Why I line dry....

I LOVE to line dry. I get so happy when its nice enough for me to do all my laundry that requires hanging (which, is a lot)

I love to smell the clothes going up and being taken down.

Line drying is something that I have always done yet, I don't do it to be "green" ...

My reasons for doing it is... plain and simple... to save money. And, here is how.

I buy almost all of my childrens clothing resale.. those that aren't are given to them as gifts or, hand me downs. BUT, just because I do not spend a fortune on my childrens clothes, does not mean that I want them to fade and shrink and look worn out quickly. When I buy a dress for one of my daughters for 2 bucks at the thrift store, I LOVE it as much as I do a dress that I would pay 20 at a regular store (tho, 20 is cheap to some.. it makes me gasp :P)

Anyway... If I buy my boys a nice button up shirt for .50 cents, I still make them take care of it as I would if I spent 50 dollars... It's just me, I don't look at their clothes and think "Oh well, they can ruin them, I only paid 1.00$ for that" now, do not get me wrong, they DO have play clothes that I give them liberty to get as grimey as they want to in... but, as far as clothes that they have to go into public in... they must look nice...

Anyway... I start off by washing all of my clothing in cold water (with the exception of whites and towels) This prevents shrinking, fading and also, if I have missed a stain along the way .

I have saved MANY a shirt by washing in cold as I later discover the stain and was able to treat it and, it wasn't set in.

Washing in cold water also saves me time. I don't know about all washers but mine sure does take a long time to fill up when I am using hot.

Then there is line drying. On any given day in the winter you can see clothes hanging in my line in my basement... and various places all over the house. In the summer, I am fortunate enough to have a clothes line that has FOUR lines... I use every single bit of space as often as I can during the summer.

I line dry for many of the same reasons above. It saves money as I do not have to run the dryer. It prevents clothes that fit , from shrinking. It keeps the colors longer. Prevents stains that slip by from getting set in. And then there is the sun.... its a natural stain remover! Several times I have had a pesky stain that just will not budge all the way.. I set it out into the sun for a couple of hours and, the sun does its magic!

I really enjoy line drying as well... but, the benefits from it would make me do it even if I didn't.

If you do not have a clothes line , as I didn't when I was living at home with my mom, there are several alternatives

A chair.. the back of a chair is a great place to hang dry clothes.. especially a sweater.

The shower curtain rod. Either by draping things over it OR.. hanging them on the hanger to hang on the rod to dry.

a fence... This is what I used while at my moms.. I would drape things over the fence to dry (of coarse, trust your neighbors and be mindful, do not have clothes hanging on the fence when they are having company over.. ect ect)

I have used a crib. When we still had a crib up in our house, I would drape dresses and such all along the crib to dry.

and, if all else fails, you can hang them in the closet. I do not like to do this as, with two kids per closet , the closets are full... therefore the wet clothes kind of get sandwhiched in with the dry and , takes longer and can start to smell... if you have the room tho, this is a great alternative.

Anyway, hopefully if you don't line dry I have inspired you to give it a whirl... HAPPY HANGING!