Line-drying in San Antonio

[K-Murph]

When I first moved to SA, I was so excited about the sun and being able to line-dry my laundry year-round. I bugged the DH till he rigged a clothesline for me in the backyard.

But alas, everything I hung outside to dry STUNK!! The DH describes it as a wet dog smell. No matter what I used ... Country Save or the Gain detergent for adult clothes ... even adding TTO in the rinse cycle! No matter what the laundry smelled like prior to line-drying, everything stunk the same!

I've come to the conclusion it is due to the humidity, so I bought an indoor drying rack to use, and it has been going well.

So any SA mamas have the same experience?

[lucy8180]

i line-dry all the time and have no smell problems. it isn't very humid here at all, especially compared to houston or the se usa. maybe you live in a stinky neighborhood? or the clothes are getting clean? or dry all the way before you bring them in.

[mom2LBJ]

I get the same thing! Were NW of Houston, far out enough for the PO to have us labeled as 'rural', but Id call us suburban as were the last community before large ranches with horses & cattle. So were far enough from city stink. I also think its either the humidity or how fast things dry. On a hot day my diapers dry so quickly that they hardly get a chance to air out. If I hang them early morning when the air is so damp, they take longer to dry with the humidity and stink even more almost as if its so wet the smell sinks in. I'll usually line dry and then stick them into the dryer on low to help loosen them up (everything is always cardboard stiff, even with ecover) and air them out some. Ive also noticed the smell isn't as bad during 'winter' months when the weather is perfect and the humidity is lower.

[K-Murph]

Originally Posted by lucy8180 i line-dry all the time and have no smell problems. it isn't very humid here at all, especially compared to houston or the se usa. maybe you live in a stinky neighborhood? or the clothes are getting clean? or dry all the way before you bring them in.

I think I live in a stinky neighborhood! We're surrounded by dog-owning neighbors who like to keep the dogs outside (and constantly howling/barking ) ... In any case, I'm sad about the stinky clothes! I hope the next place we move to has better line-drying weather!

[funkymamato4]

We have stink issues too. But I know its because we have a dog and we only get around to picking up poop twice a week, sometimes only once. We also have tons of trees on the backside of our fence so we don't get a whole lot of wind coming through the yard so its the same stale smell. Unless there are stains that I need to sun out, I just put them on hangers and hang them in the house. Works just the same but with no stink.