People across the world are again drying their clothes on clothes lines, as a way to cut energy costs and contribute to conservation. According to the New York Times, some of these savvy washers are finding themselves on the wrong side of the law.
Places like Ontario, Canada, still ban clotheslines, which can be an eyesore in affluent communities. When families purchase their homes, the restriction is attached to their deeds, as a result of long-standing neighborhood covenants. (In fact, my lease bans me from hanging clothes outside!) But, the aesthetic security is not doing much for environmental or financial security.
No one has figured out a way to make machine clothes dryers more energy efficient. In the meantime, bans on outdoor drying are common in Europe and North America as a way to preserve the quality of neighborhoods. This is quite the dilemma for residents who want a clear green conscience, but aren't exactly prepared to see property values slide.
Are you re-evaluating your drying habits? Would you participate in this act of civil disobedience, if it meant saving money and the planet? Are you prepared to stare at your neighbors underwear drying in the wind?
Buti
Lanvin
Emilio Pucci
I grew up in a neighborhood where most of the families hung their wash out, I don't remember anyone being particularly interested in anyone else's undies. I put things out to dry on my balcony now because I like the way they smell when they dry that way.
1As an undergarment fetishizer, I can now cancel my subscription to Victoria's Secret and forgo the judgmental stares of my mail carrier.
2I don't see why people care if it is in your backyard. I don't think it is all that appropriate in the front, and can see neighborhoods having a problem with that.
On another note, I hate air drying my clothes and avoid it at all costs.
3Oh this is silly. Once upon a time hanging ones clothes out to dry was the norm. The only reason it became regulated is because the people who became washer & dryer elitists started to complain about it. As time went on and wages rose more and more people bought washer & dryers until they became the norm.
Now because of energy awareness another shift has begun from whence it came. Depending on how great the shift and in how many numbers the regulations will fall or not.
4I hate having to dry my cothes int he dryer I prefer air drying but you can't do that in miserable Newfoundland. I miss the smell of my sheets after they had been dried in the sun and ironed, they smelt 10 times than the ones from the dryer. There is something calming about anging your clothes to dry. We had lines but then our houses were walled so you couldn't see into the yard.
5If I didn't live near Downtown LA I would totally do it. That's how we did it in the Philippines anyways.
6Yeah KadBunny don't try that in down town L.A. girl they'll snatch your panties and run like a track star honey.
7i hung my clothes out when i studied abroad in italy, until one day the farmer below us decided to put manure on his olive grove and burn it. You don't really notice the smell on your clothes until they've been back in your closet for a while, infecting everything else you own with manure and burnt olive smell.
8I've had some $!++; olives before KrisSugar but that takes the cake. LOL!
9I agree Kadbunny. We did that in the PI too!
10The Mr. and I just bought our home a few weeks ago, and we're going to install a clothesline sometime in the next couple of weeks, after we plant some tall shrubbery for privacy. We don't have a backyard so much as we have a side yard, because we live on a corner... so we'll have to be extra careful not to offend our neighbors.
11and there is just no febreeze that can take care of burnt olive and manure! you have to wash all over again. but wait 3 days for the manure smell to waft off into space. then another 3 days for sweatshirts and towels to air dry in freaking February...all the while hoping no other farmer gets the same idea!
12Our apartment building actually has clotheslines strung out across part of the backyard. For some reason, it makes it even homier out on the back patio and lawn
In Taiwan, even my rich relatives hang at least some laundry out to dry.
13Has anyone ever been to Venice? The nearby island of Burano is one of those fishing villages that has the very colorful houses. When I went, i took two entire rolls of film (this was before digital) mostly of people's laundry. it seems like people actually color coordinated their towels, sheets, and skivvies to their house. if the laundry didn't match exactly, it was a complementary color. it looked fantastic!
like, there was a green house that had
white sheets with little green and orange patterns. and a purple house that had all bleached white t shirts hanging outside.
14Kris, that sounds disgusting.
15That's funny, Kris! Do you have any scans of those pictures? I'd love to see them!
Why does it sound disgusting, cine?
16The more people do it again the more it will become the norm. People will get used to it again in time.
Although they are very expensive at the moment there are those really great low energy dryers on the market now. One selling point thought at least here in California is the energy co. gives us an annual credit for having such appliances as an incentive.
But in the end what's better than using low energy? Using no energy.
17Um the olives and manure not the matching clothes to the houses comment.
18Jude I just answered your question, typing that the same time
19Oh, that makes more sense then
20"Although they are very expensive at the moment there are those really great low energy dryers on the market now. One selling point thought at least here in California is the energy co. gives us an annual credit for having such appliances as an incentive."
That is the type that I bought! I loved it!
21febreeze, kris what is up with you and febreeze
22I started hanging my clothes -- inside, due to high power bills -- and then the dryer belt broke -- so I have a good reason to hang.
However, I can hang indoors or out as I live in a small town in the country and lots of people hang clothes out here.
SAVES MONEY on the Power Bill.
In Italy, EVERYTHING is color coordinated, that's why they can tell a tourist from a local. And why they have a pair of matching shoes for EVERY outfit. Men and women color coordinate. If you travel there, wear all brown or all black (including shoes) and they'll think you're a student. Worked for me when I was there in 2001. And you have less chance of being pick pocketed if you don't look too much like a tourist.
23that's one of my goals Jude, is to put all those 57 rolls of film I took on digital somehow. boy, is that going to be a job! but I might start with those cool ones, because I think they would make a great exhibit all by themselves. and it's funny, i took them all with this crappy doo little 35mm camera. nothing special at all.
24I line dry outdoors a good deal but have not lived in places with restrictions. I don't know how practical line drying indoors is for large families but it can be done in small doses depending on your space.
25i travel so much syako, and have a huge smelly dog. Febreeze is my friend! Sometimes I spray the dog as she walks by.
2635mm is the BEST!
27My wife wants to dry the clothes on the line, but when she does, my allergies flare up.
28We were five kids and my mom hung the clothes - it could save large families money, but can be a misery for the designated hanger's back.
29My neighborhood is one of those obnoxious places that has it written in the deed that we can not use clothes lines. I still break the rules sometimes.
30Stephley, did you ever go out and play when the bed sheets were drying? We had two or three rows of clothesline, so when the sheets were hung it was like having sheet forts.
31home plots are so small these days and getting smaller that who even has room to hang out their clothes anymore?
I would love to hang my clothes out to dry - in this desert heat I imagine that by the time I hung the last piece of clothing up it would be time to start taking them back down - not just cheaper than my gas dryer - but faster too lol.
32I don't have the time to spend hanging out laundry. Besides, in LA, I'd just have to rewash it again, anyway....
33Oh yeah, my mom used to get so mad when we'd leave hand prints on her clean clothes but I loved wrapping the sheets around myself.
34lol lainetm good point. I guess here too if we had days like we did yesterday with the high winds (gusts up to 50 mph) mix that with the sand that's whipping around... probalby not the best day to hang out your clothes. But it would be nice to have the option of either hanging them outdoors or using the dryer. I honestly don't remember what our deed restrictions say about clothes lines but I'm pretty sure they are banned in our neighborhood... but it might be time to readdress it.
35I NEVER put my tops or pants in the dryer. Mostly it is because I like the way they look before they shrink, but also for the environment and money saving reasons.
36I've always hung half my clothes and dried half of them. I have no place to hang them outside. I won't ever give up drying clothes completely unless it becomes outlawed. Then maybe I will rebel.
If I lived out in the country or had a lot of land I might hang everything but it all becomes misshaped.
37my mother's parents hung almost all their laundry. my mom hangs quite a bit of hers as well. thus i too hang most of mine--though it's mostly inside. i'm all for clotheslines. sure, they may not be that pretty to the eye but their better for the environment and even help your clothes last longer.
38LOL hypnoticmix. I wouldn't blame them either, my undergarments are adorable. ;p I just wish it wasn't so smoggy out here, I swear; walk outside for one minute and your hair REEKS of smog. Imagine what it'd do to your panties.
High-five for doing it the hard way shopaholic
39In the summer I hang my clothes out in the backyard, although I do hang my bras inside. I live right next to a busy baseball field and those little league'ers don't need to see that.
40Heh, that's how we do it in Japan. At least, the lesser metro areas.
41not much to add, but just wanted to say that this is the 3rd time i've read about this issue on teamsugar: twice on Casasugar and now here...but i'm sure there have been other posts, too.
42Hey tdamji! It was just in the news today, so now you have the latest updates on the issue!
43That's what my family always did at our house. We lived in the country. It was such a pain because the weather is so unpredictable. You might've just hung out the clothes an hour ago and suddenly it starts to rain out of nowhere. I've had so many nightmares of getting sucked up in a tornado while trying to run out to the clothesline to get the clothes in. Haha.
hypnoticmix makes a good point that this used to be the norm everywhere. Everybody had to hang out their clothes at one point. But now it's considered some sort of blight on the neighborhood?! I suspect this "aesthetic security" nonsense is straight up classism.
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