Hanging Laundry to Dry

Hang drying clothes is an easy and inexpensive way to save money on your electric bill and help out the enviroment. All it takes is a clothes line and pins or a clothes horse. I don't know much about using a clothes horse, but I do know that hanging cloths outside can be a fun thing to do and is definately more "involvd" than using a dryer. It can allow you the time you need for yourself, or give you something to do outside while your children are playing.

After you are done washing your clothes, either by hand or in the washing machine, you carry them outside and begin the process of hangng them out.
Some pointers:

1. Hang your shirts by the hem, not the sleeves, this will keep the shoulders from having that "pointy" look.

2. Pants hang best by the legs.

3. Rags, cloth diapers, and socks can all be folded in half. This reduces the need for pins and can save them for the bigger items.

4. Blankets and towels are probably the hardest to dry, but if you have some place you can kinda open them up for the hanging process it really helps.

Have fun and continue learning about ways that you can become more self-sufficient! Enjoy!
(Disclaimer: now I love to hang laundry, but as a kid, it was my least favorite chore, after dishes)


2 Corinthians 4:8-10

"We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed"

Hand Washing Clothes

I have been handwashing my own clothes for about a week now, and have had pretty good results. For some people, handwashin is merely a way to experiment, or to feel better about the way they are living. For me, it is mostly about money. You see, my apartment doesn't have a washer and dryer, and I would need to take my clothes to the laundrymat. To do that, I would need quarters. I don't even have pennies right now. So I began to fill up my bathtub each morning with the equivalant of two loads of laundry, wash, rinse, rinse, and hang out to dry. Yes, that's two rinses, not a typo. I can't stand the thought of having soap or dirt left in my clothes.

I use cold to lukewarm water, to keep the electricity down, and my regular liquid laundry soap. I like liquid because I don't have to desolve it, but I'm sure a well desolved powder would work just as well.

I fill up the bathtub enough so that I can freely smush laundry around, and will swish and knead with my hands and stomp and dance with my feet. I wash, drain the bathtub, fill it up, rinse, drain (squeezing all the water out) and rinse again. I then take it outside and (squeezing as much water out as I can) hang them to dry in the sun and wind.

It takes about a day to dry it, if the weathers nice.
Ayways, I thought I'd throw out that information just in case anyone else would like to have a go. Just remember, you will be amazed at how hard the work is, but it gets easier really fast. Just push through the pain, girlfriend!

2 Corinthians 4:8-10

"We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed"