4 Reasons to Love Line Drying Clothes

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After a summer of drying clothes outside, I’m convinced it is definitely the best way. Much to my surprise, I found several benefits and reasons to love line drying clothes.

When we moved we left behind our dryer. I wasn’t too concerned because it was summer,and I knew for a little while I could hang clothes outside to dry. It was something I was willing to endure for the family. You know, one of those sacrificial mom things.

After a couple weeks of endearing… I realized there wasn’t much to endure. I actually enjoyed line drying clothes. It really wasn’t that much more work and there were definitely more pros than there was cons. I fell into a nice routine and loved it. My son enjoyed me watching him ride his tractor, the dogs loved following me around, and I enjoyed the little extra time outside while I hung the clothes.

Everyday I knew I needed to have my last load dry before dark. Which forced me to be more attentive to laundry than I had back in the dryer days. In previous times I would throw clothes into the dryer, forget about them, restart the dryer to get the wrinkles out and sadly repeat. With the clothes hanging outside I had to be sure not to forget about them, and it helped there was a visual reminder. I even got into the habit of folding them as I took them off the line. It actually worked out that I got more laundry done from start to finish, in less time than I had before, simple because I couldn’t walk away and forget about it.

I know it isn’t possible for everyone to line dry clothes, but if you can, I definitely recommend it. There is just a joy in doing things a way it used to be done, for a few moments life seems simpler.  Here are a few more reasons I love line drying clothes.

1. Saving energy means saving money

It saves money shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Using the suns energy to dry clothes instead of the power companies seems like a better plan to me. From what I can figure you can save around $1.00 a load. That doesn’t seem like much initially but over the course of the year it adds up. Now, if I can just convince my husband I should use those savings on craft supplies.

By not heating your house up with the dryer you are also causing your air conditioning to do less work. It just makes sense that by moving your laundry outside you are helping your cooling bill as a bonus.

2. Better for clothes

I actually have several reasons for this one…

• Line drying is easier on your clothes than a dryer, which also helps them last longer (a third way you save money with a dryer.)
• When you are hanging up each piece of clothing it’s really easy to catch a stain that you might have missed before it’s set in by the drying process.
• The sun acts as a natural bleach for your whites and helps disinfect your other laundry. Your clothes also smell wondering and fresh from their time outside, with no extra chemicals.
• I found that I wash clothes less, also better for clothes. When you take the time to go outside to line dry clothes you evaluate whether something is really dirty before tossing it in the hamper. Just because it was tried on and thrown into the hamper doesn’t make it dirty

3. Better for me

With so many things that need to be done inside on a daily basis it’s easy to get stuck inside. Sometimes getting outside, stretching my legs and breathing a little fresh air is just what I need. Obviously that can brighten your mood, but can we also classify hanging laundry as exercise? That way I can finally be athletic. Ok, I won’t go that far but a little activity is good for you whether it is classified as exercise or not.

4. My clothes fit

I really hope that I’m not the only one who has to do a dance to get into jeans sometimes. It’s not that they are necessarily to tight, because in thirty minutes they will be stretched out and feel fine. I was surprised when I put on jeans the first time from off the line. They fit comfortable as soon as I put them on. I almost thought I lost weight I was so surprised, but then I realized they just hadn’t been shrunk by the dryer.

Do you line dry your clothes or would you want to if you could?