I admit that I am absolutely obsessed with air drying our laundry. I have been since I was a teenager and either my mom or I (it is still a point of discussion!) shrunk some very cool vintage clothes that I had worked hard to buy. Anyways... back to air drying laundry. Do it. It's simple, it is free and it saves your clothes from shrinking and wearing out.
Many people think laundry can only be hung out to dry in summer. Of course it is easiest in summer when it is hot and windy. But it is also possible to do it all year long. In the other seasons, but especially winter, the trick is getting the laundry up and outside as soon as possible as it will need longer to dry. Although it seems weird, it is also possible to hang up the laundry in below freezing temperatures. On those great sunny but cold days, when the laundry is hung up you can even see steam rising from your clothes as they freeze dry. That's the trick, although they do stiffen and freeze, they are drying. Gently place them in the basket and let them defrost for a bit (I usually leave them to the next morning) and they will be dry.
Another option is to dry the laundry indoors on a rack. I try to avoid doing this because of the condensation it can cause but needs must. There's a great post over at designsponge about drying your clothes indoors in winter.
Anyway, I figure winter takes a big enough bite out of our cash flow with extra heating costs so by air-drying our laundry I am saving money and the environment!
7 comments:
Well, not having a tumble dryer means we always dry laundry the old-fashioned way. It is a pain in englands wet climate but come summer hanging out the clothes is one of my most favored things to do. :) I love to watch the wind catch it. Ok, yeah. I'm a little odd but I kinda love laundry day.
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Oh, I'm so glad that you posted about this! I was just telling B that cold or not if we get a good sunny day, then I want to get all of the sheets and towels on the line. I've never tried it in winter before, the picture of steaming and freezing dry is wonderful!
You have forgotten the most enjoyable of it all.The clothes smell so good afterwards.I wash my woven rugs in the fjord and dry them on a line .They get so nice and stiff this way.
i dont own a tumble drier and i have always air dried. even those weeks when we have nothing but rain, i dry them inside.
i'll admit i'm bad about this in the winter, but it's because i haven't had good luck with it. i left clothes on a rack to air dry when i went to the philippines for a week. when i got back and brought them in, they were still wet! they just froze without drying. and they were out there for a week.
i'm pretty good about it in the summer, but i do give the towels a 20 minute tumble in the dryer to fluff them and soften them before i put them away. i just can't stand crunchy towels...
julochka, thanks for bringing up the crunchy towel issue! That's the one thing I avoid air drying. But if a 20 minute tumble will soften them (better than the 40 or so minutes needed to dry them straight from the washer), I can definitely try that.
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