Outdoor Clothesline

[Brojakee]

Where can i buy one? About how much does it cost to start with? Do you really save that much on the electricity bill? Thanks girls are bills are 400.00+ and i am looking for some ways to save

[justmama]

My landlord just put up an outdoor clothesline for us. He got a 2x4 and he and my hubby sunk it 2 ft into the ground and let it sit for a few days to settle. Then he got a $5 pulley-style clothesline from Wal-Mart(they have retractable ones for under $10 too) and attached that to the house and onto the pole. I'd say minus the 2 days to sit and settle it took them an hour to do it. Line-drying saves us about $20 per month in electric. Not a huge savings but savings nontheless and my diapers are stain-free and fresh-smelling. In my opinion, it's worth it!

[Jennisee]

Our clothesline was already here when we bought the house, so I don't know how much it costs. However, I'd also estimate our savings at $20/month, and I feel good about the 200 kilowatt-hours worth of emissions that aren't being put into the atmosphere. Sunning really does help with stains, and I love the smell of laundry that has been dried on the line. Oh, it also helps keep our house cooler in the summer because the dryer puts out a lot of heat.

Our clothesline is one of the smaller, square ones. It only holds one load of laundry and is too small for blankets and sheets. However, my neighbor has a traditional, two-pole clothesline that she lets me use, and I love it. I use it to dry my bedding (which takes a long time in the dryer) and when I've run out of room on my own clothesline.

[emilys_mom1]

I purchased 3 of the wood chinese wracks from walmart. I think they were about $10 each. I like these because you can take them down when you are not using them. You can also use them inside to keep the cloths softer.

I found that it really, really, really helped on my electric bill. I also found that not using the dishwasher dry cycles, using power strips on your computer and T.V.'s, and using the grill outside for cooking as much as I can. I saved about $200 a month. I also switched out my light bulbs to the curly enery saving ones over a few months.

[glorified_rice]

We purchased a retractable clothesline brand name sundown, sunline??or something like that. It has 4 or 5 rows, so it fits at least two full loads at once. We paid about $35.00 for it, and bought it at a fleet and farm store. It is really great because it isn't taking up room in the yard when not in use. It's very fast and easy to use. And YES! It is worth it. Our electricity usage has been cut in half. May of last year we used about 850 kwh, this year it was about 450kwh. I couldn't believe it. We have made other changes as well, but the dryer is a biggie.

[BookGoddess]

Our clothesline isn't fancy. It's on the side of our house where no one can see it. We made our own clothesline by stringing nylon cord on the eaves of the roof. We have 4 rows about 20 feet long. The lines can hold about two big loads of laundry. I think we do save on the electricity bill but I have no idea just how much. I've used the clothesline for so many years it's a habit now. I love the way my clothes feel and smell after they've dried in the sun. There's just something about it that appeals to me.

[Alkenny]

Our clothesline was already here also, so I can't help you on costs...if you have two trees to run a line up though, you can get by putting one up for less than $2-$3!

I hang up EVERYTHING, and I estimated we've saved $20-$30 a month on our electric too.

[roostery]

I saw two long lengths of line at a garage sale on Sat. for under $1. I'd just hit the sales or check on freecycle.

I really love the way the sheets smell after I hang them out. I wash the sheets on Sat. and I LOVE getting into bed that night!

[Leta]

If you want 2 Ts rather than an umbrella type, the Ts are easy to build with plumbing pipes and fixtures. Metal is better than PVC for this application. You will probably need to pour a small amount of concrete in the hole to keep the poles from leaning when the clothesline is full.

I have a long T type clothesline with four lines. It holds six loads of laundry. It's awesome- see everything that Jennisee said.

Another good thing to have, especially if your clothesline is long, is a stretcher. This is just a long stick with a notch in one end to hold up the rope. This way, you can hang big, heavy stuff (like quilts) and it won't drag the ground.

[sarahwpen]

you can get just the line from walmart or dollar general/family dollar. I usually get my clothespins at dollar general too. If you have good trees in your yard, you can just run the line between 2 trees and tie it. If not, you can get the whole pole with the square lines kind of thing at lowes for $40 and just stick it in the ground. it seems small, but when things are too big for it, I just drape them right over the top and cover the whole contraption.

I am not really sure how much we save since we don't have a dryer at all and I refuse to go to the laundrymat except for emergencies. It really does help with the stains though. All the whites come out really nice and stains don't set as bad even if you don't catch them until after the wash.

[oneKnight]

My dad put up 4x4 posts in the ground with 2x4s on top to form the T's for the ends and got the plastic-coated wire to string between them.
I immagine the wood for the posts costs a bit, but I intend to do a similar one for our new house in a couple of weeks.

[KnockedUpButtercup]

I have an indoor retractable clothesline that could also be used outside...it's 40 feet long. It holds one HUGE laundry load.

We have a gas dryer. Our only gas appliances are the dryer and hot water heater, and the first month I started line drying my bill was cut in half (from $50 to $25). It also heated up my kitchen terribly, so I think it's probably saving on my cooling costs as well.

I don't bother drying outside because it's so humid here (Houston)...it just doesn't seem worth the effort.

Holly

[ashleyhaugh]

yeah, so ours is stretched between the trees in our yard. it cost a couple dollars for 100' of line, which is way more than we need, and c couple dollars for some clothes pins

[midstreammama]

I would love to have a clothes line...but what do you girls do for fading?

We have a lot of dark clothing, and also the colored clothing...how do you keep them from fading?

I know I had a dark blue cotton sweater that I hung outside once becauseit was wet and it looked like crap after it dried because it was kind of light in some places and faded terribly. I wouldn't want that to happen to all my clothes!

[Jennisee]

If you're worried about fading, you can always hang the item inside out, but I find the heat of the dryer to cause more fading than line drying.

However, it is odd that a shirt would fade--and fade unevenly no less--after being dried only one time. I would suspect that the shirt was exposed to a chemical bleaching agent or had detergent splotches on it.

Any way, you could always start with something like towels and see how it works out for you.

[couponqueen]

I have the umbrella type. It holds a lot of clothes. I think it was around $50 or 60 dollars.