Washer but no dryer?

[micah_mae_]

Is it possible? How do you do it? During the winter time?

[bagare]

I have done this for the past 2 years. We live in a 2 story condo, with the washer and very dead dryer upstairs. I wash early in the morning, and hang the clothes in all the door ways. The windows in the upstairs front bedrooms are south facing, and I open the drapes to bring in the light and it really heats the upstairs. Things tend to dry in about a day or so. I also have enough doorways upstairs between bedrooms, bathroom and shower curtain to hang 5 loads. Our heater intake is also in the center of the hallway (in the ceiling) and that is near where I hang my husbands work socks. When I hang those, I run the heater for a bit, since it draws the air over and around the socks.

It can be done, just takes a bit of planning.

[crazyeight]

of course it's possible...not fun though. i dont CD so that saves me a TON of work. i have 2 of the folding racks and usually one load fills those up. i have a "space" house heater (my house is only 355 sf) and it gets really toasty right in front of it and theres some water pipes that go behind it horizontally that are strong enough to hold hangers. i can hang up double folded jeans and they are dry within several hours or so. i try to get a load a day/every other day and put the clothes near the heater. to save "space" i try to put them up to dry at night while we're sleeping and they are definatly dry in the morning. i hate the racks, they are flimsy and are falling apart so i think i'm going to super glue the darn things together but there's not much else i can do. i can take the clothes to the laundry house that costs money or dry it here. have you not been without a dryer before? i wasn't until 2 months ago and it's actually been an easy transition. i hate my towels the first i use them and my jeans but other than that loosing my dryer went smoothly.

[micah_mae_]

Thanks! I wonder if my toddler would leave stuff alone long enough? Do you hang stuff outside during the warmer months?

[micah_mae_]

Originally Posted by dhinderliter

of course it's possible...not fun though. i dont CD so that saves me a TON of work. i have 2 of the folding racks and usually one load fills those up. i have a "space" house heater (my house is only 355 sf) and it gets really toasty right in front of it and theres some water pipes that go behind it horizontally that are strong enough to hold hangers. i can hang up double folded jeans and they are dry within several hours or so. i try to get a load a day/every other day and put the clothes near the heater. to save "space" i try to put them up to dry at night while we're sleeping and they are definatly dry in the morning. i hate the racks, they are flimsy and are falling apart so i think i'm going to super glue the darn things together but there's not much else i can do. i can take the clothes to the laundry house that costs money or dry it here. have you not been without a dryer before? i wasn't until 2 months ago and it's actually been an easy transition. i hate my towels the first i use them and my jeans but other than that loosing my dryer went smoothly.

I have never been without a dryer, so I have no experience! I just thought that we would save money on the cost of the dryer, as well as the electric bill...

[doubledutch]

i have a dryer, but i hang stuff that's easy to hang (sheets, towels, grown up shirts and skirts and things). i don't care enough to mess with socks, undies and tiny toddler clothes, although i suppose i should. our electric bill is so low that i'm not motivated to lower it - although i know it would be good karma to use the dryer less.

anyway, in the winter, i hang stuff in our (unfinished) basement, where our washer is. the previous owner screwed hooks into the exposed beams and strung up clothes line - it would be easy to do! i also put some things (like the shirts) on hangers. we have a closet bar in the basement, likewise hanging from the beams. i have a little drying rack i really should set up, because then it would be easy to throw the small items over it. it's actually really nice to line-dry in the house in the winter to put some humidity back into the air.

is there a part of the house where your toddler doesn't spend much time during the day, like the bedrooms? it makes sense to either hang your laundry near the washer, or near the closets. some people hang clothes to dry directly in the closet, but you can't do that if your closets are jam-packed, obviously. you have to let air circulate. another good spot (although not as convenient) is the shower curtain rod or door.

[paakbaak]

i haven´t had a dryer since i was about 20, i´m 34 now. i don´t understand what the big deal is. you wash, hang and wait. if the weather is good, you hang outside. if the weather is regular, you hang inside with the window open. and if it´s winter, you hang inside and wait, and wait. if you have heating in your house everything will dry faster. if you don´t, then you wait. i would never buy a dryer, not even if it were a present, never.
if you have room where the washer is then that´s it. if you don´t, then you dry in a room, in the bathroom, etc. in winter, i would have sheets everywhere for one day, the dry fast.

[tracymom1]

We have a retractable indoor clothesline that helps with drying things like sheets and diapers, but most stuff just gets put on a rack. I do laundry every day to keep up with the rotation. Sometimes its a pain, but its just part of our routine. It was hard to give up the dryer though, and took some adjusting. I love summer because I can hang everything outside and the sun and breeze makes the stains fade and the clothes soft!

[Hedgehog Mtn]

Yup and we live in NH so we have plenty of winter and freezing temps.

I have a huge 3 line clothesline outside that DH built outside. We use that most of the year. Clothes do freeze dry.

Indoors we have well made laundry bars (look in Amish supply places or old time hardware stores) they take but space but they do the job.

FWIW, I do cloth diaper, have baby #5 due any day and DH works as a mechanic at 2 different jobs so we make serious laundry.

I guess it depends on how important it is to you - you can get in the habit and get used to it if it's what you want....we did!!