The Outdoor Clothesline

solar powered clothes drying

Lately I have seen articles instructing people on how to use a clothesline. While I think this is great, I still have to smile, shake my head, and think , "How sad. People have lost the simple knowledge of how to dry your clothes." I just got an email today from Organic Gardening Magazine with clothesline instructions, and they were good. But again, our children are not being trained with what I consider basic living knowledge. Yes, a sad sign.

I ditched the clothes dryer years ago. Hubby still moans about the towels not being soft and fluffy, but such is life. He'll just have to harbor his fond memories. I harbor my own fond memories of prime rib and steaks, but I no longer eat them....for health reasons. Such is life, get over it, move on.

Line drying clothes is a giant step toward self reliance. No expensive machine to buy. No need for a special 220 electic line or propane (or natural gas) tank/hook up. No need to spend money for electricity or gas. No machine to repair when it breaks down.

My neighbors complain that line drying doesn't work where we live because the clothes never quite dry all the way. True. But I found an easy way around that. Initially I ran a rope between two trees then draped a sheet of clear plastic over it, making a tent. When clothes came off the line, I hung them inside the makeshift tent in the sun for an hour. They baked dry. Since that first crude experiment I have made a small plastic drying house, like a greenhouse sort of thing. I made it out of a discarded canopy tent frame and a sheet of clear plastic. Easy to walk in and out of, easy the hang the clothes. It's an added step in the clothes drying process but not a big deal.