Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Laundry Day

In an effort to use less electricity, I never put my laundry in the dryer. I prefer the feeling of air-dried clothes anyway, so mine get strung around the apartment, over the tops of doors and the backs of chairs, and hung on my collapsible wooden clothesrack, which is now in a permanent state of wonky semi-collapse. It's really on its last legs and will have to be repurposed soon, probably as a trellis.

In the reverse, here's the scrap cedar that Matt made my trellis from, being put to another use while it was still sitting around my apartment:


I would love to have an outdoor clothesline, but as I share my small backyard with three other apartments it does not really seem feasible at the moment. I look forward to the day when I have a house with a yard of my own, with a big clothesline or one of those umbrella-shaped clothes trees, and maybe a drying rack above the stove, which can be lifted and lowered by a pulley system.

Though sometimes my apartment feels a little cluttered with clothes strung about everywhere to dry, I feel good about cutting down on my power usage, and it also helps me feel domestic in the "old-fashioned" way that I love.

What is your (current and/or ideal) clothes-drying arrangement?

4 comments:

Laurel said...

Well, currently I have a dryer downstairs next to the washer that gets the humidity up in the house each time I use it (and I really hate using it in the summer), but there is on my back porch a umbrella like thing to put in the backyard as soon as the backyard projects get finished. Sadly, I have absolutely no control over those projects so the hanger has been there for quite a while.

Karen Sue said...

i have 4 lines under my upper deck. They don't get as much breeze and sun, but they are a bit protected from light rain. I prefer lines to the unbrella if you have the space, because hangin' your sheets is tough in that much space. My little old lady neighbor put up her line and took it down each time she used it. No one saw it unless it was Monday Wash day!!

Kate said...

I do the same thing, draping my clothes over chairs, my bicycle, and oh yeah, the drying rack. =) If the weather ever warms up I'll set up a tiny line in my tiny back yard. Yay for power use reduction!

Mary Q Contrarie said...

I live in an apartment too. I have purchased a clothes drying rack that I use overnight for drying my laundry.

Here is how I get it done. I start my laundry about 9PM. That way it is finishing up in the washer about the same time I am getting ready for bed. I then set my rack up in the middle of the living room. Depending on the humidity, with the ceiling fan on over the top and I hang my laundry their. When I get up in the morning it is all dry and I simply sort it in the correct basket to be put away when I get home from work. If I have gotten behind and have to do two loads I just start a little bit earlier and one load gets hung on a rack in my kitchen. Also has the benefit of keeping me from snacking before bed since I can get to the fridge.