332
u/Flack_Bag 1d ago
PSA: If you live in the US and your community, landlord, or HOA prohibits line drying, look up your state's renewable energy protections or 'right to dry' laws. A lot of rules prohibiting clotheslines are unenforceable under those state laws. The laws often cover other renewable energy methods like solar panels and wind turbines and such as well.
127
u/Johnpecan 1d ago
Michigan just passed this in 2024. I was looking to get solar last year, was against HOA rules, was very satisfying when the law passed and I was able to respectfully say "get wrecked".
3
u/LethalRex75 1d ago
Where are you at in Michigan? I’m in Grand Rapids and we’re so gray that it would take a lifetime to break even on the investment with solar.
5
u/Johnpecan 1d ago
Same city, my estimate was 7 years to break even with no financing needed. Even on overcast days, you're still generating ~25%. Won't know for sure if it was a good investment until maybe a year from now. I figure with everything going up in the future, utilities/electric included it was a good idea. It also depends on the company I got electric from not going bankrupt which I've read happens a bunch.
2
u/-cordyceps 6h ago
Also FYI, you can still have an indoor drying rack if you have the space. It takes a bit longer but it still gets the job done
90
u/Hobbes2819 1d ago
Solar AND wind powered
17
u/Worldly-Stranger7814 1d ago
Wind is the better of the two. The sun really messes up your clothes long term.
5
u/ol-gormsby 1d ago
Are you saying I shouldn't wear clothes when the sun is out? But the sunburn!
/s
62
u/leisurechef 1d ago
Australia here, this is the only way I’ve ever dried laundry
25
8
u/zerefdxz 1d ago
Same in Brazil
2
u/CatNerdBartender 1d ago
The perks of living in Brazil is that it's almost always sunny
4
u/zerefdxz 1d ago
Yes but windy weather is much better and faster to dry off clothes. So if you live near the beach you won't waste a thint to dry off your clothes
7
u/StarBuckingham 1d ago
Also Australian, and I’m the same. I have a dryer, but only use it when completely essential. On the Bluey sub, a bunch of people were questioning why the wealthy Heeler family were using a clothesline rather than a dryer. I explained that it’s more sustainable, better for clothes, cheaper, and in some cases quicker than using a dryer, so most families still use clotheslines. Blew some people’s minds.
1
1
u/ol-gormsby 1d ago
Perhaps they didn't know the insane price for electricity here.
And it's definitely faster on a hot sunny day.
2
u/Bobblefighterman 1d ago
You don't have a hills hoist?
3
u/leisurechef 1d ago
I actually drilled holes in all of my veranda posts & ran clothes line cable a foot under the roofline so I can dry clothes when it’s raining.
→ More replies (1)2
u/ThiccBamboozle 10h ago
England here, we do this and when it's raining (e.g almost always) we have an indoor clothes rack
1
u/bigdumb78910 1d ago
It's not so great of you live where it freezes outside for a majority of the year, but still a great option.
1
u/itwonthurtabit 21h ago
Same in NZ. It'd have to be raining a solid week before I'd consider using the dryer.
22
u/Kinetic_Cat 1d ago
Nice washing machine (I live in Ohio the joke is rain)
19
u/jupiterstringtheory 1d ago
I was so amazed when my husband and I moved into our rental house and it still had these poles in the backyard. I love using it during summer time and when it’s not raining!! And I get a tan and vitamin d while doing laundry lol
10
u/Embarrassed-Profit74 1d ago
I grew up in a hot, sunny place and this was the way my family dried all our clothes normally. The dryer was only ever used if someone has recently been sick or had recently had headlice, then the dryer was used on their clothes and bedding. Not sure if that was scientific or just psychological. Now I live in a cold, cloudy, damp place and dry my clothes on indoor racks, and I miss the smell of the sun in the laundry and I especially miss how speedy drying outdoors in the hot sun was, it takes about a day and a half for my clothes to fully dry on the indoor racks.
10
u/casinocooler 1d ago
This is the most positive clothes line post I have witnessed on Reddit. Good job everyone! Squash the excuses and promote positive change!
7
u/TrueLibertyforYou 1d ago
Apartment complex won’t let us air dry. I have got into trouble hanging a wet blanket out to dry on my 2nd floor balcony for a few hours. On a day where the temp was like 95 F and sunny. They think it makes the place look cheap. Mind you this actually is one of the cheapest places to live in my area; the buildings are falling apart, everyone drives a beater (I don’t have a car), and there are giant holes everywhere cause they keep finding damaged water lines. 🤦🏻♂️
6
u/Momentofclarity_2022 1d ago
Love my clothes line! Nothing like sleeping on sheets dried outside. And I love my stiff jeans hung outside.
6
u/spilt_milk 1d ago
I want to set one up but I'm worried about allergies, like pollen getting all over clothes and sheets and stuff. Anyone have advice or tips on that?
4
u/googdude 1d ago
You might have to use an indoor drying rack or a dryer during the time of the highest pollen. Luckily that isn't too awful long so you'll still be able to dry the majority of the time outside.
2
u/NameEducational9805 3h ago
I have to use an indoor one cuz its either pollen season, wildfire season (hazardous levels of smoke in the air), or snow season
3
u/Due_Asparagus_3203 1d ago
It's never really been an issue. Shake out your clothes as you take them off of the line. Shaking also helps the towels to not be so stiff, although I consider it as an exfoliater
5
u/SinisterCheese 1d ago
My apartment building has a Drying room. No idea if this is a thing outside of Finland. It's a big ass room next to the laundry with lines in it, 2 big radiators, and big vents, and a blower with a heater element. It fits 3 full machines generously spread, and it is all bone dry in 2 hours, if you just bother to go and collect the dry ones from the middle and rotate the outer ones in. Also sheet become as if they been ironed.
It's original part of this building from the 60s. The machine is newer, its from the 90s.
2
u/Hfhghnfdsfg 1d ago
Everything I hear about Finland makes it seem like heaven on Earth.
Except the long, dark winters.
3
u/SinisterCheese 1d ago
Funnily enough, people are afraid of the winter. But it is usually the summers and 4 weeks without night which really fucks people up.
→ More replies (1)1
u/goldfish1902 1d ago
I always wondered how colder countries deal with hang drying clothes. You answered my question, thanks :3 (it's rainy where I live and my clothes will smell like wet dog this week orz)
1
u/SinisterCheese 19h ago
Oh! If it's really cold like -10 C we can dry outside just fine! The air is so dry that all the water just evaporates.
Only about less than half of the year it is cold or warm enough to dry outside, the other half it is ariund the -5 to +5 and wet, which means you can't dry outside, things get even more wet.
Then we got few other common things. A drying cabinet, which is just a cabinet with a heater, a blower and a vent that pushes air out. Simpler older ones in houses with gravity based air exchange might just have a cupboard or small closet with a radiator.
The universal indoor drying rack... The nightmare things that break, also common thing. It's actually good during winter because it adds moisture to your apartment when the air is dry, and many people get sinus problems if air is dry.
16
u/S_Dakota_Kola 1d ago
Yay I live in a right to dry state! Fuck you government trying to tell me how to wash my clothes ✊
→ More replies (5)
12
u/Puzzleheaded_Disk700 1d ago
It annoys me to no end how many people are so against using clothes lines
2
21
u/Tall-Committee-2995 1d ago
Yeah well it might work if you aren’t in a rainy, cold, grey state. Wisconsin and our ilk can use these for part of the year only. I mean, we have always line dried at our house in the dry seasons, but it doesn’t work reliably October through April.
17
u/nighttimecharlie 1d ago
I live in Canada and in the winter I dry my clothes inside on a drying rack. Spring, summer, and autumn they get dried outside on dry days.
2
1
1
u/Tall-Committee-2995 17h ago
We have a clothesline set up in the basement in front of the wine cellar. It works pretty well in the moist times!
6
u/Far_Rutabaga7652 1d ago
You can buy an indoor one. I did that when I lived in Mississippi. And it is humid af there
3
2
u/Hfhghnfdsfg 1d ago
We did this in Pennsylvania for over 30 years. The trick was not to do laundry when rain was forecasted.
5
u/Any_Bee_5918 1d ago
Isn't this also good for whites too? I could be wrong but I remember reading about ppl using the sun to bleach clothes and/or remove stains etc.
8
u/LuvLee27 1d ago
just found out americans don't dry there clothes out side like the rest of the world and that in some places its banned. land of the free i guess.
5
3
u/tamewillow 1d ago
Lucky me our 1957 ranch home came with a clothesline and I use it. Pretty sure I'm the only one in our neighborhood who hangs laundry out to dry
3
3
u/PartyPorpoise 1d ago
I wish I could line dry. My landlord would probably be fine with me putting one up, but I live in kind of a shitty neighborhood and I just know people would steal my stuff, lol. I do have an indoor drying rack that I use to dry a selection of my laundry.
3
u/DarkwingDuckHunt 1d ago
You haven't lived until you've used a clotheslined dried set of bath towels to dry off after showers.
3
u/ShinyBarge 1d ago
As a kid, I remember getting into bed made up with fresh line dried sheets. Nothing like it!
3
u/CrazyForSterzings 1d ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/pa6tyx/til_19_us_states_have_right_to_dry_laws/
Some states have "right to dry" laws that override even city or HOA bans
2
2
u/AccomplishedYam6283 1d ago
I wish I could this but we’re surrounded by trees and a creek runs through our yard. The times I’ve tried to do this, my clothes STANK and got seeds and stuff on them.
2
u/olafbond 1d ago
We don't do it outdoors anymore. But most apartments have those line at balconies or in bathrooms.
2
2
u/1stHalfTexasfan 1d ago
Let's not forget the madlad selling solar laundry dryers and shipping a cord for outdoor clothes line.
2
2
u/vibesWithTrash 1d ago
I and my family have literally never had a dryer in my life. how do americans survive when they are dependent on their stupid gadgets to do literally anything?
2
2
u/Hour-Watercress-3865 19h ago
We live in the north east, so outdoor drying doesn't always work.
That's why we have an indoor rack and some fans in our sun room too.
2
u/davekarpsecretacount 17h ago
If you hand them up when the sky looks like that, you may have product failure.
2
4
u/CharleyNobody 1d ago
Except when it’s raining. Or snowing. Or in summer with high humidity. Or in fall, when there are 3 day long nor’easters. In winter, when temperatures are below freezing and you’re clothes get icy.
2
u/TheEndingofitAll 1d ago
lol I’m in New England and that was my first thought. Even in summer it thunderstorms like every or every other day (and stays hot afterwards like a steamy shower lol). March and April are so grey and rainy it depressing. I’m not even excited for summer bc the humidity is so intense and it’s constant heat waves nowadays🥵. It was never this bad growing up. We didnt have AC as a kid bc we didn’t need it and my neighbor had a clothes line.
I do have a drying rack in my basement but I don’t use it much because my basement has mice and mildew which is gross.
Long story short, I think it’s ridiculous that they are banned in a lot of places but I think for some regions they are just really impractical, especially with climate change factored in.
5
1
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Read the rules. Keep it courteous. Submission statements are helpful and appreciated but not required. Use the report button only if you think a post or comment needs to be removed. Mild criticism and snarky comments don't need to be reported. Lets try to elevate the discussion and make it as useful as possible. Low effort posts & screenshots are a dime a dozen. Links to scientific articles, political analysis, and video essays are preferred.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/RunningPirate 1d ago
In the Bay Area, PG&E would add a surcharge to your bill for not using your allotted amount of electricity.
1
u/HerbivorousFarmer 1d ago
I miss mine so much. It was right off the laundry room, from the porch to a tree, I could fit multiple loads on that line. Unfortunately a hawk killed my favorite duck and we had to put up netting to prevent any more attacks, so the clothesline had to go. If I had to walk the laundry out to the yard like this one here I don't think I'd ever do it, I'm too lazy. Being right off the laundry room spoiled me. Now I just have the indoor ones
1
1
u/Otto-Korrect 1d ago
I'm old enough to remember when just about every house had a clothesline in the yard. Either the two poles with the straight lines or the square one that spun around.
1
1
1
1
1
u/gig_labor 1d ago
I'll never forget the day my landlord emailed us to say we weren't allowed to hang our towels/blankets from our railing because it looked "trashy." Like okay yeah I'm totally gonna spend $20 drying my towels and blankets every month in your dryer so that people driving by won't subconsciously associate the cheapest apartment complex in town with poverty lol.
1
1
u/John6233 1d ago
My grandparents were far far from being environmentalists, but they actually had a low carbon footprint purely from being cheap. Never owned a dryer. Never left lights on that weren't being used. Didn't buy much clothes, or anything they didn't need.
1
u/Dovahkiin2001_ 1d ago
My grandma still has one of those and uses it occasionally in the summer, still a few to many bugs most of the time
1
u/DoNotEatMySoup 1d ago
Nice if you own property. If you live in an apartment or a room you're stuck paying and polluting with a washer/dryer
1
u/FLCLHero 1d ago
My 100 year old refrigerator still works! And it’s actually an electric appliance. GE globetop
1
u/artgarciasc 1d ago
Back in the day when you could order stuff from the back of a magazine, there was a dude selling solar clothes dryers.
When it came in, it was just some rope and instructions to hang your wet clothes.
1
u/googdude 1d ago
And a bonus wasp habitat! Seriously cap the end of those posts. I live in an area where many people use those and if it's not capped, it probably has a bee nest in it.
1
u/Z0mbiejay 1d ago
As much as I'd love to do my air drying, I have PTSD from these.
Swung from the crossbar on the one at my neighbor's as a kid. There's was a wasp nest inside, and I got stung repeatedly on my armpits.
1
u/JohnnyRelentless 1d ago
Not in Spain.
In southern Spain, farmers welcome the rain while Seville residents search for sun https://www.npr.org/2025/04/03/nx-s1-5349502/in-southern-spain-farmers-welcome-the-rain-while-seville-residents-search-for-sun
1
u/Likes_The_Scotch 1d ago
Now run a metal detector under it and see what type of coins you find it may be enough to fund another one
1
1
u/mallanson22 1d ago
I was really confused when I first moved to Europe. I was like uh where is the dryer? And why is the washer in the kitchen? I learned to adapt and now we line dry.
1
1
u/gori_sanatani 1d ago
All good and well if its not raining lol. I use an indoor clothes drying rack. I can't really do it outside anyways because I live in an apartment. I wish I could to it outdoors im summer time. Generally though dryers destroy your clothing.
1
u/ZippieHippie77 1d ago
As a little girl I use to hang clothes w my Nana who never had a dryer until she was 80, and hated it. All these years, I still hang clothes, honestly there is nothing better than fresh sheets off the line.
1
1
u/LuminousOcean 1d ago
Bylaw forbids this method of drying clothes outside. Something about it being an eyesore.
1
1
u/TiredOfBeingTired28 1d ago
Have one don't use to often simply wind. Have to wash things again from dirt alone if used it over a dryer. But blanket or rugs get thrown on it just so dryer literally burning money up for forever dry time.
1
u/antek_g_animations 1d ago
Sadly I'm living in Poland so I can use this technique only for a few months every year
1
1
1
1
1
u/CatNerdBartender 1d ago
We still have these at my house! They work great, I'm not paying money to have a dryer with electricity being so high here in Brazil.
1
u/No_Kangaroo_2428 1d ago
This is what we had when I was a kid. I looked in to getting them for my home and they are expensive.
1
1
1
u/MuppetSquirrel 1d ago
Ugh I want one of these. My neighbor has one set in cement in her backyard that she never uses, I wish it was easy to move it to my yard instead
1
u/simpingforMinYoongi 21h ago
I wonder if I could convince my parents to get a clothesline... It would be great on the warm days.
1
1
1
u/RoadLight 9h ago
I used to live in the Middle East and this is really the only way to dry cloths. There’s nothing wrong with this, cloths comes out a little stiffer than usual, but that’s really about it. Nothing a bit of steaming can’t fix!
1
1
u/aagloworks 1h ago
The best thing about that, is that it can also work at night (depending on location)
412
u/temporarypumpkin1 1d ago
I wish I could use this line drying technique. It’s against my civic association rules.