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Ever since I can remember my mother has saved money on laundry by drying our clothes on clotheslines, which are making a comeback among people who want to be green. Once strung up, these simple and electricity-free devices are not always welcomed.
A couple days ago, I read a story from NPR of a New Hampshire activist fighting for his right to use a clothesline. A Google search quickly revealed an array of similar stories. It seems that many communities do not want to see clotheslines in their neighborhoods because they consider them an eyesore. I understand that many do not want to see their neighbor’s skivvies hanging out to dry, but there are ways to be discreet. I use the shower rod instead of leaving my damp clothes outside. You can also get a low-cost drying rack that folds up into tight spaces.
To someone who grew up with clotheslines it is difficult to understand what the big deal is all about. An opponent of clotheslines is quoted in a story from the Richmond Times-Dispatch as saying that clotheslines give an atmosphere of decline and a sense that one is not in a well-off neighborhood.
It maybe the nostalgia in me speaking, but I do not see how a clothesline makes a neighborhood’s status change. Electricity is one of the biggest home expenses that can easily be subsided with a rope and clothes pins, so why not use it?
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price. 
Agreed. Clotheslines are an excellent, efficient method of drying clothes.
The notion of clotheslines hinting of a neighbourhood in decline often reflects a flawed notion of social status. That notion equates status with spending AND assumes that people will only be frugal if they are destitute.
Sometimes, it’s a mental picture that locks a good tool or method into a particular setting. Like picturing clotheslines in a tenament setting one saw as a child or in an old movie. But clotheslines don;t have to be in such a setting.
Thanks for the posts.
It’s a cultural thing – many consider clotheslines low-class, like driving a subcompact rather than a hulking SUV….
There is nothing like a sheet dried outside on the line – I really miss that! My mom always had a line outside. I know the President of the HOA in my neighborhood would have a cow if I put one up.
Go to Europe for examples of well-heeled folks drying on lines – they have lines/drying racks outside the windows of their million dollar plus apartments in Rome, Paris, etc.
Thank you for the thought-provoking post.
I think clotheslines can be an eyesore, but can also look fine. If someone leaves ratty clothes on the line for days, it’s an eyesore. If someone discreetly hangs up sheets and tops and pants for a few hours, no problem.
it does kinda look bad if it blocks your view or if its in the front yard and you have to see it if your going to do it keep it outta sight back yard i grew up with line drying untill we got a dryer and i gotta say i need a dryer the clothes get softer and arent so stiff i love dryers but if you want to thats up to you to hang or not that is a personal prefrence just like resuable shopping bags i cant stand them they are dirty fall apart ugly and i wont use them but so many people love them i guess it depends on the person
It looks tacky to have a clothesline if you live in the city. If you live in the country – it’s ok. I grew up in the country and my Mom used a clothes line on occasion. I do not want to see other people’s clothes~!
My youth was spent during a time when there were no clothes dryers, so hanging everything on a clothesline was not an option. To this day, I hang quite a few items outside. I do have a rack on wheels that can be used in the direct sun or under my patio overhang. I haven’t used a line in years. If clothes are hung in one’s back yard and not causing a visual blight in the neighborhood, there should be no problem. I have neighbors who use their front yard as a vegetable “garden” and let it get very rundown for weeks at a time. That’s an eyesore, as it’s the only one in the neighborhood. All of us need to use common sense, and have respect for the rights and property of others. NIMBY may be a solution, but doesn’t usually make for good neighbors.
I grew up with a clothes line, and love them. My husband on the other hand didn’t grew up with one so he has a hard time with the idea of having one in our back yard. But yesterday he asked me, “which one do you think takes up more energy/money – the washer or the dryer?” When I said the dry he said I was thinking that too. Then he hung out our clothes on the 2 drying racks we have. Maybe next I’ll get a clothes line. I’ll also forward him this post.
I was just saying to some friends that because I am lazy, I prefer my (gas) clothes dryer even though it is not as energy-efficient as “old Sol.” I prefer tossing the clothes in and then removing them without having to use, then remove, clothes pins. Even if I wanted to, I can’t have a clothes line in our townhouse complex.
We travel about six months out of the year and live out of our RV. I have a good w/d set at home and still hang lots of clothes – I partially dry our good clothes, about 10 minutes, and then put them on hangers to finish drying. I can’t get my husband to put up a line, so I hang them inside the house. I installed a wire closet shelf over the top of the outside door in the laundry room, and hang them on it. On humid days I set a fan in the laundry room. They are in the way there, and that keeps me from leaving them very long. I also have a 4-poster bed with iron rails at the top and have put hangers there, too. Smaller things likes bras and other delicates either get put temporarily on a hanger or laid over a drying rack. Generally, I fully dry towels, sheets, and cotton underwear because they take up more room than I can muster. I have found that if you don’t leave things more than a couple of hours, most people in most places don’t complain.
I too love the clothes line, grew up with one, hardly knew what a dryer was, but also like the way a “gas” dryer takes the wrinkles out. I “gas” dry my cothes for about 10 minutes, then remove & hang on an line in the garage, I guess I do that because no one else in the neighborhood uses a clothes line.
Then again, now I’m thinking, Maybe I’ll start a NEW OLD trend.
thanks BB
I recently bought a front-load washer and no dryer and hang all my clothes in my small, city backyard. Some people think clotheslines are tacky, and I think a single person driving a big SUV is in bad taste. We can all have our own opinions but ultimately, we are all responsible for this planet.
@Undies in the Breeze I never thought of it that way, but you have a point – especially about the SUVs.
I shared this blog with a friend and wanted to share her response. From Roz:
I recall using a clothes line in 1948-50 when we first moved to California. Then we moved to Studio city and got a clothes dryer. Now, I have a special “shower” in my laundry room which is a drip dry zone. I use it all the time. In addition to hanging things to dry (on hangers), I also hang and hose down shirts, blouses etc after they come out of the drier all wrinkled up and the weight of the water irons them for me.
I would love to have my clothes dried in the sun. The whites come out so white and the clothes smell so fresh. I just do not want to use my time hanging them up and taking them down! I think that the day of the clothes line as a mainstream item is over.
@Diane’s friend: You can buy a ‘rack’ at Target and other places. They’re easy to assemble, and come with wheels. Very easy to put clothes on hangers and put the on the rack bars. That way you can dry things outdoors either directly in or shaded from the sun. Clothes really do smell nice when they’ve been dried outdoors. Nice thing about the rack is that it can even work on a balcony!