I use the collapsible folding racks. (do not buy the ones from Vermont Country Store because the wood dowels are not smooth) . I have a nice one from Container Store that I really like that has some sort of white paint over the wood dowels.

Clotheslines are not permitted in our subdivision. I would not use one, anyway. Last time I did, thirty-three years ago in previous home, stuff came in covered in pollen and bird poop. I had to re-wash & machine dry.

stuff left outside can get quite dirty, as Cavimum noted. If something can't go in the dryer it sits near the W&D, on a rack in the garage/shop.

I have two drying racks, both from Target. The larger one has wooden crossbars wrapped in white plastic. The smaller one is all metal, some kind of silver-colored aluminum I think. I hang many items on hangers using a rolling garment rack. I would like to have a clothesline outside, but the wind blows dirt and passing birds can really mess up clean laundry.

My daughter has cloth diapered two babies. She uses the metal rack outside to whiten the diapers, stains disappear in the sunlight.

Air drying is much easier on fibers and saves energy. I tumble items for 2-3 minutes to remove wrinkles, then hang to finish drying. I never ever iron anything.

This post was edited by dianne47 on Tue, May 6, 14 at 19:35

I have used a clothes line for years and years and have had no issues with dirt, birds, pollen. Sometimes I will catch a few ladybugs and spiders, but that is all. I love the clean smell of laundry that was dried outside. Sheets are easy to fold with no wrinkles. The sun is a natural whitening agent for all your whites. Our tree holding the end of our line fell last fall and I am now wondering - do I go with an inground circular line or use another tree for my clothes line.

I have used a clothes line for years and years and have had no issues with dirt, birds, pollen. Sometimes I will catch a few ladybugs and spiders, but that is all. I love the clean smell of laundry that was dried outside. Sheets are easy to fold with no wrinkles. The sun is a natural whitening agent for all your whites. Our tree holding the end of our line fell last fall and I am now wondering - do I go with an inground circular line or use another tree for my clothes line.

I don't know how much time and how many options you have when it comes to setting something up. I'm working on my laundry room right now (in a remodel) which I call a "Drying Room" - a term commonly used in Europe. I am using a combination of flat dry racks and essentially a closet bar mounted from one wall to another that acts as an indoor clothesline for hanging drying. The link below demonstrates the idea for the "flat dry" solution. I am then mounting an in wall dehumidifier (direct wired and plumbed) that will be "switched" so when I shut the doors and turn it on all the laundry will dry quickly. I have a less sophisticated version of this set up in my current house and it works very very well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Flat Drying Racks Link

It depends what I'm drying, but I've got a dehumidifier and clothes horse in my walk-in closet. Just load it up, start up the dehumidifier and it's usually done in under an hour.

elgable - your link has a virus. to everyone. if you haven't clicked it yet, DON'T !

I agree with renov8r. I have hung wash outside for 30 years & nothing smells as great! Never had a problem with bird poop or dirt. Anything hung inside smells musty.

Been using a clothesline for the past four years in a move to be more eco-friendly. Worked like a charm. Have used the dryer maybe ten times in three years.

HomeDepot has a retractable clothesline which works well. Installed a couple in the yard and one inside the garage.

One downside is that some yoga pants might stretch.

My version is like a rolling rack in a bedroom, under a ceiling fan. The clothes come out of the washer, and onto a hangar. Once they are dry, it only takes a minute to hang them in the closet. I also use simple, single hangar clips. There is a retractable clothesline outside for hanging sheets.

I'm waiting for someone to install this in my mud-laundry room, till then I continue to use my folding drying rack.

dianne477
Thank you so much for this tip! Our new washer wrinkles everything terribly; your tip has made a huge improvement

"I tumble items for 2-3 minutes to remove wrinkles, then hang to finish drying. I never ever iron anything."

Heavy clothesline user here; maybe once every 5 years something gets on my drying laundry (e.g. bird poop) but it is extremely rare. I have a dual-pulley line from back door to a post about 40 feet back into the yard, and one of those folding umbrella jobs close to the house. I also have four vinyl coated drying racks from Ikea. I use those if it's raining or extremely damp outside. In winter, clothes dry indoors very rapidly due to low humidity with heating running. I do not own a dryer and have not owned one ever. I am having one installed soon as a periodic convenience when I need to wash something to wear that same day or something like that. Maybe three times a year I wish I had one.

I've had a couple of fly-by poopings, but for the most part, clothesline is what we use for sheets and towels.

If you don't like the stiff feel, line dry them and they tumble on "Fluff" for a couple of minutes.

When we lived in New Orleans, I did a race. Same sized sheets washed together. One went on the clothes line, one went in the dryer.

The clothes line beat the dryer by fifteen minutes.

That was pretty much the rule for the eight warmest months of the year.

Here in Tennessee, I have line dried for seven or eight years. The only difficult months are December and January when the humidity is up, the temperature down, and the bright sunlight harder to come by. Those months, the rack driers on our passive solar porch get a lot more use.

mattiew - Thank you. My Maytag Bravos washer spin sometimes gets items too dry, even in the low speed mode. I keep a plain water spray bottle handy and give those items a few squirts before throwing them in the dryer. Drying for 2-3 minutes not only dewrinkles very well, it also saves tons of energy.

I use an outside clothesline, but when the wind is too high I dry inside on collapsible wooden racks. it works great for just me unless I forget to wash or hang something I need. I gave my dryer to my kids and have really enjoyed the fresh clothes when I hang them outside.
kim

yet another vote for clothesline. In the 8 years since we moved in, the gas dryer has seen action only when the weather did not permit air drying (a few times in December, January and February - N. California weather). There was never any issue with dirt, bird poop or pollen with air drying, but the lines are strung in a patio mostly surrounded by walls and a fence. I do have a grapevine canopy partially covering the area though, but it does not cause any issue either.

Since all our laundry is air dried, we would have needed too many racks to do the job; we do have a couple (standard collapsible ones, with the horizontal dowels covered in plastic film) in case there are too many socks and not enough clothespins...

I live in a townhouse in the city, and have a laundry 'closet.' For air drying, I put in dryer for ~10 min to aid with wrinkle release, then put on hangers and hang on the door frames. =)

I dry everything in the dryer, some items like sweaters not so dry as others. I hang those on clothes hangers on over the door hangers and on the rod over my washer and dryer to finish drying.