The case for hanging your clothes to dry

– 22 June , 2011Posted in: Environmental

(Yes that is really my old apartment)

I’ve got to confess: lately, I’ve been hanging all of my clothes to dry and I am loving it!

It might seem like more of a hassle, but it’s actually been better than I’ve expected.

For some reason, I had it stuck in my head that we’d need a clothesline outside, and being in an apartment meant I had to dry everything in a dryer.

And I’d only be able to do it in the summer because it’d be too cold outside otherwise.

I was silly, I know.

The Numbers

We spend on average, $16/ month on laundry, which includes doing the sheets, bathroom towels and kitchen towels.

It’s $2 for a wash, $2 for a dry.

Now, we’re spending $8/month just by rigging up a simple clothesline in the apartment and hanging everything to dry.

The setup cost us $4 — the cost of the wire, and some spare nuts and bolts.

BF didn’t buy the commercial clothesline with the fancy wire inside.. he just picked up some tough cable from the dollar store for $4 and strung it across our window over the heater.

It’s already paid for itself in 2 weeks!

Benefits to drying your clothes without a dryer

Don’t need to trek downstairs to pick up my dried items (I really hate it)
Don’t need to have my clothes dried instantly — only takes 5 hours to dry completely
I don’t need to use dryer sheets (not that I’ve been doing that for the past 6 years)
The moisture from the wet clothes helps combat against the dryness in the air
We’re saving $8/month or $96/year, which isn’t a huge amount but money is money!
I’m saving energy, because the dryer is a huge energy hog according to Chris Baskind
My clothes won’t get stolen (not that it’s been a problem in my building yet)

Now I’m pleased to say that I’ll never go back to drying my clothes in a dryer again.

Tags: Clothesline, Dryer, Inside, Laundry

About everydayminimalist

I'm a 20-something year old girl who lived out of a single suitcase in 2007, and now I'm living with less, but only with the best. You don't have to get rid of everything to become a minimalist! Minimalism can help simplify and organize your life, career, & physical surroundings. You can read more about me as a minimalist. Or come and visit my other blog Fabulously Broke in the City where I got out of $60,000 of debt in 18 months, earning $65,000 gross/year.

Malinda

I would love to hang dry my clothes, however, I’ve had issues in the past with some of the shirts I’ve done.. After they were dry I noticed they had these pointy protrusions on the shoulders left from the rounded sides of the hangers (I’ve seen them called “shoulder nipples” or “hanger bumps”). I switched from plastic hangers to the flat, felt hangers but those still leave bumps, though not as bad as the plastic ones.. those made it look like I had horns coming out of my shoulders! This doesn’t happen with everything, but I’ve ruined a couple of shirts that I loved this way. If anyone else has had this problem, what did you do to prevent it? Having to lay everything flat to dry would be a pain!

PS: I don’t have a clothesline to drape them over like she did in the picture. Mine will have to hang from shower rods and doorknobs so that’s why I need to use hangers.
Noelwright

I disagree about needing a dryer to disinfect clothing. I’ll never forget the time I was at a friend’s house who cloth diapered her child. She showed me some diapers she’d just taken out of the dryer and they still had visible stains on them even though they were clean. Then, a week later, I was at her house again and saw these same diapers hanging up in the sun to dry. I thought she’d gotten new ones as these were white as can be! I asked her if she got new ones and she told me that she’d learned that if you hang them up in the sun, the sun would bleach them white. I’ve always been told that if you’ve put an article of clothing in the dryer it sets the stain forever. Not so! Since then, I’ve “bleached” many things using just the power of the sun (no bleach) and always am amazed at the results. She didn’t even have an outdoor clothesline and just hung them up inside the house where the sun could beam in.
Noelwright

I have been washing and drying clothes by hand off and on for 15 years. I found that to avoid “crunchy” towels and jeans you just simply need to rinse the clothes off properly. The crunchiness that you feel is just detergent that is left on the clothes. Now, that I’ve been rinsing all the soap out, my towels come off the line super soft and absorbent! I tried a vinegar rinse but now don’t even bother with that since they are just as soft and no longer need that extra expense.
boomey

I’ve been air drying my clothing for decades – I just pull the clothes out of the washer, hang them on the hangers in my closet – and leave the closet door open for a day or so. I make sure to leave room between the items, don’t squish them all up against each other, and if I do my laundry Saturday morning, most everything is dry the next morning, except for my sweatshirts, which take another day.
Caroline

I hang my clothes on hangers on the shower curtain rod. Probably not the most efficient (for drying), but then I don’t have to re-hang. I still dry socks, unders, towels, and jeans, but I see this changing when I start traveling and I have lighter quick-drying everything, and less access to a dryer
http://www.SquarePennies.blogspot.com Maggie@SquarePennies

Kudos to you for drying your clothes this way. They will last so much longer. My dh put a pull-up bar in a doorway for exercise, but it comes in handy for hanging clothes on hangers to dry. You can fit quite a few there. If you have a shower rod that works well too. Some people use small to medium bamboo poles stretched between a couple of chairs to hang clothes on. When you are not using them you can store them in an urn/umbrella stand as a decorative accent!
Anonymous

I started hanging all my clothes to dry when I went to uni in order to save money – I never needed them to be dry right away, and like you say, you cut your laundry costs in half. In my last year in residence they actually stopped charging us for laundry and drying but by then I was so used to it that I just kepy hanging my clothes up anyway. I don’t think I’ll likely go back now
Jan

My only issue with this is the lack of disinfection of the clothing. The clothes aren’t really clean unless all the bacteria (and whatever else gets on my clothes) are killed with heat. I use a cold/cold wash and use the dryer to sanitize my clothing. I need the sanitation especially for my socks, underwear, and my clothes that end up smelling bad/funny. I would be on board with air drying only if there was a way for my clothing to be sanitized (and de-funked).
- A Plea to Reason
  
  Between the agitation and the soap there really shouldn’t be any bacteria left. Unless the water is 160F for 45 minutes you won’t kill the bacteria. Besides which as soon as you put the clothing on you the bacteria is back. If you put your clothing on the line outside then the UV will be an effective antiseptic.
  
  Honestly bacteria aren’t as bad as the product companies would make it out to be:
  http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/09/health/09essa.html?_r=1&ex=1257742800&en=0e93bdabccb3e84f&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt
  - http://www.everydayminimalist.com The Everyday Minimalist
    
    Perfect! It answered my question about germs on clothing that’s air dried
    but cold washed.
- Guest
  
  We’re exposed to countless bacteria on a daily, most of which are harmless. Can you honestly say you was your hands with antibacterial wash every time you touch a handrail, pubic seat, catch a train, use an atm, handle money, shook someone’s hand…? Have you ever died of a horrible disease as a result? If you follow a basic level of good hygiene, there is no need to disinfect your clothing unless you have some kind of infection. A lot of our modern hygiene practises are completely unnecessary and potentially even harmful to the development of our immune systems. But you can buy antibacterial laundry rinse for those occasions where it might be necessary.
  - http://www.everydayminimalist.com The Everyday Minimalist
    
    True.. I never thought about that. How about if they were hanging out in the
    sun?
http://www.bonne-vie.net Birdie

I totally do this because it doesn’t ruin the nice clothing I’ve spent money on. Socks, underwear, my undershirts that I wear to the gym – those can all be dried in one load, and everything else is hung because A) I don’t feel like schlepping to the dryer and B) I don’t want my stuff stolen/ruined.
Faery

We always hang our clothes to dry with the exception of towels, as I hate crunchy hard towels!
http://www.onelovemeg.com Meg @ OneLoveMeg

I was just talking about this with the bf. I told him that we should put a clothesline up so that we can start drying our clothes. We don’t have a washer and dryer in our unit so we have to trek it to the laundry mat. This could be tricky. I was thinking I would shower with my hot sweaty yoga clothes and then hang them to dry. hmmm. Could be interesting but I am going for it.
Simplyholland

I’ve been air-drying my clothes for about 3 months and I love it. Another great perk of air-drying is that your clothes last longer. I tend to buy cheap, cotton pieces which usually start to fade and stretch within a couple months. But since I’ve started air-drying, I’ve noticed my clothes hold their shape much better.

I live in an apartment as well. Instead of a clothesline, I hang my clothes on their hangers and hang them in the bathroom, on the shower rod, to dry. It works great and I didn’t need to put up anything extra in my house to make it happen! It just takes a little planning to make sure no one needs to use the shower while clothes are drying

Occasionally, if a piece of clothing drys with wrinkles, or a little on the stiff side, I’ll toss it in the dryer on the fluff cycle for a couple of minutes – I have the convenience of my owner washer/dryer in my apartment. I’ve only done this twice though – it’s just not necessary with most of my clothing.
http://almostbohemian.com/ David W

I like this idea, though I’m not sure my dedication to the cause is high enough. That said, I am going to commit to it now!
http://www.janaleemiller.com/ Jana Miller

Yes…we hang to dry too. In our garage. Ijust put things on hangars on a bar. But I do run them about 5 minutes in the dryer to fluff them just a bit before hanging. And towels and undies still get a trip to the dryer. I think it’s much eaiser than using the dryer for everything. i don’t worry about wrinkles and being there when the dryer is done. And our electric bill is down. that’s a good thing.
xo jana
Savage

Are there any down-sides that you’ve noticed? The few times I’ve dried clothes not in a dryer, they’ve felt stiffer than regular dryer-washed clothes, and creases (from the line and/or chair back) were tough to get out without ironing…
- Simplyholland
  
  Try using less detergent in your wash cycle. I had that problem too when I first started air-drying my clothes, but then I read an article about how most people use to much detergent.
  
  You can test yourself by washing your clothes like normal, then put your clean clothes back in the washer and run the water but do not start the actual wash cycle. If the water ends up being murky or soapy, that means you use more detergent than necessary!
  
  Try cutting the amount of detergent you use in half and then air-dry… it makes a huge difference. On the flip side, you can always toss air-dried clothes in on the fluff cycle for a few minutes to get rid of unwanted stiffness.
  - Robin
    
    I agree that using less detergent helps with that stiff feeling. I haven’t dried most of my clothes for at least 20 years but I hang shirts and pants on hangers on my shower rod or directly in my closet [leaving the door open with adequate space between the clothes - an advantage of having less clothes!]. No need to iron, clothes last longer, and no shrinking. The other tip I have for those who are concerned about needing the dryer to remove lint is, don’t overfill the washer.
- http://www.everydayminimalist.com The Everyday Minimalist
  
  I use little to no detergent to be honest.. so I barely feel the crunch. In
  towels, they soften after the first use
- Colleen
  
  If you’re using a chemical detergent, try switching to an all-natural/biological one instead. Chemical-based detergents leave a residue that gives clothes that stiff, rough feeling.
- http://www.SquarePennies.blogspot.com Maggie@SquarePennies
  
  You can hang shirts on hangers to prevent creases where you don’t want them. Plastic hangers work best for this so that you don’t get rust spots.
http://theminimalistmom.com Rachel Jonat

I just blogged about this!! Our flat in the UK has this horrid washer dryer combo. Totally doesn’t dry stuff. We now HAVE to dry everything on a line indoors. It really isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
- http://www.everydayminimalist.com The Everyday Minimalist
  
  Sometimes the clothes get a little crunchy, but it softens after a bit of
  wearing
Dhester

Drying clothing in a dryer is really hard on them. So, another benefit it reducing wear and tear on your clothes. They’ll last longer!

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In a Nutshell

other blog: fabulously broke in the city
minimalist since: 2007 -- why minimalism?
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