You can take the GRITS out of Florida, but you can't take Florida out of the GRITS!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Your Dirty Laundry

I read this article in an email I get from National Geographic's Green Guide. I love hanging my clothes out on the line on nice sunny, breezy days. They smell fresher and, if hung right, finish up looking as if they were ironed. Nothing smells nicer than sheets hung out to dry! Another plus is that I fold them as I take them down, killing two birds with one stone...instead of taking them out of the dryer and dumping them on my bed or pool table to fold later. Then they just end up a big wrinklie mess!

I am wondering how many others out there like to hang out their clothes to dry? How many don't even have a clothesline in their backyard?

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Tip of the Week
By Solvie Karlstrom
All Posts
Hangin’ Out
Filed under:
Clothing and fabric, Green living, laundry products
11:10 am - August 21, 2008

Right about now we're all scrambling to take advantage of the few remaining weeks of sunshine. We're high-tailing it to the beach, taking our kids to the park and spending as much time outdoors as possible. Why not give our laundry the same opportunity? Sunlight is a natural bleaching agent and disinfectant, and line drying just one load of laundry keeps 3.35 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Plus, keeping clothes out of dryers keeps them looking newer longer.
In spite of the benefits of line drying, numerous community homeowners associations in North America and parts of Europe restrict the use of outdoor clotheslines--sometimes banning it entirely--arguing that clotheslines are eyesores that can lower the value of nearby properties.
Click
here to see some of the communities that restrict or ban clotheslines, and if your neighborhood prohibits them, visit Project Laundry List and join the Right to Dry campaign.

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If you have a clothesline, but haven't used it in a while, I encourage you to try to hanging out at least one load a week. I bet you'll find that you actually like it and may find yourself doing it more often!

11 comments:

JG said...

Now this is a funny coincidence...actually 2 of them...

Just yesterday don sent me a link to the NG Green Guide...He found it in the print version of the magazine...I saved it to add to the webpage I'm building at work...

The 2nd thing is that just the other day he and I were talking about hanging laundry out...My mother always hung the sheets, even in winter when they'd sometimes freeze before they were dry...But here's the problem...How many homeowners associations do you know that would allow you to put up a clothesline...they've been "ruled" out of existence in most places cause someone finds them visually unpleasant...and that's a darn shame...I miss the smell of fresh, sun-dried laundry...and I guess others do too, cause you can now buy sprays for your linens to mimic that smell...geez, it just doen't seem right

SwampAngel65 said...

I'm lucky that I don't have a homeowner's ASSociation to deal with. I swore to myself that I would NEVER live in a place that has one. I don't like the idea of someone telling you what color you can and cannot paint your house, whether or not you can have an RV parked in your driveway or whether or not you can hang your laundry!

I hope that will all the "green-ness" that's going around now that alot of ASSociations will wake up and realize that just because you hang your laundry now and then doesn't make you "white trash". (no racial offense intended).

Anonymous said...

Actually there is a Florida statue law somewhere stating anything that "saves energy", such as solar panels or clothes lines, cannot be prohibited. A condo assoc in West Palm I think challenged it and lost. I have a clothes line and use it daily...I can't imagine now much cash FPL hasn't received from me over the years from not using my dryer except for towels.

Read your blog often, never commented..but I'm in Palm City over on the east coast by Stuart.
Tired of rain here..at least 19" from Faye!! Enjoy your blog..Jen

Sandcastle Momma said...

I use my clothesline almost daily and pretty much all year long. It's sort of a zen thing for me to hang laundry - it really chills me out so I enjoy it.
The only thing I don't hang on the line is the boy's underwear. They (including their dad) say that crisp underwear is unpleasant and they want no part of it. And I think the Youngest hates to see his SpongeBob boxers hanging next to his tree house where his friends play LOL

I agree about those ASSociations! It's my house and I can paint it pink and purple with polka dots if I want to LOL

VitaminSea said...

I'd like to use my clothesline, but we have so many trees around here that the pollen gets on the clothes and sends my hubs allergies into a tailspin.

So to save energy, I take the heavier clothes that take a long time in the dryer, such as towels and jeans, and leave them out over night.

Then I put them in the dryer the next morning to freshen up so they'll be soft and won't smell.

That way, I can dry a whole load of jeans in about 30 minutes or less.

There are other clothes that I hang dry, we have a 15 ft pull out cord in our laundry room for that.

I'll look for the green guide, sounds interesting!

storyteller said...

If I had a place for a clothesline outside I’d use it … just reading your post reminds me of my childhood when we ALWAYS hung laundry to dry.
Hugs and blessings,

SwampAngel65 said...

Jen- Thanks for commenting. I'll have to find that law. Sounds like one worht knowing about for future reference.

Sandcastle Momma, I think we are related! I have always said pink and black polka dots!! Too funny.

Laura, that's a good idea. I'll have to try that since my dryer can up to 2 hours to really dry the heavy stuff. That would save some $$$.

Storyteller, I always like when you leave me comments :) Too bad you can't find a little space to hang a line, even if it's only big enough for a pillowcase to hang. At least you could fall asleep with that nice crisp smell!

Unknown said...

I used to hang clothes out but this place doesn't have a clothesline so nope, I fold as they come out of the dryer. I love my Gain and the softness. :)

Sayre said...

Before I was married the second time, I lived in a little trailer with a lovely long clothes line that I used all. the. time. Sure, sometimes I'd have to rewash due to pollen, but mostly I had lovely fresh clothes!

I have a small umbrella-style clothesline on my back deck now. IT's under the roof because this year we're finally getting regular afternoon rain, but I can get my clothes mostly dry, then fluff them for 10 minutes in the dryer!

ChrisB said...

I could not afford to use a dryer for my clothes. In any case I love the fragrance of freshly sun/wind dried laundry. Unless it is bucketing down with rain my laundry get dried outside all year round. What I hate is having wet laundry on clothes dryers around the house.

Anonymous said...

I don't have a clothes line! I don't have room for one, although I'd love one. My green move was to purchase energy saving washer/dryer. It has really made a difference with my electric bill!