hang dry & ironing vs dryer

[meandk0610]

my husband's clothes have to be relatively wrinkle free. does anyone know ifv it would be cheaper to hang dry and iron them or use the dryer? if i hang them up as soon as the dryer is done i don't need to iron them so i'm kind of rooting for dryer but...

[1growingsprout]

If you are running the dryer anyway whats a couple more shirts in the load... but an iron uses way less power then the dryer.

[FondestBianca]

the dryer doesn't get wrinkles out in my experience and I still have to iron all of dh's work clothes anyway (even if I take them out the second the dryer finishes). So I'd say hang dry and iron. You could look into those steaming systems as well. Perhaps they use less energy than an iron. They are supposed to be much quicker too but, idk because I've never tried one out. My MIL says hers works great.

[*MamaJen*]

How much money do you save, anyway, by line drying rather than using a dryer? For me the convenience factor would outweigh, say, a $10 savings.

[Paxjourney]

I've actually found that clothes that are hung to dry usually might only need a quick touch up with an iron.
On the flip side if your already running the dryer then throw some shirts in:

[VisionaryMom]

This is one place where I value the time/energy over the money. I use the dryer. I can't imagine that overall it saves *that* much money to hang the clothes and then iron them. Of course, I hate ironing, so I may just be justifying. We've purposefully looked for fabrics and brands that don't wrinkle much. In the event something of DH's needs ironing, he does it. I just avoid the clothing if it's mine.

[msjd123]

Originally Posted by Hunterhope

I've actually found that clothes that are hung to dry usually might only need a quick touch up with an iron.
:

That's what I was going to point out as well. Line-drying often makes clothes a little stiffer and smoother, and as long as you "snap" stuff and pull them into shape, you often don't have quite as much ironing to do.

I love line-drying, though, and I think you kind of have to enjoy it to find it worthwhile. I doubt it saves more than $15 a month. I do it for environmental reasons and because I just plain enjoy it.

[orangefoot]

My dh wears a shirt albeit without a tie every day and needs to be wrinkle-free. If I put 100% cotton shirts in the dryer they get so wrinkled I need to spray them with water before ironing them.

Line drying is much better and a quick iron is all that is needed. Hanging them on hangers to dry overnight indoors also results in very few unintended creases.

If you are new to line drying do remember to hang the shirts upside down. Don't put the pegs (pins?) on the shoulders; put them at the side seams so that as much of the shirt hangs freely and catches the wind. (There is very little sun here now)

[mommyof3andcountin]

Originally Posted by *MamaJen*

How much money do you save, anyway, by line drying rather than using a dryer? For me the convenience factor would outweigh, say, a $10 savings.

I save $50-$70 per month by line drying. We have an electric dryer though....I hear gas ones are cheaper.

[llamalluv]

http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/consume.../mytopic=10040

This site tells you how to calculate it.

[robertandenith]

Originally Posted by mommyof3andcountin

I save $50-$70 per month by line drying. We have an electric dryer though....I hear gas ones are cheaper.

wow that is a lot of money!!!! I wonder if I could line-dry indoors overnight... we live in an apt and every time i line-dry in the balcony my clothes smells like a swamp (we have a man made lake right in front of us! so it does smells!) :

[pibblestiltskin@ma]

I like to iron dh's shirts straight out of the washer. Then hang on an hanger to finish drying - the iron gets the shirt mostly dry. I do try to do all of the shirts at once - more efficient to heat up the iron once. Fortunately dh doesn't need to be pressed do shirts fresh off the line are often good enough - way fewer wrinkles than when I use the dryer.

[PassionateWriter]

line drying clothes saves a lot of money. and it is sooo much better for your clothes..they last so much longer.

i find that dp's shirts need LESS ironing when i hang them than when i dry them.

[magpie mamma]

my vote is the line, but not for towels, can't beat the smell, here is is fresh. I should say I iron anyway....

[bender]

I got my dh anti-wrinkle shirts from Van Heusen, and they are great. I fluff them in the dryer, then air dry. No wrinkles. All the shirts that needed ironing to look decent got donated. Life is much easier now.

[lightheart]

hanging the clothes out of the washer on coat hangers instead of on the clothes line helps with wrinkles.

[StrawberryFields]

Originally Posted by mommyof3andcountin

I save $50-$70 per month by line drying. We have an electric dryer though....I hear gas ones are cheaper.

Wow that is crazy, we went about a year without a dryer in the house and when we finally bought one (electric as well) I didn't really notice a change in the bill. Maybe $20?? I wish I had been saving that much with all the work I was doing hang drying everything!

[Dahlea]

Originally Posted by *MamaJen*

How much money do you save, anyway, by line drying rather than using a dryer? For me the convenience factor would outweigh, say, a $10 savings.

Actually, it can be quite a savings!


Line Drying Saves Energy: Second to the refrigerator, the electric dryer is the second biggest household user of electricity. According to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, as of 2005 there were 88 million dryers in the United States. Each of these consumes approximately 1,079 kilowatt hours of energy per household, emitting 2,224 pounds of carbon dioxide. Every individual who chooses to do one less dryer load makes a difference.
(from here

[marimara]

I line dry, then fluff anything that needs to be relatively wrinkle free in the dryer w/dryer balls for 5 min.

[Jessie D]

I put stuff in the dryer for 5-10 minutes before I line dry it, it keeps them soft and helps with the wrinkles. I still 'snap' the stuff before I put it on the line too.