Thursday, September 19, 2013

The BETTER Way to Hang Laundry. Period.

My mom and I have some disagreements about hanging laundry.  
We both do it for the same reason.  To save money.  I hear it's real expensive to run those fancy dryer machines most modern folk have these days.
(Okay, so I own one.  I live in Michigan.  Therefore I must.)
A friend's daughter was over not long ago and while watching me hang clothes up to dry asked incredulously, "You don't have a DRYER?!!"

So back to the subject, one thing we disagree on is whether or not to leave the clothespins out in the elements.
I say leave them.  After a few years, you get an awesome rustic look which works great for shabby chic projects.
It also saves a lot of time.  I've tried to convince her that they are super cheap at the dollar store and with all that money I'm saving on our electric bill, I should be able to handle it.

But the other thing, the REASON for writing this post, is how to hang the clothes.
Actually, I think I may have converted her last time she visited.  
Examine this photo and tell me the difference:


So seriously.  Doesn't it ALWAYS seem to start sprinkling before you realize you have laundry hanging out?  Then you tear outside as fast as you can, trying to get each article of clothing in before it's back to square one.  Or, if you don't think you can get it off in time, just leave it out for nature's extra "rinse cycle".  It's sure to be sunny again in a day or two.  Noooo, I would never.... ;)  

So rather than folding your clothes over the line, you just pinch open your clothespin (which is already there since we don't bother to gather them up and bring them in) and slide the garment under it.  THEN, when it comes to that mad-dash-to-get-the-laundry-in-before-the-the-downpour, it literally takes seconds and you can have the whole shabang in the laundry basket and be running for cover. Doing it the old way, you'd still have twenty three shirts to go.

One little tug and it's off!  
Even the little midgets can help and feel useful!


I like the umbrella clothes line the best.  Doesn't take up much room, you can stand in one place and just twirl it around to you, and you can move it easily for mowing.  Looks a little tidier in my opinion too, than a long clothes line.  You can hide your undies in the middle.  Neighbor Grandpa doesn't need to know what I've got under these jeans.

We cemented around the hole for the post so it was sturdier and I wouldn't keep losing the stinkin' hole every time I pulled out the clothes line to mow the grass.

If you don't already hang your laundry using this method, I dare you to give it a try. 
 You'll never go back.
And the rest is laundry history.........
(And I can just hear my mom saying "ohhhh brother"....)

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6 comments:

  1. I leave my clothes pins out. However, I had a friend that said you take them in so they don't get dirty.

    I hang my clothing over the line.

    I also hang my pants by the waist while I know some hang them by their legs.

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  2. loved your cute post, I think my mom folded the cloth over then put the clothes pin because she said if you clipped it to the edge of the clothes it would pull the cloth and make it misshapen and we always hated our shirts with the pointy edges...lol...what fun memories....I always loved the same kind of clothes line as you, cause you could put it up and down too...come on over for a visit, I would love to see what you think of the goulie houseguests...Phyllis

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  3. Here in the UK hanging laundry outside is the norm from earliest spring to the depths of winter - if it's dry outside and even a hint of the sun out goes the laundry!
    I always leave my pegs outside and on the line but many people here have peg baskets that attach to the line making it easy to collect and store them - I can't be bothered with that though.
    I just use plastic pegs rather than the wooden ones but even if they start to snap after a couple of years it's not expensive to replace them.
    I've never pegged the laundry using your method though so I think I will have to give it a go today though I suspect if a child can easily get the laundry of a line with your method, so can a dog? I shall soon find out :)

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  4. An interesting post today that also brought back lots of memories for me. Where I currently live, it is against our covenants to even have a clothesline in your yard, let alone have clothes blowing in the breeze. My Mom taught us kids to hang the laundry out when we were tall enough to reach the line. She always had a cute, especially made, "bag" with a bent wire at the top to hold the clothespins. The wire slid along the line as you hung the clothes, and then we returned the clothespins to the bag and stored it on a nail in the laundry room. One of the reasons Mom never left the pins out on the line was because she always ran a damp cloth along the wire before hanging the clothes up. It was amazing to see the "gunk" that came off that wire in a weeks time. My Mother was raised in the years of the Depression, so she was always taught to "Waste not, want not". Yes, clothespins are cheap, but I think I'll be on your Mother's side on this one.

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  5. Tee hee! cute post! Well I USED to hang out laundry. Between neighbors stinky burning leaves, Their dogs, Ours dogs, "sticky fingers", and the South's scorching sun that literally bakes your clothes stiff and scratchy, I'll just have to pay a little extra. But Love the part about Grandpa ;-)

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  6. Kammy, I too hang clothes out, I ALWAYS put the clothes on the line inside out (reverse) so the sun does not fade the color, because it DOES fade the color after time. If it is a white item I do not reverse it, the sun is a GREAT natural bleach for all those nasty Chili stains that you do not have up there:) I leave the pins outside like you:)

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