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Posted by Leafy Green
on October 6, 2008 8:32 PM
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Filed Under: Home |
No, this isn't about pie. It's about drying your clothes. A new clothes dryer can cost anywhere from $400 to well north of a thousand smackeroos. And although they are handy if you live in an area subject to bitter cold or long periods of rain, chances are that for at least half of the year you could just dry your clothes the old fashioned way: by letting them hang to dry.
Sure it can be a pain in the butt sometimes, but if you're trying to save energy and "be green" it really doesn't make sense to use electricity to do something you could do for free.
There are a few options for drying your clothes that don't involve electricity:
A folding drying rack is a handy way to dry common lightweight items like t-shirts and underwear. They range in price from $5 to about $80 for fancier-looking models. One great thing about these types of racks is they can accommodate a wide variety of different shaped items and if you're trying to dry something that is just sopping wet you can stand it in your bathtub to drain the excess water that drips off. In fact, there are even specialty folding bathtub drying racks available for about $35 that are designed specifically for drying clothes in your tub.
Indoor retractable drying lines are another simple way to dry clothes indoors, but you'll need a few simple handyman skills to install one. Available in single, double and even quintuple line models, there are two things to be wary of with retractable lines: suction cups and magnets. Your line kit should require that each end be securely screwed into two opposing walls and the retractable line should have a reinforced hook attachment. Suction cups and magnets may make for an easy installation, but you'll be cursing them when your damp clothes are in a wrinkled pile in your bathtub.
Drying outside isn't very popular nowadays, but there's no better way to get a big laundry job dry quickly. Outdoor retractable drying lines, unlike indoor ones, are exposed to the elements everyday and have a very short life. You can install an umbrella-style rack, but these do not to fare well on windy days. Umbrella-style hangers also end to attract birds, which is not cool when you come out to collect you laundry all covered in bird poop! The final argument against these racks is that installing one properly is a huge pain in the butt. You have to dig a big hole, pour concrete... and if you're going to go through all that trouble you might as well install a proper outdoor clothesline post. Kits containing pulleys, fasteners and cord run in the $30-$50 range and once installed can last for years. If you're clever, you may be able to rig your clotheline to span from your patio or across fenceposts and avoid having to install an extra pole at all.
There is one other option... one that involves buying nothing new at all but sacrificing one old bath towel. Take one old bath towel and cut a 4-inch wide strip out of it. Pull your shower curtain aside or remove it, lay the strip of towel across the top of the shower curtain bar and you have an instant drying rack! So why a towel strip? 1) A whole towel is too heavy and might put too much strain on the bar, plus it prevents air circulation. 2) The towel fabric will wick moisture away from the wet fabric. Dishrags and other materials will retain moisture instead of helping to dry your clothes. 3) Have you seen the top of your curtain rod? There can be dust, rust, soap residue and other stuff up there that you wouldn't want all over your favorite pajamas! As for the remaining towel, cut into squares and you've got some reusable cleaning rags. ;)
So there you have it: inside or outside there are so many cheap and easy ways to dry your clothes without using electricity that even if you use your dryer for 80% of your clothes, there's no reason you can't use one of these ideas and cut-down on the power consumption of your dryer this week!
» How to install a clothesline post