Line Drying Questions

[JTA Mom]

I would love to line dry our clothes & other items, at least for most, if not the entire year.

Here's my problem though: Dh is really, really allergic to, well, everything. Pollen, dust, cats, etc, etc.

Is it feasible to line dry outside with allergies? Or will I just make him even more miserable? The cost savings of line drying might be off-set by more allergy meds.


Also, my sister really, really wants to line dry year round. Being in the Bay Area, she can pretty much do it 8 months of the year, no problem. When the rainy season hits though, it gets tough. We were brainstorming and I thought that we could put up some lines in the garage. She wasn't so sure. She told me that on the cold days, with no wind, the clothes take 2 days to dry on the line. She thinks the clothes will take forever to dry in the obviously windless garage. It's unheated and not well-insulated (read: drafty). Would putting up a big box fan help? I don't think running a box fan would cost as much as running a dryer, but I'm not do sure. Am I crazy?

Thanks!

Ami

[camprunner]

I would think that drying inside or in the Garage would be fine. We do it all the time and even use our screened in porch sometimes. It does take longer to dry but as long as you either have plenty of line or not a lot of laundry this isn't a problem.

I would recommend indoor drying if you have lots of allergies.

[Teenytoona]

Here's a great current thread about line drying!

[ArtsyMomma]

I air dry about half of my laundry on simple wooden racks inside the house. I usually put them up when I go to bed and the clothes are dry by morning.

[JTA Mom]

Originally Posted by camprunner

I would think that drying inside or in the Garage would be fine. We do it all the time and even use our screened in porch sometimes. It does take longer to dry but as long as you either have plenty of line or not a lot of laundry this isn't a problem.

I would recommend indoor drying if you have lots of allergies.

A screened porch would be nice--at least, that way if there was a breeze it would come through. How long does it take you to dry inside, normally?

My sister is afraid that in taking so long to dry in still air, the clothes might get 'smelly'.

Originally Posted by Teenytoona

Here's a great current thread about line drying!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by ArtsyMomma

I air dry about half of my laundry on simple wooden racks inside the house. I usually put them up when I go to bed and the clothes are dry by morning.

I have a couple racks, but they aren't very useful. Barely hold half a CD load. Also, do you have any moisture issues? We don't use the heater much in winter and we get a lot of condensation, which leads to mold issues. I'm afraid drying indoors would make it worse.

In the summer though, there'd be no moisture issues, so definitely doable.

Is there an inexpensive rack that will actually hold a load of adult clothing? I've seen $80 ones, but yikes!

Or, since this is the thrifty forum, any homemade contraptions anyone is willing to share?

Ami

[TEAK's Mom]

Since I live in a chilly rainforest, line drying outside is impractical most of the year. I dry most of our clothes in the basement on one wooden rack and on a line we strung across the room. Most things take less than 24 hours to dry. We do run a dehumidifier in the basement to prevent excessive dampness. At first, we weren't sure if that was saving electricity, so we tried each solution for a month and carefully monitored. The dehumidifier won hands down.

[FloridaBorn]

As a Floridian, our rainy season is in the summer time. I *could* hang clothes under my carport, but honestly when the humidity is THAT BAD they would take forever to dry and I usually end up putting them in the dryer on those days.

I pay attention to the weather forecasts to make sure there's no rain in sight during the summer, or when it's winter, pick the least chilly day of the week to do laundry.

Line drying might actually IMPROVE allergies... because the offending particles are not constantly rotated and reabsorbed via the dryer. Sunlight works wonders on germs and stains, also.

[JTA Mom]

Teak's mom, I think the dehumidifier would work. Better than just having a fan. Cold air just doesn't hold a lot of moisture. How much did it end up costing you a month to run it? I'm thinking of just running it in the room where the laundry is up. How much did the dehumidifier cut down on drying time?

FloridaBorn, we don't really have a humidity problem here. More of a really cold, overcast day with no wind. The cold air can't hold a lot of moisture, it's not moving, so the saturated air is just hanging around the wet clothes. Ick. Doesn't the washer remove a lot of the pollen? I thought that's why dh is okay with that. I have to be strategic in when I open windows during 'prime allergy' time--I can't stand stale air but dh being a sneezing, swollen-eyed ball isn't good either.

So the garage idea + possible dehumidifier seems a good solution for my sister.

Ami

[Ruthiegirl]

Originally Posted by TEAK's Mom

Since I live in a chilly rainforest, line drying outside is impractical most of the year. I dry most of our clothes in the basement on one wooden rack and on a line we strung across the room. Most things take less than 24 hours to dry. We do run a dehumidifier in the basement to prevent excessive dampness. At first, we weren't sure if that was saving electricity, so we tried each solution for a month and carefully monitored. The dehumidifier won hands down.

We live in humid heat and do exactly the same thing. We run a dehumidifier anyway to prevent mold in the basement. I strung clothesline from the basement ceiling and spent about $15 on line and hooks. The clothes take less than a day to dry and never smell.

[zech13_9_goforgold]

I was worried about allergies also. I've only been wearing lined dried clothing for about 6 wks, but I haven't had as many problems as I thought I would. Our clothes are ironed after coming off the line, but I don't know if that makes the allegies better or not. They iron here to kill fly eggs that may have laid while the clothes were drying- but I wonder if it "kills" other things as well.

Somewhere, maybe on this site, I saw a neat picture of someone's line drying situation. They were using their basement. I found the blog!

[VisionaryMom]

Growing up (south Georgia), all of our clothes were line-dried. I had far fewer allergy problems than I do now.

In my current house, we have a clothesline that previous owners put up in the basement, so I'm assuming it's possible, though we've never done it.

[ArtsyMomma]

Originally Posted by JTA Mom

A
I have a couple racks, but they aren't very useful. Barely hold half a CD load. Also, do you have any moisture issues? We don't use the heater much in winter and we get a lot of condensation, which leads to mold issues. I'm afraid drying indoors would make it worse.

In the summer though, there'd be no moisture issues, so definitely doable.

Is there an inexpensive rack that will actually hold a load of adult clothing? I've seen $80 ones, but yikes!

Or, since this is the thrifty forum, any homemade contraptions anyone is willing to share?

Ami

I think I spent $10 on each of my two racks. Between the two of them I can dry a full load of laundry or diapers. I don't have any moisture issues, it's actually very dry in my apartment in the winter (forced air heating).

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/prod...424510&RN=1024

[Drummer's Wife]

Originally Posted by JTA Mom

Is there an inexpensive rack that will actually hold a load of adult clothing? I've seen $80 ones, but yikes!

We have 8 clothing racks similar to these in our family closet. I couldn't find the exact pic, but they were $10 at both Target and Wal*mart (I think the difference is they are non-adjustable). I hang dry a lot of stuff, inside, on hangers with the ceiling fan running in that room. We live in the desert, though, so it's really dry here.

[TEAK's Mom]

I think that the dehumidifier added about $7 a month to the electric bill when it ran continuously and about $3 when we only turned it on to hang clothes. I would say that the dehumidifier takes a good half day off of the drying time for most things.

[justmama]

i'm in new england with an unheated basement and 2 drafty uninsulated windows plus a bulkhead(obviously the door is closed but no insulation) and we line dry exclusively year round. Clothing in the dead of winter takes almost 24hours. When it's super humid and rainy in the summer, it might take closer to 36hours. But it does dry. I have enough room on my basement lines for two loads of laundry and enough for about 1 1/2-2 loads outside when it's nice. As long as I do one load every day and don't get backed up, line drying inside is feasible. It becomes really routine to toss a load in while the kids are eating breakfast and hang it during naptime. But obviously with wind and warm weather I can have an entire load of laundry ont he line outside dry in an hour, which i s super nice.

[justmama]

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50095091



this is my absolute favorite drying rack EVER. I adore it. Full load of diapers on there no problem!

[Purple*Lotus]

I have bad allergies and was not able to line dry at my old house at all. At the current place I am okay to line dry, no issues. So I think you might have to just try it and see if it affects your H. For me, there must have been something in the yard at the old place that isn't here, because I was beyond miserable line drying there.

[honey-lilac]

I have a question. I want to set up T- lines in my yard, as it looks like the only solution that can work. Is it possible to do without pouring cement though? All the reviews of items are not only expensive (like 70 bucks) but also require cement pouring. DH would *not* be down with that. Is it possible to just, you know... put them in the ground without that?

[JTA Mom]

Originally Posted by honey-lilac

I have a question. I want to set up T- lines in my yard, as it looks like the only solution that can work. Is it possible to do without pouring cement though? All the reviews of items are not only expensive (like 70 bucks) but also require cement pouring. DH would *not* be down with that. Is it possible to just, you know... put them in the ground without that?

Is he not thrilled about that because it won't be 'removable'?

If so, you can put them into old big buckets & fill those with cement. More 'portable' in the sense you don't have to dig them out.

Also, my sister just got a few s hooks and went and strung several lines across a corner of the fence. If you were to look at it from the top it would look like a big triangle with lots of lines cutting it up.

I don't know if I'm saying this right, let me know. It was cheap to set up. Less than $5 for the hooks that you screw in (use pliers towards the end, makes it easier to sink them deep), and then the clothesline. We spaced them about 9 inches apart from each other on each side of the 'corner'. Took us at most an hour and it's still holding up really well.

Ami

[JTA Mom]

Originally Posted by ArtsyMomma

I think I spent $10 on each of my two racks. Between the two of them I can dry a full load of laundry or diapers. I don't have any moisture issues, it's actually very dry in my apartment in the winter (forced air heating).

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/prod...424510&RN=1024

Yea, those are the ones I have. Maybe I'm not using them efficiently? They just don't seem to hold very much. And one time I came out and found my nice white prefolds on the ground because wind tipped them over.

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

We have 8 clothing racks similar to these in our family closet. I couldn't find the exact pic, but they were $10 at both Target and Wal*mart (I think the difference is they are non-adjustable). I hang dry a lot of stuff, inside, on hangers with the ceiling fan running in that room. We live in the desert, though, so it's really dry here.

Interesting. I read somewhere to use those bathroom curtain rods and put them in doorways to make something similar. I like that idea, since they would be super portable and take up very little storage room.


Teaksmom, now that sounds affordable! My sister and I will be co-housing soon, so lots of laundry. We have a dryer available to us, but 2 loads a day adds up. That $7 a month is much, much better price and only for the rainy weeks, and dh's clothes. What dehumidifier did you get? Any recommendations?

Justmama, your basement set up sounds perfect. There's no basements here though. :/ But if you can dry them fast there, they should work in a garage. Also, do you have any of the 'regular' drying racks (like the one linked from bed bath & beyond? How does the Ikea one compare? It looks like I might be able to fit more, but I don't know.

Bunnyflakes, that's what I was afraid of. Dh is allergic to so many things. All it would take is a cat rubbing up against some sheets and he'd need an inhaler. I'm thinking that I could line dry ds and mine's clothes, and make sure to indoor dry dh's clothes, bed stuff and pjs for all of us. That way I'd only have to juggle one or two loads a week indoors, and run the dryer for the comforters once or twice a month.

Have to keep in mind it's not all or nothing.

Ami