Hanging up my clothes to dry

[sent]

Recently I've been hanging up our laundry to dry during this whole stay-at-home ordeal. Our dryer is 3 years old but I have a tough time getting the settings right. Then the silver vent hose thing fell off the back when I tried to clean it so someone has to come put it back on because it doesn't have the proper connector. The people who set up the dryer just wrapped it with duct tape rather than securing it with something stronger.

Am I saving any money doing this given the modern dryers are supposed to be energy efficient? I hang like 3 or 4 loads a week. I began having flashbacks to when I was young in 80s and most of our neighbors and us had these clothes line structures in the back yard to hang up our clothes and dry them in the summer. I used to hang the clothes outside in the summer and then I hung them in our basement in the winter. We almost never used our dryer until the mid 90s. 

[mcsangel2]

I don't line dry clothes (even though I live in the best place in the country to do it), but from what I know, yes, you should be saving money not using the dryer. Even with an energy efficient model.

[jamaicam]

I don't have a dryer - I prefer clothes air dried (they smell so nice!) and clothes dry in the sun here so quickly that it doesn't really save much time. You should be saving money and also saving the environment.

[just]

My DH would love to line dry clothes, but I'm resistant. I have mostly year round pollen allergies and the pollen on line-dried clothes kills me. Also dryer balls/sheets are the only things that get dog hair off our clothes...

I know those are shitty excuses ...

[sent]

May 27, 2020 13:13:13 GMT -5 just said:

My DH would love to line dry clothes, but I'm resistant. I have mostly year round pollen allergies and the pollen on line-dried clothes kills me. Also dryer balls/sheets are the only things that get dog hair off our clothes...

I know those are shitty excuses ...

I don't know about the dog hair part but does pollen get on line-dried clothes that you dry inside the house?

I'm motivated to buy a few more clothes hangers and just continue hanging everything up. 

[numbers]

I hang dry most of our clothes indoors using one of these:



I do it to keep the clothes in better condition, not for energy reasons. But I guess that's also MM?

[RockNVoll]

Well not using any electricity/gas versus using it will save you money, yes

We hang dry probably 50% of our stuff. Workout gear, things I'm worried about shrinking, and delicates all get hung. We'll also drape our bedding over our long stair banners to dry out more before putting them in the dryer to soften up.

We have a two-tier rolling garment rack that we're currently using to hang things, but eventually I want a more permanent bar installed on one wall of our laundry room like we had at our old house.

[sent]

May 27, 2020 16:53:48 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Well not using any electricity/gas versus using it will save you money, yes

I guess was wondering if my efforts are saving $.25 a month or $10 a month. So we would need to know how much drying 1 load of laundry really costs.

I also have our electric bill set up to pay the same amount every month so unless I get a notice next year that the bill is going down, I will never know. I'm sure it will go up since we are home all the time now and my husband is going to be home until the end of the year. 

But I can feel good about saving the environment. I'm embarrassed to say that I had actually forgotten about that whole aspect. 

[statgirl]

Simple Dollar estimates 36 cents per load savings.

www.thesimpledollar.com/save-money/how-much-do-you-really-save-by-air-drying-your-clothes/

[farfalla2011]

Real question time since I always have clothes shrink, but I'm usually too lazy to hang stuff instead of drying.

How are your clothes not almost crunchy when hanging them inside?

We can't do outside due to HOA, pollen, humidity, etc. although I do remember as a kid in the 80s having our clothes hung on a line outside in the summer and it was just what my mom did, but I don't remember the clothes being crunchy. We did live in a much different climate than I do now.

[cosmowife]

May 28, 2020 6:39:28 GMT -5 farfalla2011 said:

Real question time since I always have clothes shrink, but I'm usually too lazy to hang stuff instead of drying.

How are your clothes not almost crunchy when hanging them inside?

We can't do outside due to HOA, pollen, humidity, etc. although I do remember as a kid in the 80s having our clothes hung on a line outside in the summer and it was just what my mom did, but I don't remember the clothes being crunchy. We did live in a much different climate than I do now.

I never really thought about this, but for some reason, my nice work clothes (always air dried) don’t get crunchy, but if I hang something like socks or cotton tshirts, they get a little crunchy. Jeans also get kind of crunchy. However, it seems like as soon as I take them off the drying rack and fold them, they are no longer crunchy.

[ewall]

I have the same drying rack as numbers and use it for the same reason. It keeps my work wardrobe in better condition. I also hope that it saves some energy and minimizes environmental impact.

Currently on loan to my neighbors, though. They can't get a new machine (washer leaves everything soaking wet and unsuitable for transfer to dryer) delivered until June due to pandemic. I felt bad watching them hang everything on their deck railing.

[ewall]

farfalla2011 I tumble in the dryer for a minute or two, then hang to dry. Gets the wrinkles out and softens the crunch.

[RockNVoll]

May 28, 2020 6:39:28 GMT -5 farfalla2011 said:

Real question time since I always have clothes shrink, but I'm usually too lazy to hang stuff instead of drying.

How are your clothes not almost crunchy when hanging them inside?

We can't do outside due to HOA, pollen, humidity, etc. although I do remember as a kid in the 80s having our clothes hung on a line outside in the summer and it was just what my mom did, but I don't remember the clothes being crunchy. We did live in a much different climate than I do now.

The only things that really get crunchy are the ones made mostly of cotton (or denim).  In that case, when they're almost totally dry you can throw them into the dryer for five or ten minutes and that should soften them up a bit.  Or if you have a steam cycle that might work too; I've never tried it.

[sent]

May 28, 2020 6:39:28 GMT -5 farfalla2011 said:

Real question time since I always have clothes shrink, but I'm usually too lazy to hang stuff instead of drying.

How are your clothes not almost crunchy when hanging them inside?

We can't do outside due to HOA, pollen, humidity, etc. although I do remember as a kid in the 80s having our clothes hung on a line outside in the summer and it was just what my mom did, but I don't remember the clothes being crunchy. We did live in a much different climate than I do now.

Some cotton things do dry crunchy. Folding them helps soften them. As soon as I wear the crunchy clothes or use the crunchy towels, they go right back to normal. My guess is that the crunchiness has to do with the lack of movement of the clothes on the drying rack. If you hang clothes outside, they still move around from a breeze. 

[macmars45]

My mom still line dries her & my dad's clothes from June-October. I love the smell of line dried clothes. My dream for our future SFH is to line dry. I currently live in a TH and drying clothes outside is against HOA rules... and they actually go around to make sure people aren't breaking said rules. Last summer we got busted for having the wrong kind of window AC unit. *eye roll*

[VillainV]

I hang dry probably 50% of our laundry. Basically all leggings, bras, technical fabrics, thin t-shirts, jeans, my uniforms....the only things that get reliably tumble dried are sheets and towels, socks, and underwear/undershirts. I have no idea about energy savings, but it DEFINITELY makes our clothes last much longer, especially the technical fabrics.

I just hang them on hangers in our laundry room. We live in FL and despite any humidity, they always dry just fine inside. Our washer does have a really good spin cycle though, so it’s not like they’re dripping wet.

[blue]

We air dry all the laundry (except bedding). It’s much better for the environment (and save money and better for the clothes too).

[SusanBAnthony]

I line dry everything. H does tumble his dress shirts to get the wrinkles out. I hang my dress shirts on a hanger in the empty spare room closet to dry.

Certainly it takes some time but on a nice day I don't mind.

Even when we lived in an HOA neighborhood we put one of the racks pictured above on our deck to dry clothes.

In the winter we use the rack in the spare room. It gets so dry in the winter that I also figure a little extra humidity from the clothes won't help.

We have an umbrella style outdoor clothesline. About 100$ on Amazon, and when we take it down you can't see that it was ever there so it doesn't make the yard unusable.

[badgergrl]

I air dry a lot of things. I installed dryaway racks in my laundry room.