08.06.09
The Zen of Line-Drying
A lot of us were raised with line-dried laundry and have memories of how great it smelled. My mother had one of those posts with concentric roping that you could spin around and the same goes with my mother-in-law in Ireland. My Irish mother still uses hers about every day, never having owned a clothes dryer. I’ve only re-discovered how wonderful drying your clothes outside can be.
It’s better for the environment, we save on our gas and electric bills, and it smells nice. I have 2 identical drying racks I purchased at Costco that hold quite a bit and collapse and store easily. I walk the basket of wet laundry a few steps out to the back patio and I’m in business. Next, it’s kind of like solving a puzzle – how to get maximum use of the racks. I learned the hard way that you save the socks for last, hanging them in the little spaces left between t-shirts. When there’s no more space, I get creative – hangers with shirts hooked underneath the patio umbrella, or leave the laundry basket on top of the patio table and drape a sheet over the whole thing. I just bought a clothes line from Lowes that we’ll stretch between 2 fence posts and should make drying the sheets a breeze (yep, intended that).(Google line drying clothes for all kinds of tips!)
Fabrics came out pretty stiff the first few times, but I found if you add about 1/2 cup of baking soda to your wash it can help soften things significantly. I’ve also tried vinegar in the final rinse, but the baking soda works better.
The Zen – I have found that I LOVE THE PROCESS of hanging the clothes because it slows me down and keeps me in the moment. It’s beautiful being outside, I breathe deeper, I take my time, I like the sound of snapping the clothes before I hang them, and it’s so gratifying to know that (after the initial cost of the racks and clothes pins) it’s free.
After everything is dried and folded, I love to bury my face in the laundry, take a deep breath of that wonderful smell, and feel that Nature and I have collaborated on a beautiful experience.
mary contrarie said,
August 15, 2009 at 3:05 pm
I agree with you on so much of this article. Unfortunantly I am currently living in an apartment so putting up a clothesline is not an option. I have found that a clothes drying rack is a really good substitute. It requires me to slow down and if the weather is nice it fits nicely on my deck.