On this cold and chilly day I'm glad to finally see the sun peeking through again. Just last weekend I had my clothes on the line enjoying the breeze and sunshine and then come Sunday snow came falling down again. I love hanging clothes on the line, I remember always hanging clothes with my mom growing up. I never lived anywhere that we didn't use a clothesline. It's so much better than using a dryer. I find it to be a peaceful activity where I can collect my thoughts. And it makes laundry a much better activity in my book...(until you gotta fold and put away clothes, which nobody likes.) With the passing of Grandma, I've been having memories pop into my head of her and her house. One I keep thinking about is her clothesline which ran by the side of the house. I remember always climbing up the "T" shaped metal pole and hanging upside down by only my knees. Now I can't remember where my imagination was taking me while I hung there, upside down, but I know Grandma's clothesline is what got me to that imaginative place. Line drying clothes is another one of those traditions I don't ever want to let go of. It's great because of the money it saves not using the dyer and overall it just gives me a good feeling. It's one of those chores that hasn't changed over the years. I like the idea that I'm working in the same way that thousands of women before me were. It's a country life chore, which as yall all know, I'm all about the simple, country life.
Also and if you've never slept on line-dried bedsheets, you've never slept well.
On the subject of laundry, I have to share this book with you all. It's like a bible to the tricks to living a simple country life. It's called Simple Country Wisdom. It was put out by one of my favorite magazines, Country Living. It has a little bit of everything in it. Cooking, Cleaning, Decorating, Crafting, and on and on.
Mines become quite beat up over the last two years, but that's how I like a good book anyways. Well it has a section about Line Drying Secrets and I thought I'd share some with yall just in case you could use any on your laundry days. Some of them may have been taught to you from mothers and grandmothers already, but maybe a few will be new.
- Give clothing some breathing room if you have the space. Leaving a foot or two between each garment on a clothesline reduces drying time.
- Dirty clotheslines make for spotty clothing. Once a month, use a rag to go over your outdoor clothesline with warm water and pine oil cleaner.
- Choose a day that's sunny and at the very least, breezy to dry clothes. The motion of the wind prevents clothes from stiffening and if left for a few extra hours, can help make your clothing softer.
- Let whites take in a bit of sun in the early morning...it might surprise you how strong a natural bleaching effect the sun rays can have on your garments.
- Avoid clothespin marks on the shoulders of your dress shirts and lighter knits by putting them on hangers with the top button closed.
- Don't hang bath towels by the corners..the weight of the cloth will pull the corners out of shape and leave indents. Instead double them over the line.
- Clothes always dry better on a tight clothesline (not like mine in pictured above, it needs some mending) after shaking the wrinkles out of each garment before you hang it. They won't need as much ironing and will be softer.
.....and there are more, but if I told you all of them you wouldn't have any reason to buy the book now would you.
Below are some of the beautiful laundry rooms they picture in the book. The first one is the design I based my laundry room after. It needs much more decorating (aka time and money finding the junk I like to make into "antiques") but it's coming along. Also if you don't have a yard or place to put an outdoor clothesline. It doesn't mean you can get creative inside your house finding ways to hang clothes. Maybe another time, when I have more time, I'll put up some ideas for indoor clotheslines.
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