The New York Times devoted a fantastic Room for Debate column on Sunday to our favorite chore: laundry. Some tidbits I found especially interesting:
Did you know that there is no such thing as an Energy Star Dryer?
I didn’t. When I moved into my condo last year, I requested all of my appliances to be Energy Star rated at a minimum. But Alexander P. Lee, executive director of Project Laundry reports: “The tumble dryer is the second largest energy-consuming appliance and the leading cause of house fires among appliances. There is no such sense as an Energy Star dryer; these machines are inherently inefficient, using natural gas or electricity to heat air.”
He goes on to report that 80 percent of US households own a dryer, but in romantic Italy, only 4 percent do. Eek! It seems the convenience of tumble dry is costing the US more than any other country.
Could you save money by line-drying your clothes?
Many of the participants in the Room for Debate column offered that by line-drying, you could save some significant dough. “I continue to dry my clothes on the line inside and haven’t used my dryer in months now,” Jill Saylor reports. “My electric bill is so much lower, and I’m making an impact on the planet as well.”
What about happiness? Does line-drying bring about more smiles?
“The process of pinning the clothes on the line has unexpected pleasures,” Constance Casey, a former New York City Parks Department gardener, argues. “The first revelation is that when you’re hanging clothes, you can’t help looking up. The red and white striped shirt against the blue sky becomes as significant as William Carlos Williams’ white chickens and red wheelbarrow on which so much depends.”
“Choosing to pin a pale peach T-shirt next to a bright blue bathrobe feels like the decision-making that goes into putting flowers in a vase. Especially on a hot, breezy day, this is an even more ephemeral art form than arranging flowers. Neighbors have commented that the display is a reminder of the past, and the opposite of unsightly (To add to the mood of yesteryear, I hold a couple of clothespins in my mouth.)”
What do you think? Should you have the right to hang their laundry outdoors? Could you switch to line-drying your clothing?
I line dry a lot of my clothes, mainly because I don’t want them to shrink. I would love to hang my clothes out in the summer, but we don’t have a clothes line, so we hang in the basement.
I m totally with line drying as it will not damage the clothes as tumble dryers do. But I find it hard to do in my apartment.
For people without any space outdoors to hang clothes, does anyone have any good indoor hanging tips?
@ Ryan, Ravi – The New York Times article shows a cool compact drying rack that would be easy to use. Hanging clothes on hangers on a shower rod is a common practice for me when I’m not using my dryer too. Just make sure your shower rod is reinforced!
Line drying outside is great, but unfortunately those of us with allergies can’t handle it. With all that lovely fresh air comes all the lovely pollen and makes for itchy eyes and runny noses. :-( But indoor racks are great, though! My mother has had a set of three accordian wooden ones that she has had for YEARS and they still get the job done.
I always line dry my clothing whenever possible. My mother did, my grandmother did, my younger sister does as well. It’s better for the fabric and whites won’t turn grey the way they do from too much time in the clothesdryer.
Sunshine, lemon juice and a good, brisk breeze: nothing like it for whites! Your clothing will thank you and so will your budget.
I’m allergic to the outdoors, so indoor drying is my only choice. I use a dehumidifier in the room to help things go along smoothly and then water my indoor plants with the “gray” water from my clothes.
I line dry my clothes inside my NYC apt. Two important things for me are 1) unscented fabric softener in the wash cycle and 2) a small fan to circulate the air around the clothes. The clothes dry faster inside with the fan on medium than they did outside in LA and I can usually put them away in the evening if I hang them in the morning. I found the scented fabric softener to smell too strong in my apt…some people might like that, I did not.
Interestingly, I’m soon to move into a new home in a “greenish” kind of development. However, what does it say in the covenant? “No exterior clotheslines of any type.” That doesn’t stop me from trying to do it indoors, though, but it is kind of annoying that an extremely green practice is discouraged in that way.
I’m totally for air drying clothes. I live in a studio apartment and don’t have a yard, or really enough room for one of those stand up racks. But I hate paying the 1.50 to dry my clothes, and then having to run down to the basement and get them all while hoping no one else ran off with them. I found a really cool rack though that attaches to a window or tile with suction cups. I was a little skeptical, but gave it a try and it works great. It has been up for about a week now, generally with at least a pair of jeans on it, and hasn’t given me any trouble. I also like that I can take it down when there is a party or something as well. Very handy. I bought it at http://www.windowdry.com, and would totally recommend it.
Summer allergies and my HOA prevent me from line drying clothes outside in the summer. I line dry inside during the winter. It helps add moisture to the dry heated air and makes the place a tad warmer so the furnace doesn’t have to work as hard.
My neighborhood also has a “no exterior clothesline” covenant but I have managed to get around that by drying my clothes in my screened porch.
I’ve found a combination of line and machine drying works best as I am not a fan of the “cardboard” feel of line dried clothes. I hang the worst energy offenders outside, like jeans that take forever to dry, and when they are dry to the point of just a bit damp, I throw them in the dryer for a few minutes and then they come out nice and soft. I always try to hang clothes directly out of the dryer to avoid ironing and have noticed that using the “less dry” option also makes for the less wrinkles.
Note to pasxarah: I lot of community covenants tend to be tend to be kind of universally pre-packaged lawyer created things and not necessarily relevant to your community. Perhaps you could raise the issue of clotheslines at a public homeowners meeting. If enough people feel the way you do, you might be able to amend the covenants. Good luck!
I use portable clothes drying racks. That way I can move my laundry to where ever it makes sense. Sometimes that means in the living room under the ceiling fan. If its in the late afternoon then the front porch makes sense since the sun comes in and is a great solar collector. Morning times out in the driveway where the eastern sun through high noon does an awesome job. No problem with association laws since I still do not have a clothesline.
I’ve been line-drying for the last 8 years and will continue to do so! When it’s not feasible to do so outdoors, I hang inside. I haven’t even owned a dryer and have lived here for about 8 years! I love my spin-around clothes line! I also do all my laundry in cold water…no hot water is even hooked up! I don’t have any problems getting clean clothes and use bleach for the whites/under-garments.
My mom line-dried in the summer – but man did I hate those bugs crawling on my clothes while I was folding them! :) I really should be line-drying as well…
Line drying is the best way to save on electricity but what about all the wasted water and polluted output the regular US washer puts out? I use a Japanese ultrasonic washer (a large version of the gadget your jeweler uses to clean jewelry). It uses no soap (ultrasonics literally knock the body oils off your clothes and those are what hold the dirt on your clothes) and less than 5 gallons of water for a full sized load. Even the “dirty” water is no worse than the water from when you wash your sink and places a lot less load on the water treatment system. To top it all off it uses about the energy of a light bulb and has no moving parts to wear out. I love mine. The downside is, due to US regulations (both detergent and appliance manufacturers have powerful lobbies) they are not officially imported but check out the “Little Tokyo” area of any city and you may be able to find some privately imported ones. Once you use one, you will never go back to the old US type washer again. Combined with line drying you will save hundreds per year in costs and help the environment. That is a hard to beat combination.
When we selected a new HE washing machine, we went for one with a super-fast spin cycle. It really cuts down on the time our clothes spend in the dryer. I’m not surprised if the buzzer goes off after less than half an hour of tumbling.
Isn’t it amazing about the lack of an Energy Star Dryer? I was shocked when I read that piece of info a few months ago, but when you think about it, it does make perfect sense!
I agree with HiFiGuy above in that an Energy Star HE washer makes a huge difference in drying time – whether using the line or the dryer.
Line drying clothes is nostalgic (for some of us!), efficient, and stress-reducing. A great way to tackle a routine household task. :)
Great article!
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I live in a amallish apartmnet & have been line drying indoors on wooden racks for the past year. Most of my clothes dry within 24 hours, except jeans which take longer. I also hang t shirts & other shirts on hangers from my shower curtain rod. Works great. I figured I save maybe $100.00 or so a year by not using the laundry room dryer & the dry air in my place gets some needed humidity.
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