I LOVE to do this. I love to see the clean clothes blowing in the breeze, and the way they smell when you bring them in, especially bed linens. Plus, I fold them as they come off the line, so all I have to do is put them away when I come in.

For years, I didn't have a dryer (my mother NEVER had one). If we were in a rainy spell, I hung them in the basement. I still do, for things you can't put in the dryer.

My DD NEVER hangs clothes out. She always uses the dryer. Of course, she has a toddler and works full time. It IS quicker. However, I think that clothes wear out quicker by always using the dryer. They also shrink.

Hanging things out in the sunshine kills germs, and it sure saves some $ on the elctric bill.

Am I just an old fashioned Grandma, or do you young ones still use the clothesline?

By Dawnk777 on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 12:34 am:

I do, once in a great while! I worked a lot of hours over the summer and it was just easier, most of the time, to throw them in the dryer.

I don't put my 100% cotton scrub tops in the dryer, though. I think the wringkles they get from air-drying are easier to iron, than the wrinkles that get baked into the fabric, in the dryer.

By Pamt on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 12:34 am:

I can't.

1) Too humid
2) Oldest DS has allergies/asthma and they'd be covered with pollen.

By Unschoolmom on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 06:28 am:

I don't have a dryer hookup yet (though I do have a dryer!) so yep, I hang them out. I have an umbrela clothesline and I love it.

By Colette on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 07:52 am:

I use both the dryer and the clothes line. Not during pollen season though. I love the smell of my sheets and blankets when they come in from outside.

By Trina~moderator on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 08:11 am:

I grew up hanging laundry outside but now only use the dryer. We have a lot of pine trees, which equals sap on clothes. Also, DH and DD have tree pollen allergies so it wouldn't be a good idea.

By Reds9298 on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 08:45 am:

I also grew up hanging clothes on the line, but only use a dryer now. We also didn't have many trees where I grew up, but we have LOTS of them now. We probably would end up with junk on them from trees, too, and I never could see a decent place (close enough to the house!) for a line.

By Heaventree on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 09:42 am:

We are not allowed to have a clothes line in our municipality. Strange I know.

When I lived in Montreal, everyone hung their laundry out and we did not have air conditioning so in the summer I always hung my laundry.

By Debbie on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 09:47 am:

I can't....too many of us have allergies. The pollen would drive us crazy.

By Bellajoe on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 11:00 am:

Well i used to. I had two big trees, one on either side of my back yard. So i hung a clothesline between them and hung my clothes out to dry once in a while. I loved how they smelled when i brought them in!
But now that we moved, we really have no trees in the back yard and i don't have a clothesline anywhere yet, so i have to use the dryer.

By Yjja123 on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 11:18 am:

No hanging laundry here for the exact same reasons as Pamt... Allergies and humidity.
I also think they are cleaner coming out of the dryer.

By Marcia on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 11:41 am:

I hang my clothes our all spring, summer and fall, as long as the sun is shining. I use the dryer, too. I hate towels on the line, because they're never soft enough. I wash them with the white socks and undies, so those things always go in the dryer.
I often hang 2 or 3 loads out a day. My neighbours are all the same.

By Melanie on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 01:01 pm:

Dh hates the look of a clothes line, so I don't hang them out. LOL. I do, however, insist that everything be hung out when I go back and visit my parents in NH. I love the fresh scent of sheets hung outside.

By Janet on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 04:41 pm:

I hang sheets and my dh's work clothes out. He likes the "crunchy" feel they get, but I need sofness! LOL
I remember hanging out everything--underthings included--when I was a kid growing up. I guess we didn't have a drier, I honestly can't remember, because we used to hang the stuff in the basement when it was rainy or in the winter. Hm! Haven't thought of that in years!

By Amecmom on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 05:27 pm:

I also like to think the heat of the dryer kills nasty things like bacteria and dust mites.
Ame

By Kaye on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 06:47 pm:

I can't imagine all the mosquitos that would be on mine if I hung them out! Only the dryer here.

By Tink on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 07:21 pm:

I've never hung my clothes to dry but I'm trying to get back to doing things a little more basically so I'd like to. Unfortunately, we're having some remodeling done and our backyard is a huge dustpit for now. Maybe next summer.

By Unschoolmom on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 09:07 am:

We are not allowed to have a clothes line in our municipality. Strange I know.

>>>>>>>

That reminds me of a kerfuffle a few years back. An higher income area in Bedford (now a part of Halifax) was being 'threatened' with having some lower income families moving in. One woman's concern was these people hanging up their laundry because apparently it makes a neighbourhood look cheap. This was before Martha came along and made such things quaint again.

By Marcia on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 09:14 am:

There's a battle going on about the same thing around here. People who buy from certain builders have to agree to not use long lines. I think they can use umbrella lines. I prefer the long one I have. I think it's ridiculous, when they're telling us how important it is to cut back on hydro use.

By Babysitbarb on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 02:17 pm:

I don't hang out any more for a couple reasons.
The youngest DD and I have asthma and allergies and the pollen gets on them and then it causes us more problems.

Also It wears me out with the daycare and the kids and hauling them in and out and it takes longer.

By Kernkate on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 03:17 pm:

I and many of my neighbors hang ours out. I don't do it all the time...somedays its much easier to use the dryer.

By Hol on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 12:56 am:

What is a *kerfuffle*? Is that a Canadian thing? LOL!

We have friends that live in a gated community in Omaha, Nebraska. They can't have clotheslines, their trash cans have to be enclosed, their mailbox can't exceed a certain height or type, they can only paint their house certain colours, and they can't park a boat or RV in their driveway.

As a country girl, I would never be able to stand all those rules. I don't like a trashy looking yard, either, but you have to live. You want your house to LOOK like someone lives there.

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 07:30 am:

A commotion or fuss.

Worldwidewords

By Pandamamaoo4 on Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 03:30 pm:

I hang towels and sheets out when I have time..and we don't have rain...I love how they smell..Kids don't like how they feel but Mom and Dad like how they smell...They aren't that rough if you use fabric softener..

By Bea on Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 09:49 pm:

Our laundry room is on the second floor, and we have a balcony that is across the back of our house. DH put up a pulley line for me from the house to the garage. It makes hanging laundry so convenient. I hang all my sheets pillowcases and underwear out all the time. I also hang some clothes that don't do well in the dryer. I love the fresh air smell of the sheets and undies.

By Heaventree on Sunday, October 1, 2006 - 02:17 pm:

Hol, it is a British thing. Here in Canada you may have noticed that we follow British language rules especially when it comes to spelling, for example:

Favourite
Neighbhour
Labour
Honour
Programme
Colour
etc.

We also have a lot of different expressions than you do, like here you might here the expression, "Oh, she's such a nosy parker!" and I'm sure there are many others.

By Karen~admin on Sunday, October 1, 2006 - 07:53 pm:

Ditto Pamt - it is so humid here, the clothes wouldn't dry completely, plus it could pour down rain on a moment's notice at any given time here, so I'd end up with soaking wet laundry. And ditto the pollen too. :-(

By Hol on Tuesday, October 3, 2006 - 10:16 pm:

Heaventree - I haven't heard that expression ("nosy Parker") since I was a child! LOL! My parents are both British, so I grew up with those expressions.

I, too, use the British spellings (favourite, colour) because my Mom taught me how to read and write before I started school, and that is how I learned to spell.

You must be in BC? The part of Canada that is "above" me is French (Quebec).

By Heaventree on Tuesday, October 3, 2006 - 10:47 pm:

Hol,

Why did you think I lived in BC?

I live in Ontario actually but I grew up in BC, however we all learn the same English rules across the country. I also lived in Quebec for 10 years.

I have a huge family in Prince Edward Island, that part of my family is from Scotland so that's where the "nosy Parker" expression comes from.

By Hol on Tuesday, October 3, 2006 - 11:05 pm:

Heaventree - I thought that you were in BC because it is a LOT more British than Quebec. LOL! (Everyone in Quebec sounds like Celine Dionne. LOL!). I have a cousin who married a man from Minnesota, but they moved to Saskatchewan shortly after they were married 35 years ago. She is an English professor at the University of Regina. They are VERY British there in western Canada, as you know.

My DD, Debby, used to live outside Detroit. They used to go back and forth to Hamilton, Ontario, shopping, etc. Ontario seems somewhat British.

I have another cousin from England who took a job in British Columbia and said he felt very much at home.

I hear that Prince Edward Island is just GORGEOUS! There are a LOT of Scots there, aren't there?