Does anybody hang their laundry to dry in the sun?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This climate is too humid to hang clothing outside; it doesn't dry well.

I do use laundry racks in the basement to hang clothing.

Same for me. There in addition to the humidity, there are several reason why I do not have a clothesline outside:

1. My fence is not high enough and I know that the neighbors would be pissed.
2. Squirrels, I have hung the occassional throw on the railing on my back porch only to come home and find it covered in "muddy pawprints"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Growing up in Chicago where it is far more humid than DC we always hung our clothes out to dry and they smelled great!

I find the humidity here to be much worse and opressive. Better than Georgia though where you can hang laundry out all day and it just won't dry.

Our clothes always dried regardless of how humid it was, and I do think Chicago is much more humid than it is out here. They are on a lake. We aren't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you women need to learn how to do your laundry!
stiff clothes after being dried outside? use a good liquid softener before your rinsing cycle.
stinky clothes dried outside? you used too much detergent or you didn't rinse it properly or you put it away before it was dried properly.
polen? LOL so people in 3rd world countries have no allergies or maybe they just die after wearing their line dried clothes... I'm very very allergic and grew up in a place that only very rich ppl had driers. whoever was in charge of colecting the clothes from the line had to shake them very well before folding it.
too humid? another LOL here. i wonder how my mom got our clothes dried being dryerless in a tropical country by the beach. humidity is an excuse for laziness since it's not easy to exercise (hanging the clothes) under the sun.
to the ladies that do laundry at night, if you hang them as soon as the cycle is done chances are the clothes will be dried by the time you wake up in the morning.
now, about the bird poop issue... who's the smart pants that put the clothes line under the tree? I've never heard of birds pooping on anybodys laundry in my life LOL what an excuse!

Gimme a break. I'm managing my laundry just fine in my first world country without your advice.

good for you. the advice was for people who needed it. if you don't why did you bother reading anyway?
now you're better run, your environment friendly dryer is beeping. time to fold your DH's undies and put them away.

[Anonymous]

I don't bother to read any posts that start with "you women."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't bother to read any posts that start with "you women."

Not a bad rule of thumb.

[Anonymous]

For those who hang their laundry in the basement, how do you keep the humidity down in there? Do you run a dehumidifier? It is so humid in my basement (no air con vents down there) that I would worry about ecouraging mold growth. Any advice?

[Anonymous]

I grew up in a drier climate and we hung out our laundry. Here I wouldn't even think about it. First, humidity/pollen. Second, my backyard has so many trees and birds that when I have set things out to dry, they inevitably get pooped on. Three, I think the dryer is what actually kills bacteria and germs and so for my baby's stuff, I wouldn't want to let things air dry. The third reason is probably a little nuts.

[Anonymous]

a friend of mine who does it stopped because she was finding ticks on her sheets!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Growing up in Chicago where it is far more humid than DC we always hung our clothes out to dry and they smelled great!

I find the humidity here to be much worse and opressive. Better than Georgia though where you can hang laundry out all day and it just won't dry.

Our clothes always dried regardless of how humid it was, and I do think Chicago is much more humid than it is out here. They are on a lake. We aren't.

You're right; we are not on a lake. We are on a river, and on swampland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those who hang their laundry in the basement, how do you keep the humidity down in there? Do you run a dehumidifier? It is so humid in my basement (no air con vents down there) that I would worry about ecouraging mold growth. Any advice?

We run a dehumidifier in the summer.

[Anonymous]

Pollen problems are particularly high in DC because of (a) all the non-native flowering plants [I'm assuming people in Thailand or wherever don't grow North American oaks nor fill their blocks with azaleas, decorative cherries, or sterile pear trees] and (b) the local inversion layer.

Add to these and the birds/ticks/squirrels the regular late afternoon summer thunderstorms (which blow debris down from the trees and pound it into soft surfaces outside). I do use drying racks in my house, and hang things to dry on hangers over a shower rod.

It hardly seems 'environmental' to recommend using a (most commonly) petroleum-based fabric softener just so you can save some energy on your dryer. If you have an energy-efficient washer, your drying time will be much lower and if you have 100% wind energy (easily available in this area) you are hurting nothing but your pocketbook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Growing up in Chicago where it is far more humid than DC we always hung our clothes out to dry and they smelled great!

I find the humidity here to be much worse and opressive. Better than Georgia though where you can hang laundry out all day and it just won't dry.

Our clothes always dried regardless of how humid it was, and I do think Chicago is much more humid than it is out here. They are on a lake. We aren't.

You're right; we are not on a lake. We are on a river, and on swampland.

I'm the PP from South Jersey, not the one you quoted. I lived five minutes from the ocean, two minutes from the marshes that separated the barrier islands from the mainland, had a wooded lot full of trees and ragweed on half the property and my clothes dried just fine, without the need to be dusted free of pollen. Nor did I ever worry about squirrels making off with my undies, despite the fact that the lines were less than 10 ft from an old pear tree that we never bothered to pick the fruit off. I'm not belittling anyone who chooses to use a dryer, but I'm just saying.

And I never did have a problem keeping whites white until I moved out of my dad's house. I thought it was just that I stopped using bleach. Never thought about the whole sun brightening bit. Learn something new every day I guess.