Help with line drying

[twin_mama]

We are moving to our first house this Saturday (yay!!!) and we are thinking of forgoing a dryer purchase and line drying instead. I have NO idea where to start with this though. The backyard is tiny and I'm not sure I want clothes lines taking up half the space. We have a basement but I'm not sure if the clothes will really dry down there.

I'm having trouble with the search function right now (is it just me??) so until then, does anyone have any pointers, advice, websites for me to look in to?

[wendinbill]

Where do you live? How is the weather year-round? We line dry a lot, but there are still times where I need a dryer. I hang stuff in our basement-in the winter with the furnace running, it dries pretty much overnight, but in the summer-forget it. I run a fan down there to help, but stuff still stays damp. Can you buy a cheap second-hand dryer, to only use when needed? We've had rain everyday for almost a week, so I had to use our dryer yesterday.

[twin_mama]

We're in Portland, OR, so can be pretty rainy around here.

What kind of racks are best to use?

If I hang in the basement should I direct a fan towards the clothes to help with drying?

[marimara]

You can use an umbrella clothesline, it takes up minimal space. Or Lowes has a foldup clothes drying thingie for $20.

[KaraBoo]

I hope this comes out right (and not snippy cuz I don't intend it that way) but if you want to use the rack inside, you simply must make room for it.

I actually miss my drying rack since I've moved back to the States...I used racks for over 8 years and yeah, they can be "in the way" but, shrug, it's life.

[twin_mama]

Hi Kara....no worries. You're fine.

I actually have plenty of room in the basement, it's the backyard that is so tiny. I definitely want to try this and know any little sacrifice will be worth it.

Okay...off to check out umbrealla racks and Lowe's....

[Malva]

Originally Posted by KaraBoo

I hope this comes out right (and not snippy cuz I don't intend it that way) but if you want to use the rack inside, you simply must make room for it.

I agree with this. We leave our drying rack in our main living space in the winter. We use it outside in the summer, moving it in when it looks like it will rain. It folds flat when not in use.

When we wash sheets, we drape them over the living room furniture. Not stylish in the least but we time it as to not have them all out like that if we're expecting guests.

[utopia760]

we dry outside however we have a pourch with a roof so i hang lies through the pourch we have no yarn or basement were in an appartment. I have dried inside actully even in my livingroom and it works fine. Honestly the bast way to learn i just to try it but i dont think id ever go without the option of a dryer.

[nathansmum]

We also have drying racks around the house. Not attractive at all, but we don't have (and I refuse to buy) a drier.

In fact, I so far (we are in winter) have been able to set it up on my front porch which has a roof over it to dry off. Not really a good look with visitors needing to walk past it, but oh well. Most people I know also use drying racks or clotheslines.

I am trying to avoid bringing my racks inside as it puts more moisture into the air. Since we are also in winter and trying to heat our home, it takes a long time to heat a home that has to dry out the air first before it can heat.

[CariOfOz]

At some of the houses we've rented, we've had 'fold down' type clotheslines that are attached to the side of the house or the fence (if you have a wooden privacy type fence). They're great & can be flipped down out of the way We do have a dryer though, for the simple reason that we use cloth nappies and sometimes they just gotta be dry NOW I do NOT have a drying rack, keep meaning to get one that I could set up on my patio if it's wet but just keep forgetting! Writing that down with this weeks shopping list

[oneKnight]

We didn't buy a dryer by choice because we line dry. We line dried indoors in an apartment for nearly 2 years so we're pros at it. We built a clothesline in our generous backyard - two T's 25' apart (any further apart will sag badly), 4 lines, and we can also dry inside on a portable rack. We have used the laundromat for "emergencies" (which probably could be avoided if we were actually awake in the daytime) a total of 3 times in the past year.

Spent all our $$ on the washer and it broke on us, go figure. The repair guy asked us where the dryer was. lol

[KnockedUpButtercup]

I live in a very humid climate (Houston), so I have an indoor clothesline...40 feet of retractable line that I zigzag from wall to wall. It cost $14.95 @ Lowe's. We run the A/C 9 months out of the year in this area, and it actually helps to dry my clothes faster than they would dry outside.

If it's hot and dry enough outside, I will hang clothes outside on my patio on hangers (the patio roof is corrugated metal, so it has lots of cross-pieces with a lip), but it's not worth putting a line out in the yard, due to sudden thunderstorms.

When I have mountains of laundry, I'll use all the doorways, too...anything that would normally go on a hanger when dry, I put on a hanger when wet, so it's easy to distribute things.

[KaraBoo]

Originally Posted by Malva

When we wash sheets, we drape them over the living room furniture. Not stylish in the least but we time it as to not have them all out like that if we're expecting guests.

I hung my sheets over doors and prayed no one would come over until they were dry.

[sexysisam]

We have 3 drying racks from IKEA. We love them! We started out with one just to see how we would like it and then ended up getting more the next weekend. Each rack holds about one large load.

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