Clothesline Tricks of the Trade

[woodchick]

We hang all our laundry and diapers out on the line to dry.  I'm getting pretty good at it, but I always wonder if there are more efficient or better ways to do it.  Can we brainstorm?

I try to hang on every other row, if I can help it.  I like to think that the increased airflow helps get the clothes dry faster.

Okay, go!  I'm sure I'll learn something new!

[RainbowTurtle]

I turn most items inside-out before I wash them, that way they fade less when I hang them out.

I try to match socks up as I hang them so I can fold them together when I take them off.  I also always do socks last, so I can hang them on the upper line if I run out of space on the lower one.

I hang items by the thickest part, so they dry faster, except for dress pants that I want to avoid ironing.  For example, I hang jeans by the waist-band.

[LaughingHyena]

We have several of these http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80189663 for socks, undies, washcloths etc. They are great when I'm short of line space and I can grab all the small items in a couple of handful when it starts to rain.

Also the kids like pegging things on them and they can't reach the line yet.

[woodchick]

Originally Posted by RainbowTurtle 

I turn most items inside-out before I wash them, that way they fade less when I hang them out.

I try to match socks up as I hang them so I can fold them together when I take them off.  I also always do socks last, so I can hang them on the upper line if I run out of space on the lower one.

I hang items by the thickest part, so they dry faster, except for dress pants that I want to avoid ironing.  For example, I hang jeans by the waist-band.

okay, a question.  I have been hanging pants by the cuffs because my own logic tells me that having the waistbands free at the bottom would help them dry faster. Instead of having the waistbands pegged to the rope.  Is there a reason that having the thickest part up helps them dry faster?

Originally Posted by LaughingHyena 

We have several of these http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80189663 for socks, undies, washcloths etc. They are great when I'm short of line space and I can grab all the small items in a couple of handful when it starts to rain.

Also the kids like pegging things on them and they can't reach the line yet.

I've got one of those too and I love it!   I use it, mostly, to hang cloth diaper wipes and family cloth. I should probably get another for socks and undies when I need to do laundry and diapers!
 

[Katie T]

I hang pants by the cuffs as it tends to pull the wrinkles out. I like to match socks as mentioned above. (I love being able to fold things as they come off the line!) I over lap clothes/towels and such and save clothes pins. So to make that make sense I start on one end put a clothes pin on the other end of the towel/start of the next towel I place 1 clothes pin. (Hope that makes sense.)  I like to wash a coupe loads of laundry the night before so they are ready to go on the line in the morning as well.

[Callimom]

I always hang tops from the bottom (it tshirts by the bottom hem) and bottoms from the top (pants by the waist band).

If you hang them so that the pegs are on one side of the hem - ie the "back" of a shirt,  the air can flow through them and it dries clothes faster imo.

I don't hang things taut either - with a bit of give or sag in them they seem to catch the wind better and it saves me space on the line.

Beauty that Moves just has a post about this on her blog.

hth

Karen

[HeatherAtHome]

I hang towels, washcloths, t shirts, and other lighter items together/overlapped. It goes really quickly when taking them down after too. If I have a bunch of towels or t shirts to hang I pile them over my shoulder so it goes quicker instead of bending over/going to basket each time. Which reminds me, have a small table, bench or chair to put your laundry basket on! Saves from bending over. ;) 

I give jeans a shake when I take them down to take out some of the stiffness. 

[jenniferlynne]

This may be a little over the top, but I always group items on the line by person:  so all I hang DS's stuff together, then DD's, then mine, then DH's.  That way I can start at one end of the line, fold as I take them down, and when I'm done I have a basket of folded clothes already sorted by which room to deliver them to.  I think it saves me a lot of time, but maybe not since it takes a little longer to dig through the basket as I hang the clothes up.  I love hanging clothes though, and I hate folding and putting them away, so it works for me. 

[HeatherAtHome]

Originally Posted by jenniferlynne 

This may be a little over the top, but I always group items on the line by person:  so all I hang DS's stuff together, then DD's, then mine, then DH's.  That way I can start at one end of the line, fold as I take them down, and when I'm done I have a basket of folded clothes already sorted by which room to deliver them to.  I think it saves me a lot of time, but maybe not since it takes a little longer to dig through the basket as I hang the clothes up.  I love hanging clothes though, and I hate folding and putting them away, so it works for me. 

This reminds me, if I'm feeling bored I hang tshirts in order of colour to make a rainbow. No reasoning behind it other than it's pretty.  

[katelove]

Originally Posted by woodchick 

okay, a question.  I have been hanging pants by the cuffs because my own logic tells me that having the waistbands free at the bottom would help them dry faster. Instead of having the waistbands pegged to the rope.  Is there a reason that having the thickest part up helps them dry faster?

I think it's because the water still in the garment runs down the length of it once it is hung on the line. If the thickest part is at the bottom it will become saturated with water and take longer to dry as a result.

[rducky]

Does anyone know of another source of those thingies from Ikea that you can hang all your socks and undies on?  I'm in Canada and our Ikea doesn't stock those here.

[yeahwhat]

I've seen similar ones at Dollarama.

[CariOfOz]

Originally Posted by jenniferlynne 

This may be a little over the top, but I always group items on the line by person:  so all I hang DS's stuff together, then DD's, then mine, then DH's.  That way I can start at one end of the line, fold as I take them down, and when I'm done I have a basket of folded clothes already sorted by which room to deliver them to.  I think it saves me a lot of time, but maybe not since it takes a little longer to dig through the basket as I hang the clothes up.  I love hanging clothes though, and I hate folding and putting them away, so it works for me. 

  This is me lol.  I don't mind the hanging out part of the job, but unles folded FROM the line and put directly away... laundry languishes in a basket (or two) on the floor of my room for days on end!  SO, I take the few extra minutes to sort by item (pants, shirts) and then hang them by person ... socks &undies get done on the last line, paired up if possible.  Unless I get lazy and throw them in the dryer ( or if I run out of pegs because half the house just went thru the wash lol)

Originally Posted by HeatherAtHome 

This reminds me, if I'm feeling bored I hang tshirts in order of colour to make a rainbow. No reasoning behind it other than it's pretty.  

I follow your blog.. HOW could you ever have time to feel bored lol!

[lifeguard]

We've only had a line for about 2 months & I absolutely LOVE hanging my clothes out (right now when it's so warm & sunny & wonderful out). We have a fabulously looooong line so I stretch things out fairly taut & use 2 pegs per item (except the really small things). I understand the idea of the water running down to the lowest part of the garment but I find that the clothes are so well spun from my machine that there really isn't enough dampness for that & by hanging the waistbands down they are loose in the breeze as opposed to folded against themselves on the line.

I have a couple of those underwear/sock things (dollar store in Canada or even Wal-mart or Canadian Tire) but usually just use one. I hang it beside the line with the pegs & put the little things on it as I go & then hang it on the line so it gets more air at the very end.

We have a great bench right beside the line so as I pull things off I fold everything into piles & then put the piles into the basket in a logical fashion - unfortunately the baskets tend to sit in the hallway for a long time sometimes (usually until I need the basket again).

I try hard to do a load a day although with our new larger machine it's not as necessary.

My MIL likes to group like items together but I kind of like the messy look of everything intermixed.

[Lilymomma]

I hang my familiy cloth and wash cloths along with other thin cotton things that would otherwise dry really fast to save on pins. 

[gillibean]

I hang my thickest items first.  That way, if the lighter-weight stuff is dry I can take it off and put new items up while leaving the thicker (and often still damp) items on the line.

[jenniferlynne]

I just swiped this trick from my neighbor and it's made hanging laundry much easier!  Put all the clothespins in a small bucket with a handle, then use a little S-hook to hang the bucket on the line and slide the bucket with me as I move down the line.  This is such a small thing but I really like not having to put down/pick up the bucket every time.

[colsxjack]

I also hang the thickest stuff on the line first so that I can take down quick dry stuff and put more up while the stuff that takes longest to dry stays on the line longer.

I fold as I take off the line. I either group like things together, or bring the folded stuff inside and lay it out in groups quickly so that it is easier to put away.

I use to overlap my things to save on pegs. But I just went and bought more pegs and do not do that anymore because I found it took too long to dry the over lapped bit.