Laundry Experiment: Cold Water and Line Drying
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The challenge? Wash your clothes in cold water and dry them on the line for 30 days.
Hmmm…. me thinks, I can handle that.
In fact, I was already washing our clothes in cold water and I had some experience with line drying. I also had some residual fear of bees and moths from said line drying experience. But, you know me, I’m always up for a challenge. I figured I’d find a way around that. And I did.
Yes, yes, I did.
- Up to 10% of a home’s energy use is due to the clothes dryer. Reducing the usage (or not having it at all) was saving me a few bucks.
- Line drying is a very savvy, green thing to do. You’re cool if you dry your clothes this way.
So, to dry your clothes on the line can make you cool and richer. Who knew?
Some observations from the first 2 weeks of the challenge:
As you can see, I’m drying the clothes indoors. Oh, let me count the reasons why… One, the weather here in San Diego is often cool and overcast. Not the most efficient clothes drying weather. Two, I won’t forget them outside. Three, I have this fear of bees.
I’m finding that I can fit two loads of clothes on this indoor clothes rack. So, if I wash and hang two loads at night, they are usually dry by morning. And, if I do the same in the morning, they are ready to be folded by bedtime. This means I can get four loads washed and dried in a 24 hour period. This is proving to be sufficient, even in a family of 8. Kids clothes dry quickly, which is a big plus.
Tricks to line drying
- Dry clothes that are destined for the closet on hangers. You don’t have to mess with clothespins. As soon as they are dry, hang them up!
- Pin tshirts on the line upside down. This way the “crunchy” part caused by the pinching of the clothespin will be on the bottom hem and not on their shoulders.
- Hang socks by the toe for the same reason.
- Don’t forget your clothes outside after dark or the bees might get them.
I also found some tips to make line drying easier:
- wash the load at night or first thing in the morning so that it has enough daytime to dry. Clothes take longer to dry in cool weather.
- shake out each article of clothing to help eliminate the wrinkles.
- hang tshirts and socks upside down so that the marks from the clothes pins aren’t as noticeable.
- hang shirts on hangers on the line. Takes just a few seconds to slip them on and makes collecting the dried clothes a snap. Putting them away is even easier.
- sheets dry really quickly. Just fold them in half and then fold them over the line.
- hang jeans by folding them over the line. Flip them halfway through to dry the other side.
- don’t leave clothes out after dark as they can attract insects, such as bees and moths. (Ask me how I know.)
- check the weather so you don’t have to rush out in a downpour, collect your clothes, and rewash them. (Ask me how I know.)
While we are back to having a running dryer, I have still left the clothes line up. Once I get over my bee/moth phobia, me and my clothes pins will be back in business.
What’s been your experience with cold water wash and line drying?
Disclosure: Seventh Generation and My Blog Spark provided me with a “Project Laundry Line” kit that included Seventh Generation Natural 2x Concentrated Laundry Liquid, a portable laundry line, clothes pins, a laundry basket, and a Flip camera to record my experience. I was not compensated in any way for participating in this challenge or offering this giveaway, nor was I required to do so. My opinions are my own. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.
If you are drying your cloths you hang up on hangers on hangers arent they getting that bump from the hanger because they where wet and doesnt that pull on the fabric?
I don’t have a problem like that. And they’re hanging on the line otherwise. Hanging is hanging, one way or the other. Maybe it depends on the hangar. I have plastic ones and we aren’t having a problem.
You have started what I have been doing since january. I have banned the tumble drier except in dire emergencies. I will use hangers tho that is a real good tip thank you
After line drying my towels and Jeans, if they are too scratchy, put them in the dryer for 10 minutes. It softens them right up, then fold and put away. I love to line dry…but there are those days when the clothes line is full (today) and the Lord sends rain (today). Then we dash outside to retrieve partially dried clothes so the weight of the wet clothes doesn’t collapse the line. If the clothesline collapses and your clothes hit the mud from the rain…you have to start over, yes, I have experience with this.
I wash most of my clothes on cold, but I do towels on warm. I also hang some of my clothes on a drying rack, but those are just the ones I don’t want to shrink in the dryer. It definitely is more work. I end up having to iron most of the clothes I hang dry. Have you had to iron a lot of your clothes during this experiment? Any other tips on getting out wrinkles other than ironing?
I have done what others mentioned about tossing something in the dryer for 10 minutes to soften or dewrinkle. But, my kids don’t care. I don’t know that my husband loves it. But, I haven’t asked and he hasn’t complained. 😉
I have been washing with cold water and line drying for years now. At my last house, I had a laundry closet and put a shower rod across it to hang the clothes to dry. We recently moved and now I have a clothes rack on wheels that I can roll out when I am doing laundry. It definitely saves money. I use fabric softener to soften the clothes and also make my own detergent from washing soda and borax to really save money. The only thing I use the dryer for is towels and maybe jeans.
How long do you think it was before you saw a savings? I’m a little skeptical on that front.
@Jessica Fisher, Oh it’s a big savings for sure. We started hanging all our shirts and pants on hangers over doorframes and using the bathroom shower curtain rod (we have no other space in our small house!) and only drying socks/underwear in the dryer and our bill dropped from about $70 a month to $39! We made no other changes (in fact, I lost my job about the same time, so I’m home even more often and use the computer a more therefore).
I almost always wash in cold water. We use to line dry everything growing up. I hated the scratchy feeling of the towels. Any suggestions for avoiding that?
@M @ bettycrapper,
I’m not a mom, but I am a cold wash-hang outside laundry girl. Consider adding a cup of white vinegar to the rinse cycle of your laudnry for a natural fabric softener and for extra deordorizing.
As for stains, try pre-treating with Simple Green. It works esepecially well for grease spots on clothing… especially ones caused by food.
😀
Ditto on the dryer thing that someone mentioned.
@M @ bettycrapper,
We always wash in cold and line dry as well. Too avoid the crunchy towels trying hanging them in the shade and take them down as soon as they are dry. In fact since I normally am just going to hang them on towel racks straight away I bring them in even they are just the tiniest bit damp still. They finish drying inside and aren’t crunchy.
I always wash with cold water as well. I don’t hang my clothes though. 1) takes too long and I hate laundry as is and 2) there are way too many spiders by my clothes line.
I never used hot water for washing until I had my son — but I’m afraid his stains won’t come out without it. Do you have a trick?
I’ve just kind of accepted the fact that with four boys, we are going to have some stains. I am careful with the “dress” clothes, but don’t worry about play clothes too much.
Hope this isn’t a silly question but do you need to add liquid fabric softener to your wash if you line dry?
@Mary, I can’t stand the smell of fabric softeners, so I’ve never, NEVER used them. Weird, huh? My mom never did, either.
@FishMama, Not weird, we also NEVER use (because of smells).
I enjoyed watching your video. Lots of memories for me. We lived overseas for several years and I had to line dry in most of the places because I didn’t have any other option. In Mozambique we even had to wash our clothes by hand (or foot – don’t ask) in the bathtub because we didn’t have a washing machine. I always hung our clothes inside – mostly because the places we lived were extremely hot and humid, so the clothes never dried. We traveled continually and very light, which means we didn’t have other clothes to wear while waiting on stuff to dry. Whatever room had an A/C unit (or the most breeze) is where you could find our makeshift clothesline. The thing I looked forward to the most about coming back to the States was wearing dryer-dried clothes (especially socks!) and drying off with dryer-dried towels. Glorious! I still don’t take it all for granted. However, even with that book that I just wrote about why I love dryer-dried clothes :-), I think it’s great if you can save money by hanging your clothes to dry. It’s all the little things that add up. Line dry your clothes now, save money to go to Disney World later – I could go for that! 🙂