Howdy, folks! Staff writer tryouts still have a few days left, but I jotted a quick post this morning and thought I’d squeeze it in this afternoon just to break things up. I wrote a MAMMOTH post about taxes yesterday, but I don’t know if it’ll ever see the light of day. It’s a sort of tedious subject. See you again on Monday!
I had to smile to myself as I walked up to my office this morning. One of our neighbors has hung their laundry out to dry on their front porch. I think this is great, and hope that others in our neighborhood agree. (I’ll bet they do; it’s that kind of neighborhood.)
This reminded me of the book I’ve been reading. In February, I asked GRS readers to recommend books with true-life stories about frugality. A couple of readers recommended Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish, a memoir about growing up in Iowa during the Great Depression. I’ve finally made time to read it, and it’s excellent. Naturally, in the 1930s clothes were hung out to dry — even in winter. It was a family affair, and people liked doing it (probably because they hated the actual washing part of the chore):
Is there any sense trying to make the modern-day reader understand the immense satisfaction we experienced in viewing our bright, clean wash arranged in such a meticulous fashion on the clothesline? Heaven knows we had more than enough to do without this added display of superhousewifery. But the whole ritual was a matter of pride.
[...]
To crawl between crisp sheets, warm and fresh from the sun and air, at the end of a bone-wearying day, is one of the true soul-restoring luxuries of life, which hardly anyone of the current generation will ever know.
Seeing the neighbor’s laundry also reminded me of something that happened over the weekend.
The electricity bill came on Saturday. This is one of Kris’ bills, so I don’t usually see it. But she brought it to me glowing with pride. “Look at our power consumption this year compared to last year,” she said.
“Wow,” I said. “It’s dropped by a third.”
“I know. And do you know why that is?” asked Kris.
“Because I moved my computer up the street to the office?” I guessed. Kris shook her head.
“I think it’s because I’ve been hanging the clothes out to dry,” she said. “I think that’s the entire reason. A clothes dryer uses a lot of electricity. It’s a little more work to use a clothesline, but it’s a lot more satisfying.”
I think our electricity usage has dropped for a combination of these two reasons: moving my work computer out of the house and drying clothes outdoors. Whatever the case, our costs have dropped along with our usage. Our average daily electricity cost is down from $2.50 to $1.85. Sixty-five cents a day won’t make us rich, but it’ll certainly buy us a couple of nice meals on our trip to France next year!
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Don’t your clothes feel all stiff and crunchy when dried on a clothesline?
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Kudos to Kris for doing the hanging up! (it can be good exercise, JD, so you might want to participate…). The most recent issue of the Green newsletter also encouraged giving up one’s dryer, but even though I hang up my most delicate items (inside), I’m still using my dryer for most things. we live on the corner of one busy and one busier street, and I’m not sure I’d believe my clothes wouldn’t get dusty etc while drying outside. But, I have a dryer with a sensor, so I don’t have to guess at how long, and I try to do full loads.
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@Tyler (#1)
Indeed, they do! The stiff crunchiness is a blessing — and a curse. I love a stiff and crunchy bath towel. It’s, well, invigorating. Like drying yourself with sandpaper.
Other clothes are less good when stiff and crunchy. I’m not a fan of stiff and crunchy t-shirts, for example. If I really find myself frowning at piece of rigid clothing, I carry it down to the bathroom while I shower. The humidity seems to help.
Clotheslines are not for everyone. I know that. But Kris and I like ours!
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We recently got rid of our clothes dryer and hang all of our laundry outside. Living in the desert our clothes dry fairly quickly year round and it is actually cooling to hang sheets in the summer. The relative lack of rain also means there are few days where hanging the laundry is a problem due to weather.
Climate is certainly a factor – this would probably not be an option in Seattle for example.
By the way, I’m enjoying the staff writer tryouts, but it was good to “hear your voice” again.
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I have always hung most of my own clothes to dry, because that’s actually what the care label says to do! In the summer, I do quite a lot of everyone’s stuff outside… usually. But this is the year summer forgot, with rain every day.
Although it is suddenly hot and sunny at last, and I am taking advantage of every minute of it!
Re: bringing clothes into the bathroom during a shower: this is actually a great way to freshen up wrinkled items too. Back when I used to go to formal dances regularly (there was a big craze for them when I was in university) I would bring my gown in with me while I showered. It saved me a ton in dry-cleaning bills.
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“Sixty-five cents a day won’t make us rich, but it’ll certainly buy us a couple of nice meals on our trip to France next year!”
That is about 170€, Is that really enough for more than one nice meal for two in France? I bet it would be more frugal to hone your language skills in Senegal, or DR Congo.
P.S. I spend about US$10.00 month drying my clothes in the laundromat, i.e. 33 cents per day. So 65 cents per day for two person household sounds right on to me. For probably 90%+ of the world today, a dryer is a luxury and not a normal thing you would own and hang drying clothes can be observed all over the world even e.g. central America during rain season. I don’t know how they do it, but they do.
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I lived in Central America for a year (Honduras) and not only did I line-dry my clothes, but the washer itself was outside too!
In the rainy season, it would start raining at 4pm-ish until 8pm-ish, almost like clockwork. The whole day was sunny until late afternoon, and clothes would dry in the hot sun there quite quickly. So that’s how they are able to do it. There was only 1 overcast, rainy day the whole year I lived there
And I loved it!
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Clothes driers are not that common in Australia in my exp. Even in winter I just hang things up inside on a clothes horse.
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In contrast to the many joys of clotheslines, there’s apparently quite a “knicker-twisting” in the works in Connecticut — http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/conflict-over-clotheslines-in-greenwich/
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When I gave up on hanging clothes outside (we have no sun. none
) i watched the elctricty meter and our daily usage didn’t increase noticeably. I think its extremely efficient.
When my husband moved in with us 10 years ago out electricity jumped 40% – he brought 2 computers with him. I think they account for 74% of it.
We have huge electricity bill these days – but we do have 5 computers on at al times and another 3 on some of the time.
Remember you are still paying for the electricity in your rent at the office!
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RE: Stiff and crunchy clothes
I asked a question on an old post about this exact issue and got a few good responses. You can read them here:
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/07/13/our-frugal-weekend/#comment-186778
That conversation also inspired me to write an article on best practices for saving money and energy by dumping your dryer a few weeks ago:
http://frugallygreen.org/2009/07/22/dump-your-dryer-and-rack-up-the-savings/
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Ohmygoodness, Ann. That’s a sad/funny article. I love the link to the Project Clothesline blog. It’s a clothesline advocacy group!
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I’ve posted previously here about how our clothesline saves us (family of 4) at least $20 a month. I absolutely LOVE it. It’s beyond me how people have become so ignorant and pass laws against having them. That Greenwich story is ridiculous. When is the last time you heard of someone being hurt in the dark when wandering into a clothesline? Idiots. Just a few weeks ago our neighbor had a dryer fire that caused thousands of dollars in damage to her home. Sigh.
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I love hanging clothes out to dry. One of the best feelings in the world is climbing into bed on sheets that have been drying outside all day – the smell is intoxicating!
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You’re here in Oregon like me so I have to ask: How do you use a clothesline here with all the rain? Doesn’t that just keep your clothes wet? I really want to use the clothesline instead of the dryer but this seems like a fundamental flaw to me.
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People who love tohang their clothes out do not have allergies I think.
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I bought a house early this summer. While much of this summer has been dealing with unpacking, my goal is to get the inside done so next summer I can play with the yard. One of goals is to get a clothesline up. I love nothing more than sleeping on sheets fresh from the clothesline!
I don’t mind the crunchiness of clothes. If there’s a stiff wind, they’re generally not as stiff, and my mom said if you give them a good shake/snap before you hang them, it helps with the stiffness. I have no idea if that’s true or not, though. I’ll find out next summer, I hope!
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My mother refused to own a dryer her entire life, though it wasn’t about saving money – she hated what they did to clothes. To combat the crunchiness, however, she did use fabric softener. I don’t use softener now (don’t want the chemicals or the extra expense) but when I was in college I would love doing my laundry at home – it smelled like heaven!
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JD, Out in India (equatorial country) as a rule we always air dry our clothes. You’ll see clothesline in many parts of the country (such a common sight). During my trips to Singapore too, I’ve observed people air-drying their clothes.
Reading your article, I truly feel that west is meeting the east, specially in matters relating to frugality and green behavior (which is in-built in Asian societies)
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I switched to a clothesline last year as well. Your post motivated me to get out my electric bill- it was almost the same as yours! I went from 24 kWh/day to 18. I’m guessing your computer move is worth about 2.2 kWh/day.
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JD, c’mon! I LOVE a good post about taxes! Let’s have it, straight away.
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I’m a line-drier too. Installed a great little laundry carousel mount, and just haul the carousel out there when I need it. Indoors in the basement in winter, which is just when we need the extra humidity in the air, too. How convenient!
Aside: Assuming you have a laser printer and you drink tea or coffee at the office… that could explain alot of the drop in power draw.
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It’s funny that you raise this topic. I bought a rotary clothes line just about a month ago and admittedly it’s not been easy this rainy summer to use it as much as I’d hoped, but I am glad I did so because I do believe it is saving some money on our hydro bill. I agree too with Jeff that there is nothing like that fresh (non-chemical) smell on sheets and towels. In this day and age I not only want to save my money but also to save the planet and be as green as I can be in my own little corner of the world. Every little bit helps….
By the way, I’ve just come across your blog this week and have enjoyed reading the articles. There’s some great advice so thank you!
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Oh Yes…grew up with an outside clothes line and also one in the basement for rainy weather. Used one most of the time when I was first married, but once babies came along, (with cloth diapers) it sadly lost its charm and allure.
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If you are really curious about how much energy your computer was using you could get one of these contraptions and find out for sure.
http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4400-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU
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I moved to Brazil with my boyfriend last year, and clothes dryers here are few and far-between. It’s not because Brazilians are “greener” than Americans– it’s because the machines are expensive to buy and electricity is expensive, too.
Many people have argued that having a clothes dryer is a luxury, but I would also like to argue the “luxury” idea of having a clothes line. My boyfriend and I both work full-time, but luckily much of my work is done from home (I develop English textbooks).
Having a clothes line instead of a dryer is time-consuming, and I think it’s important to consider the cost of time, not just the cost of electricity. We have to plan ahead to find the day that we can wash our clothes and get them onto the lines, and then get them down from the lines.
With the variable tropical climate, we have to hope that the day we set aside for washing isn’t a day with monsoon rains or a sudden drop in temperature.
Since we live in an apartment, our line space is limited. We have to wash clothes, sheets, and towels over a 2-day period to make sure everything dries and doesn’t get a stinky, moldy smell.
But the biggest time consumption factor is ironing. I’m not sure how you two can have jobs with people and look professional with wrinkled clothes that result from not drying them, but we can’t. Originally, I ironed everything, but my boyfriend is a doctor and has to wear all white suits to the hospital every day, and it’s kind of unrealistic to spend 2-3 hours a week just ironing. So now we pay a maid to come once a week to iron all the clothes (common practice here in Brazil).
The point is, I’d much rather pay for a machine and save myself time, money, and social consciousness, but the cost of a dryer is cheaper than the maid for our definition of “long-term” (i.e., until we move back to the US).
I’m just sayin’!
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When I lived in Dublin, using a clothes dryer was seen as a waste. It was almost taboo. You either line-dried or draped your clothes all over the house. The radiators were the most popular options. However, I never got used to the stiff clothes and the smell of the outdoors (I prefer the fake outdoor scent from the Bounce sheets), so as soon as I returned to North America, I had to hug my dryer. It didn’t hug me back, but I know deep down it missed me.
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I love to hang my clothes out, and especially the sheets! But what I especially love about putting clothes on a clothesline is SILENCE! Clotheslines don’t bump and thump and mumble, and best of all they don’t buzz at you when you’re in the middle of something else.
But it’s true: a few items are annoyingly stiff. Since I press my jeans, I happen to like that: natural starch, eh? But when it’s undesirable for a piece to be stiff, you can soften it up quickly by putting it in the dryer for a few minutes–no need to run it very long, and no need to use a heat setting. Once it’s dry on the line, just toss it in to thump around for five minutes or so, and it’ll feel just like it spent 40 minutes in there drying. Uses lots less energy but accomplishes the same effect.
We have a lot of people around here who think using a clothesline is lowbrow. If you’re in an HOA, forget hanging your stuff outside where anyone can catch even a tiny glimpse of it. Even in neighborhoods that are not HOAs, people sometimes will complain.
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My HOA won’t allow clotheslines. Which is deeply ironic, because they’re all a bunch of liberals smack dab in the capital of blue-state land, Los Angeles. Aren’t they all supposed to be the environmentally friendly activists? I vote differently politically, but would absolutely use an earth-friendly, energy-saving clothesline, if allowed. The irony slays me.
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I’m an American expat in Australia and concur with @John – many families in Oz don’t have dryers at all. Electricity is more expensive here and it does seem ridiculous to spend money to dry clothes on a dry sunny day. We have a dryer but use it only for “finishing” cotton stuff and towels to get the crunch out. I have a big drying rack that I set up over a heat vent if it is rainy and I have stuff I need to dry. Also, the labor (ahem, labour) involved in a load makes us much less likey to throw items in the hamper that are not yet truly dirty. My DD wears her school uniform a few times before it gets washed and jeans are not washed every time they’re worn, etc. It slays me that some places do not permit clotheslines … such craziness to prioritise aesthetics over reducing energy use!
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Half the world dries their clothes using clothes lines. Definitely the cheap and environmentally friendly way to go! Also, it saves the life of your dryer.
We using a clothesline in our basement to try all of our dress clothes. It works well.
Happy Friday Everyone!
Best,
RB
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I have a dryer and a clothesline. I searched online and found a good retractable model that I can pull out only when needed so we don’t have lines strung across our small yard all the time. I use the line for things like sheets and jeans when it’s sunny, but still use the dryer for certain things too (don’t like crunchy socks and undies or displaying my underthings for the whole neighborhood to see). Can’t say I’ll ever get rid of the dryer, but it still feels good to have the option to go the free/ecological route sometimes. Just one more reason, I’m glad we don’t have an HOA in my neighborhood.
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I use a clothes line in the summer. I find that if I put clothes through and extra spin cycle, only the heavy stuff (towels and jeans) get crunchy. Those go in the dryer for 5 minutes on “air dry” to soften.
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Don’t just idly speculate, do the math. Randomly guessing isn’t likely to make you any smarter, get the facts.
You spent 8.3Kwh/day less this year compared to last year.
A typical clothes-dryer uses around 1500W for about an hour, or 1.5 Kwh to dry a load of clothes. It will use significantly more if your washing-machine is old and has poor spin — the only way to know for sure is to buy a kill-a-watt a simple device that plugs in between an appliance and the wall-socket, and accurately measures the energy-consumption. (a good idea to own anyway, because it can help you save a lot of money by telling you which of your appliances waste how much energy)
Anyway, saving 8.3Kwh only, or even mainly, by hanging clothes would require you to dry 4-5 loads less every day. I can’t imagine you do anything close to that much laundry, we’ve got 3 kids and we may do that much a *week*, but certainly not a day.
In short; your wife is wrong, she did not save 8.3 Kwh/day only, or even mainly, by hanging clothes. That certainly contributed, but there has to be other contributing factors too.
And your work-computer ain’t enough to explain a lot either. A typical work-computer may consume 200W and be powered for 50 hours a week, so removing it will save slightly over 1Kwh/day.
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I can’t use a dryer, because (don’t ask me why) it makes the clothes give me eczema, even if I religiously clean the lint trap. I grew up with line-dried clothes. My parents have lines under a cover outside so that they can dry things in all weathers, and the clothes are always fresh and soft.
Unfortunately, I live in student halls at the moment, so I have to dry my washing on a clothes horse (like this one http://preview.tinyurl.com/mr4qjy). So you can dry even in a small apartment with no outdoor area – I can get a whole washing load on my clothes horse and I find that it all dries in 2-3 days. If I have the heating on, I put “urgent” items or smalls on the radiators to dry quickly.
Oh, and the key to minimising ironing is to give everything a really good shake before pegging it out or putting it on the clothes horse and not leaving it in the washing machine after the programme has finished. Think of it as trying to shake the creases out. It really works. I rarely need to iron anything other than dress shirts.
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RB, not 50% but more like 90% of the world population dries their clothes using clothes lines. Here in Europe is more or less the norm and I’m sure this is the case with the rest of the world as well (except for USA/Canada).
But I also think this is an cultural issue more than anything else. As much as we’re surprised and amused by the American “obsession” with driers, the Americans are probably surprised by our time-consuming, allergy- and crunch- inducing, method of drying clothes
When Trent at Simple Dollar posted a similar post last year, he got a record 428 comments on it;
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/05/17/frugality-and-the-impression-of-poverty/
We’ll probably see something similar here. Long live the clothes lines!
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I would agree with Mark in that drying clothes outside is the norm in Europe. On wet days we even have a ‘clothes horse’ for use indoors – electric dryers are seen as the last resort if space or time does not permit hanging clothes to dry.
Incidentally, I saw a similar reduction in energy use when I moved to using energy saving light bulbs. The only downside was that these bulbs don’t seem quite as bright as their incandescent cousins.
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In the UK too, it is pretty rare for a family to have a drier. We dry most of our clothes indoors on clothes-horses. If we run out of space we use bannisters and radiators as well. I admit we have to buy fabric softener to stop the crunchiness on items like jeans but some brands go a long way.
As for the time it takes – I’ve lived with a dryer as well. If you have time to put in a load of washing and remove it when its done it doesn’t take prohibitively long to get it all on a clothes horse. Then you can go to work or sleep and it’ll dry. Sure you have to wait longer, but I don’t tend to wash all the clothes I own at once!
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I’ve always called them a drying rack. You can use them inside all year long.
We live in Poland but it seems like when I use the dryer, the socks get holes faster. I declared a moratorium on the dryer a couple of years ago except in the case of emergencies or company.
I’m an American and fail to understand the “uppityness” of our culture about letting clothes air dry. I don’t use a dryer because I don’t have to most of the time. People in the states generally have plenty of room to air dry things, even inside. The average American’s definition of “small” is probably about 1000 square feet. Here, the average apt. for a family is about 500 square feet or approx. 45-50 square meters. They manage to find room to air dry their stuff here in spite of the size. You do what you have to do.
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Ever since I read years ago that the clothes dryer is the 2nd largest energy consuming item in the home, second only to the furnace, I have been hanging the clothes to dry.
In the neighborhood where we live, clotheslines are not allowed. That’s not an issue for me, because I have always tumbled the clothes in the dryer for a few minutes to soften them, then hung them on the line in the basement or on hooks you can get that fit over closet doors or on the shower rod.
By the next day, they are completely dry and in the Winter it adds wonderful humidity to the air! It’s just another easy way to save money AND you help the environment!
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Our HOA prohibits clothes lines out side. I do have a small one in my laundry/mud room that I hang some stuff on. If I need to wash quilts or other large items I just pick a nice day and wash them then hang them on my back porch to dry. We are in the process of re-doing out back porch (making it a screened in porch and extending the deck so we still have an outdoor portion). After it is done I am going to try to find a way to put a small clothes line outside that can’t be seen from the front of the house (so hopefully no one will tattle on me to the HOA). I have a drying rack too that I think might become a semi-permanent fixture on the screened in porch.
Having said all this, when I told my husband that I wanted to put a clothes line outside he looked at me like I had lost my mind.
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I’ve been happy for years using an indoor rack or 2 plus a basement line for heavier items, like jeans (they get exactly 10 minutes in the dryer to get the crunchiness out). When I want that really lovely sunny smell on my sheets, I take the rack outside and hang the pillowcases and sheets over the rack, and it’s relly impressive how short of a time it takes to dry if it’s a sunny day.
When we lived in Europe, there was always a rack that folded in and out over our shower…we made use of the electricity discount and ranthe clothes after 11:00, and first thing in the morning (well, after our shower)I’d hang out a load and it would be dry by mid-aftrnoon.
I’d also like to say that I actually use everyday clothes hangers to hang up shirts, dresses, and a few other things and hang them up on the doorknobs around the bedrooms. They are always dry by the evening (if you hang them up in the morning). Not for everyone, I guess, but you have to not mind seeing your clothes about for a few days if you have more than yourself to do laundry for. I try to wash and dry all of my family’s clothes on Monday and Tuesday, and fold all of it and put away on Wednesday. I don’t do any laundry (except sheets and towels) on any other day.
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Our dryer died back in February and we were forced (because I am so cheap) to hang our clothes on drying racks and clothes lines.
http://www.frankbarrettsbrain.com/?p=3341
We’ve cut our electric bill in half!
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I don’t have a washer-dryer, but this summer since it’s been really hot I have been doing some of my washing by hand and hanging it out. I can’t do big things, though, since I’m using the bathroom sink and a drying rack rather than a clothesline. I always hand-wash my exercise clothes, since they’re synthetic and dry quickly and I don’t want to have to own a separate outfit for every day of the week.
I think for a single person it’s really a lot more efficient to use the laundromat than to have several hundred dollars worth of appliances taking up space for a few hours’ use each week. Since I have limited time, it’s also convenient to be able to do several loads of laundry at once (and commercial machines generally have shorter cycles, especially for front-loading machines).
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To be fair, J.D. is not saving any money on his electricity bill by using his computer elsewhere – he simply moved his energy usage from one location to another. I would even argue that the extra office space takes up a considerably larger amount of total energy than if he had stayed at home.
Even if he explicitely does not pay the energy bill in his new office, these costs are included and therefore a factor in his rent amount.
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Ann & JD – I have a feeling the same thing would happen in our neighborhood. Our subdivision has a “rule” against hanging clothes outside to dry. BOOOO!
I think I might try it anyway and play dumb…after all we just moved in 3 weeks ago.
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My experience about ironing is exactly opposite to Danielle’s (#26). I find that line dried clothing is easier and faster to iron than tumble dried items. I used to have to spray the dried shirts with starch in order to iron out all the wrinkles. Now they come in from the line crisp and just need a touch up from a steamy iron.
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It would probably be frowned upon by my HOA overlords, but I’m really tempted to give this a try.
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Others may have addressed this, but to get some of the crunchiness out of the clothes – first dry them briefly in the dryer with a dryer sheet. Then take them out and line dry. It helps with crispies and with static. I do a lot of indoor line drying on a rack. You’ll have a little bit of a dryer bill, but not quite as high.
I don’t do a lot of laundry, but I expect that to pick up if we have a kid or two. I’m thinking of putting a retractable line on my deck. That should make it fairly unnoticeable to my neighbors and would quickly hide out of reach if we want to use our deck. It would also be very easy to install – connect to a pole on one side and screw in a hook on the other pole you want it to connect to. That’s home improvement I can handle!
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I like how you suggest to use that saved money on French cuisine! What a perfect idea; the more because it’s a clothesline country. I suggest visiting the countryside: you’ll probably find a lot of GRS-inspiration out there.
(Pardon me english…)
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