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I have a clothesline!
Morgan spied it and declared, “I’M NOT DRYING MY CLOTHES OUT THERE!”
I said, “I’M NOT EITHER.”

Whew. Teenage crisis averted. I do have clothespins, though.

They are tucked into a bucket that hangs from the line.

And I do intend to use the clothesline.

Clotheslines are making a comeback. Like home preserving and raising chickens, hanging clothes out to dry is trendy. It’s environmentally-friendly and frugal. I would like to say that I’m trendy or environmentally-friendly or even just frugal, but none of those reasons are why I put up a clothesline.

I plan to hang sheets out in the breeze. And even some selected clothing, and other items. The flap of sheets in the air….. The sweet smell of the woods and the wildflowers in my clothes…. It’s appealing. But the truth is, the clothesline is essentially…..a home decor item. There, I’ve admitted it. I put up a clothesline for decoration. Because a farmhouse needs a clothesline to be a real farmhouse.

I just think it’s cute.
What about you? Do you have a clothesline? Do you use it? If you don’t have a clothesline, do you want one?
Posted by Suzanne McMinn on September 12, 2009
"It was a cold wintry day when I brought my children to live in rural West Virginia. The farmhouse was one hundred years old, there was already snow on the ground, and the heat was sparse-—as was the insulation. The floors weren’t even, either. My then-twelve-year-old son walked in the door and said, “You’ve brought us to this slanted little house to die." Keep reading our story....
Make friends, ask questions, have fun!
Take Clover with you in 2010!
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Your recipes! (Contributed by forum members.)
I'm a paperback writer.
by wvhomecanner on November 20, 2009
by Leahld22 on November 20, 2009
by Pete on November 20, 2009
by quietstorm on November 20, 2009
by johnzegirl on November 20, 2009
November 2009
"First it's glowing, then it's snowing! A pause, then screaming squalls and williwaws. Bright but bitter, then a thaw. Yet again it's cold and storming: What ever happened to global warming?"
Friday, Nov 20
Fair
Currently: 42˚F
Feels Like: 42˚ F
Hi: N/A˚, Lo: 34˚
weather feed courtesy of weather.com - thanks!
- Amy on How (Not) to Start a Fire in a Wood Stove
"Cookies are good." Read my barnyard stories....
Entire Contents © Copyright 2004-2009 SuzanneMcMinn.com. Text and photographs may not be published, broadcast, redistributed or aggregated without express permission. Thank you.
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I don’t like towels or jeans dried on the line though. Just too stiff & scratchy!
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Of course I also have to be careful where I hang the longer clothes because the geese just love to nibble on the fringes of my sons worn jeans. They’ve been my little “helpers” all summer. Whenever I bring a basket out and set it under the line, they run over and start trying to pull the clothes out and Lord help me if I drop a clothes pin! They think they’ve found gold!
I love my clothes line and every time I hang clothes out there I am reminded of how grateful I am to live here (and not someplace with a HOA!)
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I have a line, requested it be put in actually. I’ve just started using it again.
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Love it!
Have used it since we moved here.
Love the smell of Gods air dried clothes!
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Hubbie will build me one when he has free time or no apple pie..lol
love yours!!
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Live in suburbia.
Hang laundry out in summer, hang it in the basement in winter.
Not only save money (and don’t cause pollution), but the clothes last longer……….
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solar dryer!
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I don’t use it in the winter, and I can’t wait for spring so I can hang them outside again.
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It also brought back many memories of the way clothes smell so wonderful after line drying in the sun.
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Great memories…
http://grannymountain.blogspot.com/2009/07/old-clothesline.html
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just the smell of the clothes when they are dry, is so fantastic.
i couldn’t do without it……….
hugs
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I love everything hung on it, especially towels – rough and exfoliatingly delicious, but work clothes, rugs, heavy sweatshirts, even shoes are perfect for it.
I’m very impressed with #18, Vicki in Michigan…you go girl!
7:35
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Believe it or NOT, neither Georgia nor I have a clothesline. Our resident Mr.-I-don’t-want-to-mow-around-any-obstacles took Georgia’s down and won’t put one up for me!
I don’t hang up jeans, towels or underwear either – too scratchy.
Energy savings are a plus!
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Now, my pains have subsided some ad we have been working on the forest out there. Maybe by next Spring we will be using the line again.
For those of you not liking the scratchy feel of the clothes…hang them til almost dry and then pop them in the dryer for 10 minutes or so. You gotten that fresh smell of outside, saved some money on gas or electricity and you have softer clothing!
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Love the fresh scent, no dryer sheet can compete!
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I hang everything out there now and love it. The smell is wonderful and the sun whitenes the whites. We haven’t had a dryer that works all summer this year and I haven’t missed it.
That said, my 24 yr old son was aghast at having to hang his clothes on the clothesline. He does his own laundry. The first day he put a load of his clothes out there I came home from work to find them all over the backyard. He didn’t “bother” with the clothespins. LOL! After showing him how to hang stuff and how to use the roller thingies to keep it from sagging, he’s a fan now, sort of.
I would never be without a clothesline.
ALSO: I have all plastic clothespins from the dollar store! They are fabulous. The wooden ones I had last year were all moldewed this spring so I tossed them out. They don’t hold nearly as well as the plastic ones either. I have little plastic ones with rubber tips and extra large heavy duty plastic ones for heavy stuff and I love them. They all have a little hole at the top of the open area that the line goes in when you clip them on. They won’t fall off in a tornado!
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Take a little girls cotton dress without a full skirt (about size 3T), turn the dress inside-out and sew across the bottom of the skirt, sealing the dress to make a bag. Turn and hang the dress on a coat hanger and you have the cutest clothes pin bag! Hang it on your line and it will scoot with you while you hang out your clothes.
Check out Craft Fairs in your area if you don’t want to make this yourself. Someone always has them for sale.
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I had two in diapers at the same time, I would hang dozens of diapers on the line and they would freeze before you could get them pinned, that was about three times a week. Everything is so much easier now.
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#29 mentioned a “clothesmill. . .” What is that?
I want a clothesreel!
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I’ll be right over with my wet clothes!!
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Does anyone else remember the funky pantleg stretchers? Dad wore khakis to work, and to save on ironing Mom had several of those stretchers that you slid into the legs then spread and fastened them. I hated doing that! In the winter, even in Florida, they’d be cold and stiff when you took them off the line.
I’d love to smell that fresh, outdoorsy scent now!!!
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Guess you could say that MY clothesline is not for decoration.
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I love my clothes line..and will probably use it until late November if possible…
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- a very very long 4 liner -
we filled it up just about every day….whew…good exercise tote’n clothes to the line; hanging them up;running out to get them when the rain came up every afternoon….
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And I use it all the time. Clothes line rule #1 no underwear or bras on the line! Also I don’t like my socks dried on the line. They don’t do right. My husband doesn’t like the towels on the line. He says they are too scratchy. Doesn’t bother me. So we dry one load in the dryer on laundry day Towels, socks and underwear.
I was really amazed at the power bill savings. His shop is on a separate bill and the washers and dryer are out there. It was a very noticeable difference in the bill. So much so that in the winter we hang stuff up in the house.
Use it Suzanne you’ll be glad you did. Oh and your clothes don’t shrink as bad. NO you aren’t gaining weight the dryer thinks it’s funny to shrink your clothes.
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You must spend a fortune on the dryer! And where do you dry dainty things that would shrink or go staticky in the tumbler?
The UV of the sun helps to kill germs and whiten laundry – but really hot bright days can fade your colours a little.
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I so love the way the clothes smell after they’ve dried on the line that I’m still putting off buying a dryer. I may never do it.
Sure, there’s one or two months in the winter when the clothes just won’t dry outside, but I just bake a lot and hang the clothes in the house. They’ll dry soon enough.
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its almost perfect for hanging clothes! The only thing is that it’s under a huge evergreen tree, and i have several bird feeders. ‘nuf said. LOL. Nothing better than the sun to fade out old spots on vintage linens!Also, nothing better than the smell. Fresh Air. Wonderful!! even in Winter!!!
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There is nothing better than sheets fresh from the line.
I am incredibly lazy sometimes, and stuff everything in the dryer before work, but my husband is a line Nazi. He will ‘rescue’ the clothes and hang them out before he leaves in the morning.
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You are right all farmhouses need a clothesline!
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BTW, we also have an underwear tree. I hang as much of the big clothes on the line but the little stuff: socks, undies, get hung on the branches of a young oak tree.
My neighbors think I’m ‘interesting’!!!
Beth aka oneoldgoat
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Take a toddler’s sundress (the best are blue jean overall dresses) and sew up the bottom of the dress.
The straps of the sundress go over the closeline.
Voila! Add closepins.
So cute!
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