang the clothes.
We live in an apartment and don’t have a clothesline, but still air dry our clothes using this clothes drying rack – being round it works really nice under a ceiling fan!
Hurray! I keep seeing more and more post that are promoting this simple way to reduce our energy use. What could be easier than using a clothes drying rack or line to dry our clothes.