National Hanging Out Day: 5 Ways To Dry With Solar and Wind Energy
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 04.17.08
Forget about Earth Day; a much bigger deal is National Hanging Out Day, celebrating the humble clothesline, this Saturday April 19th. Why dry your clothing with coal, using six percent of the nation's electricity, when you can tell your friends that you have installed solar and wind power in your home, for the price of a clothesline? In celebration of this great day we present the party line on lines.
Decorative Clotheslines
For the price of an electric dryer that sucks up dollars forever, you can get Nature's Dryer built out of steel to look like a sculptural, abstract looking tree.“While so many people in the world’s developed countries have grown far too comfortable wasting energy, almost overnight, issues surrounding global warming and increasing greenhouse gas emissions are now at the forefront of the agenda,” said Debra Jones, inventor of Nature’s Dryer. “What’s especially exciting is at the individual level, more consumers are recognizing the important role they play and want to change their behaviour to reduce energy consumption.” ::Nature's Dryer
High-Tech Clotheslines
We recently profiled the cord-o-clip, the remarkable new reinvention of the clothesline that automatically feeds the clothing into the clothespins, sort of like getting them caught in a zipper. The developers tell us that since its debut in TreeHugger sales have taken off and they now have US distribution deals. No more clothespins in your teeth, it is like having a third hand helping you out. Handcranked server often is down, but try to connect at ::Cordoclip or the Clothesline Shop for $164. A commenter on the original post suggested that this was a lot of money for a clothesline; I would respond that it is a lot of clothesline for the money, with custom North-American made parts and a lot of technology. See it at the ::Green Living Show.
UPDATE: Here is a more stable website with more information. ::Cord-o-clip
4:41 video of cord-o-clip in action
Australian Clotheslines
Why are we so backward about this in North America? Warren tells us that in Australia, "The adjustable rotary clothesline, known as the Hills Hoist, is such a part of our psyche it is exhibited in national and state museums, and was even incorporated into the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games." He notes also that "Sunshine is a brilliant steriliser, so your clothes will smell great too. And according to Laundry List you’ll be safer as a result. They reckon that annually in the U.S., clothes dryer fires account for about 15,600 structure fires, 15 deaths, and 400 injuries." More at Clotheslines Hung Out to Dry
Indoor Clotheslines
Just because you live in an apartment doesn't mean you can't join the party on Saturday. There are lots of different designs of racks that can by dropped from ceilings or set up over the bathtub so that you can do it inside. See a few of them at Right to Dry for Apartment Dwellers.
I think that the way they do it in Singapore is quite attractive, sticking all those bamboo poles out the window like flags for a parade. But we are so restrained in North America and Europe, so here are some more systems for hanging in. ::Today is Hanging Out Day, But You Can Hang In Too
Clothesline Contest!
In his post Fight for your right to dry Sean asked "First is was the slow food movement. Next it was slow fashion and slow furniture. Could the glamorous world of laundry be the next slow revolution?" after noting that clotheslines are banned in many areas as being unsightly, he wrote "as always, we are turning to the talents of you, our readers, for help dispelling the myth of the ugly clothesline. Readers with an eye for design, we want you to take artistic photos of outdoor clotheslines that show both beauty and vitality. Post your photos on Flickr with the tag "treehuggerclothesline" and we will highlight the best shots on TreeHugger in the upcoming weeks."
He got no response; perhaps we needed to put up a prize. So whoever submits the best picture, as chosen by an esteemed panel of judges, will receive a copy or James Howard Kunstler's A World Made By Hand, a world without clothes dryers, where this entire debate would be met with a blank stare.
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I've used clotheslines for years because I inherited a 220 dryer, don't have a 220 plug for it and am too cheap to have an electrician put one in. I have lines in the basement and it dries just fine with one exception...
... how do you remove lint and cat hair when you dry with a clothesline?
I use a clothes brush to brush the lint off my clothes after they've dried. Brushing also helps to soften them up a little. Although, when I dry stuff on one of our windier Denver days, the lint gets blown clean off!
When I was a kid, my mum always dried the family's laundry indoors on what I believe is called a 'creel' - a wooden frame device suspended from the ceiling - or outside in the garden.
Now we have our own households, my sister always uses natural drying methods while I never use one single watt of electricity to dry laundry.
Apart from the environmental wastage, it just makes more sense - why throw money down the drain to do something that you can get done for free?
It's a sad testament to the times in which we live that people seem to have more money than sense, these days. But then, that's a badly worded. What I should say is that people have more credit than sense. Yes, when people would rather let their debt mount up and pay a large electricity bill because it's too much of an effort to attempt to manage their money more wisely by adopting such simple measures as this laundry drying one, it's a very sad world that we are living in.
Steve N. Lee
author eco-blog http://www.lionsledbysheep.com
and eco-suspense thriller 'What if...?'
I have hung my clothes out to dry for over 20 years but I still have a dryer. When doing laundry for 5 people, winter days are too short and gray to get things dry. Another limiting factor is pollen. With both spring and fall allergies in our house, laundry goes in the dryer when the pollen count is high. During the summer, I can get 4 or 5 loads dry in an afternoon.
I live in Arizona and it is hot here. I wish I could dry our clothes outside! I hate using the dryers when it is hot and free outside. since I live in apartments they forbid us to even hang clothes outside in our patios. I hang them inside, on the shower rod and it dries just fine. I wish I could change the law and anyone could have a clothes line. especially in Arizona!!!
I'm way too lazy to dry clothes out on a line. However,I have lived without a dryer for years. Just hang the clothes on hangers in the closet with an inch or two between items and leave the closet door open. In a day or two things will be dry, dust and pollen free and already hung up in the closet for you. If your humidity is high and/or your temps low you may need to stick them in the sun but at least the clothes are already hung up. Give it a try!
Bob-
Good on ya! That's a time tip I'll be using when this load is done. Thanks!
-greenisfrugal
When I lived in southern California, my clothes would dry outside on the line in record time! We lived in a desert county and honest to goodness, I would hang a load of laundry out in the afternoon and 30 minutes later, they'd be dry. Nothing like 115 degrees with a breeze to dry clothes quickly. I now live in the midwest in a subdivision that doesn't allow clotheslines.
This is great!
When in national Reel Mower Day!
I just wrote about my love affair with my reel mower on my blog. Guess I have to write about my clothesline, now, too, or it will feel slighted.
That Cordo-Clip looks Freakin' awesome!
I have tried and have sorely failed at hanging my laundry out to dry because of two reasons; The whole clothespin thing (which the Cordo-Clip solves) and the fact that I am lazy (something I need to work on).
Hey Lloyd, maybe you could get Cordo-Clip to "loan" you one of their models and you could "try" it out for us tree-huggers out there? I would love an honest review.
thanks
I've just started drying my clothes on a clothesline, of course I think I'll keep drying my jeans and towels in the regular dryer the clothes line manages to do an ok job while indoors (apartment sooo... no real place to hang my clothes otherwise). For the most part I seem to be getting around one load over 24 hours, which if I kept up with everything wouldn't be that bad :)
I have always tried to save myself and my family money by doing some things the "old fashion" way. I always thought that hanging my clothes out to dry was an easy way to save money. I spent 50 bucks on a clothesline and it has paid for itself over and over. The way I figure it, I use enough energy running the washer that I can use a little bit of my own energy to offset the difference. Besides, it is a little bit of exercise and keeps me outside off and on throughout the day! I rarely ever use the dryer and will forgo laundry a day or two to wait on decent weather to hand them out. I love the way everything smells, and even though the towels are a bit stiff, they seem to dry one off better than when dried in the dryer.
Thanks for this. I am looking for a clothes line that mounts on the ceiling over the tub that you can pull down . . . I believe it is made in Canada. I can't find one anywhere. Does anyone know where I can find this?? Thanks!
I like my clothesline best, but when I need to dry indoors, I hang clothes on hangers in the guest room closet a few inches apart and put a box fan a few inches from the clothes. Even blue jeans can be washed late in the evening and they will be dry by morning, using this method. Tennis shoes can be opened wide and leaned against the fan, and they will also dry overnight.
By drying naturally, my clothes never shrink and last alot longer with much less fading.
I'm from Singapore and my husband is from Australia and we are so proud to see pictures of our national laundry hanging ways on this website!
We reside in suburban Georgia now and are frustrated by subdivision covenants about not allowing homeowners to hang laundry outside on our own property! I was being explained to that the sight of laundry blowing in the wind would cause property prices in the subdivision to plummet down the drain. This is the most laughable thing i've ever heard. What could be a more welcoming sight than seeing sheets drying in the wind?
There is abundant sunshine in spring and summer in Georgia. It is such a shame to force people to pay for electricity to use the dryer which also contributes to the CO2 emission levels.
My husband and I tried to buy ready-made clotheslines and poles in the stores so that we could at least do it in our sunroom so no HOA person can say we're breaking the covenant BUT no one sells them!
We're seriously thinking of importing the hoist from back home and incurring the wrath of the HOA.
I'm from Singapore and my husband is from Australia and we are so proud to see pictures of our national laundry hanging ways on this website!
We reside in suburban Georgia now and are frustrated by subdivision covenants about not allowing homeowners to hang laundry outside on our own property! I was being explained to that the sight of laundry blowing in the wind would cause property prices in the subdivision to plummet down the drain. This is the most laughable thing i've ever heard. What could be a more welcoming sight than seeing sheets drying in the wind?
There is abundant sunshine in spring and summer in Georgia. It is such a shame to force people to pay for electricity to use the dryer which also contributes to the CO2 emission levels.
My husband and I tried to buy ready-made clotheslines and poles in the stores so that we could at least do it in our sunroom so no HOA person can say we're breaking the covenant BUT no one sells them!
We're seriously thinking of importing the hoist from back home and incurring the wrath of the HOA.