Please Explain Hanging Clothes to dry

12 years ago

I may just not be very well set up for hanging NICE clothes and shirts to dry, or it may be a mental block as it seems like a lot of work when I have DH and 3 little ones... Right now I hang MY really nice shirts over the elliptical in the basement and pretty much everything else goes in the dryer. DH has been complaining that some of his cotton t-shirts are shrinking...and I have to agree. I am also trying to get nicer clothes for the little ones and ourselves and would like them to last. When I look on ebay, there are a lot of people selling their kids clothes that say that they "always wash in cold and hang dry".

How do you hang the clothes without them getting all wrinkly? I use those nice Joy Mangano type hangers, but I guess you need to use something else to hang them. Right now I just throw whatever I want to "hang dry" over the elliptical and throw it in the dryer for a little while to get the wrinkles out. I don't have a line outside, but am in the country, so it could be done. I guess I just don't understand how everyone hangs the clothes without leaving marks in the clothes, especially if they go on hangers when they are wet? And can you really only ever wash your kids clothes in cold???

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Comments (5)

nostalgicfarm
Original Author
12 years ago
Sorrry-wrong forum probably..I will post in Laundry forum.
livebetter
12 years ago
I use a clothes drying rack. Mine is like the two tierd rack for $39.99 from BB&B linked. You can hang quite a bit on here and nothing gets marked.

Using a hanger is probably not a good idea for some things. I do hang my husbands dress shirts on hangers but almost everything else goes on the rack.

My friend has this rack - also very good.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11510163

Shake items well before you hang to dry - this helps remove some wrinkles. Sometimes I give things an iron or you can toss in dryer for a few minutes before hanging to remove wrinkles.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bed Bath & Beyond - drying racks
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MiMi
12 years ago
I hang most of my clothes to dry. I take clothes out of the washer one by one and give them a good shake.. Then I put them in the dryer and set it for 20 minutes BUT only let them stay in the dryer for about 5-10 minutes. Then take them out and hang on hangers to finish drying. The reason I set the dryer for at least 20 minutes instead of 5 is that the last few minutes of a drying cycle is a cool down. Warming the items up then hanging them to dry the rest of way you will find they have very few wrinkles.
timberframe4us
12 years ago
You're making a great effort, and don't let anything I say discourage you because I'm a firm believer in using the line when possible. That said, I love my dryer too. For casual, professional wear, I'm way too lazy to iron (and with 3 little ones, you're most likely way too busy to iron unless it's the way you get your relaxation or something), so those clothes go in the dryer.

For clothes where wrinkles matter a bit less (like your kids' everyday clothes), there are a few tricks to hanging clothes to decrease or avoid the issues you mention. Someone above mentioned shaking the clothes before hanging them. I would agree but not describe it that way. It's more of a shake-snap. (Sorta like the thing a big brother does with a dish towel to hit someone with it.) Use two hands and lift it up and whip it down so that it makes a snap sorta sound. (Maybe you can find a video on You Tube??) As for marks, I usually put things on the line (rather than hangers). Where you put the clothespins should be chosen rather strategically. I tend to hang shirts upside-down and pinch them at the side seams. My husband learned (yes! and yes!) to hang them right-side-up and pinch them on the armhole seams. Some things I do use hangers and I often use two hangers and pull them about an inch apart to distribute the weight better. Anything that has a "poor stretchy to heavy" ratio should be laid out flat. Most of the drying racks mentioned above probably have an area where multiple "spindles" are close enough together to use for this. (Sweaters fall into this category and usually tell you to dry flat; jeans are heavy but not stretchy so they do great on the line.)

Oh, and socks and underwear (and other little stuff)...I usually use what I call "pinch racks." They have a hook at the top like a coathanger and multiple "arms" (that usually fold up for storage) with permanently attached clothespins. It's much easier to me to hang it near the washer and load it there even if I plan to take it out to the line (which I may or may not do depending on weather, my energy, the phase of the moon;-) etc).

Hope that is helpful.
davidro1
12 years ago
nostalgicfarm I'll bet you have a top loader not a front loader. With a front loading washing machine there is very little water left in the clothes, and (believe it or not) very little wrinkling. Not putting them in the dryer is then normal and easy to understand. Otherwise, do the dryer for ten minutes.

Please Explain Hanging Clothes to dry

Comments (5)

nostalgicfarm
Original Author

livebetter

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Please Explain Hanging Clothes to dry

Comments (5)

nostalgicfarmOriginal Author

livebetter

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MiMi

timberframe4us

davidro1

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nostalgicfarm
Original Author