Questions About Line-Drying Eveything, All the Time

[keonli]

We line dry exclusively, indoors and out and are a family of 4. I have two pulley clothes line in my yard, and 2 Ikea drying racks, and one from Walmart (the Ikea ones are bigger and much sturdier).

I don't know how much we're saving, but we only spend about $40 a month on our electricity bill when we don't use the central air.

I do a king sized load about every other day in our HE Whirlpool Cabrio, and I hang it right away. Before hanging, I give the clothes a few snaps to lessen wrinkles. While jeans, socks, and towels are a bit stiffer, you hardly notice it after a while, and vinegar does help with the crunch factor.

But I've had the opposite experience as another poster. Clothes dried directly in the summer sun dry much stiffer than clothes dried slightly in the shade or inside the house.

The only cons:

-you have to plan in advance if you want a particular piece of clothing on a certain day
-the clothes can get a bit "dusty" if they're dried outside, so I usually snap and shake them before bringing them in
-darker clothes seem to catch more lint and dust since there's no dryer so we have to use a lint roller on them often

I haven't noticed if my clothes last longer, to be honest. I usually wear the same article of clothing for 5+ years.

[angiepangie8298]

I love line drying. Vinegar is great as others have mentioned or I used some fabric softener from whole foods. Not drying definitely helps clothes last longer too!

I don't think it's a hassle I actually really enjoy it, it makes me happy to clean clothes lol

[cobbermama]

This is really helpful, everyone. Thanks!

[lingon]

The other thing to think about, if you're hanging clothes to dry inside, is the humidity in your house. We try to keep it around 50% in the winter, which is not easy, and you're getting free humidity when you hang your laundry inside! You might want to buy a hygrometer, to make sure you don't get too humid and encourage mildew, though.