Hanging my Laundry Out to Dry
05/30/2010
(source)
It’s a lovely day in the beautiful city of Toronto.
As I write this post, it is Sunday afternoon, 25C and sunny out. Absolutely. Gorgeous.
I had a whole load of household chores ahead of me. I wanted to change out my winter closet with my summer one, clean my room, and prepare for my trip to Venezuela in a few days.
One of my favourite things to do in the summers, is to hang out my clothes out in the sun to dry. Not only does this save energy, I love the scent of the outdoors on my clothes and bed sheets. Luckily, I live with some very nice people upstairs (my land lord and land lady), and they don’t mind that I use their clothes line during the weekends.
Growing up, my mom always washed our clothes and hung them out to dry in our backyard during the summers. I remember it was part of our chores to bring out the wet clothes and hang them on the clothes line. Then, once the next load is ready, we take the dried clothes inside, and hang the remaining clothes. We can usually get in a good three loads in any given day (weather permitting, of course).
I always preferred the fresh smell of sunshine on my clothes and bed sheets than the smell of laundry detergent or fabric softener. Though, Gain is a close second 😉
How about you, dear readers? Do you have the option of hanging out your clothes to dry in the summers where you live? Do you like to hang your laundry to dry outdoors?
An Aspiring Minimalist's Blog 
05/30/2010 at 3:39 PM
One of my favorite “scent” memories is my grandmother’s bed sheets. She’d wash in Ivory Snow, with a bit of bleach, and then habg them out to dry. Best smell in the world. . .
05/30/2010 at 4:21 PM
We’re fortunate enough to live in Phoenix where we can hang out clothes year round. I love that fresh scent!
05/30/2010 at 6:35 PM
@simplytrece:
That sounds like it smells beautiful.
I always think of home when I smell my sheets after they’ve been out in the sun.
@Annie Lawrie:
That’s wonderful that you can do that. Unfortunately, we can’t do that here in Toronto, so I especially look forward to the summer for this! 🙂
05/30/2010 at 9:33 PM
*Sigh* It’s rainy season here in the Philippines… But I’m glad you have sunshine on your part of the world. The smell of clean clothes and sheets is the best…
06/01/2010 at 7:26 AM
I love to hang dry my clothes. And I’ve found that I can also dry clothes indoors in the winter, so I can save on the cost of an electric dryer year-round!
The only downside to hang-drying clothes, aside from more wrinkles, is that with 2 cats in the house, hang-drying doesn’t remove cat hairs from my clothes, something the dryer did very well.
06/01/2010 at 9:57 AM
I only wish I had a clothing line and somewhere to hang it. My problem is, there is nowhere in my backyard to even hang a clothes line.
06/01/2010 at 11:57 AM
I must admit that I don’t hang my clothes out to dry… I have on hung blankets and rugs out. Have you ever found bugs in your clothes?
06/01/2010 at 7:42 PM
@Miss Guimba:
Yes, the smell of sun dried sheets is so refreshing 🙂
@Fern:
When I first moved to my apartment, I hand dried everything for the first year. Although I can understand how great the dryer is for getting out cat hairs from clothes.
@Young Mogul:
I bought a hanging rack from IKEA and I find that works pretty well, when I didn’t have room to hang a clothing line.
@Jersey Mom:
I can’t recall that I’ve found bugs, at least not scary ones 🙂
06/27/2010 at 12:58 AM
Love Love Love hanging clothes out to dry!!! I feel like it teaches me to slow down, I get that yummy fresh smell and everything is crisp and clean. Where I am now, I have to secretly “hang” stuff out because of HOA rules, but I refuse to give in. : )
07/05/2010 at 11:33 PM
I’ve been hanging out my clothes on and off for a few years now but this past year I have worked harder to eliminate the dryer entirely. If I go a year or longer without using it I’m listing it to sell!
I have a clothesline outside and have strung a line indoors in my hallway for inclement weather. Nothing compares to sunlight for bleaching out whites!
Mother never would use a clothesline when I was a child. When I asked her why, she looked at me as if I had lost my mind….
10/26/2010 at 2:16 AM
my girlfriend actually likes satin Bed sheets instead of cotton bed sheets which i prefer much,~”
04/07/2011 at 9:04 PM
I remember the same thing here in Vancouver, BC. I just loved the way the clothing would smell. Some days the whole neighbourhood would be drying at the same time, and it looked like a wave of cloth. Now days in some parts of Vancouver you can’t hang your apparel and linens to dry. It is the snotty hoods where they think clotheslines are an eyesore. Thanks for posting.