Wow. I couldn't help but remember my grandmother and how she taught me exactly where to put everything on the drying rack, angling and smoothing so that I could avoid as much ironing as possible :). She would laugh her head off at $200 clothes drying lines :)

I just had to post on this one. This summer I made my own 'Solar Dryer', a freestanding rack out of pvc pipe and clothesline ($20). I can put 2-3 loads on at a time and it only takes up a 5x5 space in the sideyard. Last month I save $50 off my electricity bill!
Some of the tips I found that really help, are to hang shirts on hangers inside out (to prevent fading) and they dry wrinkle free. I also take in jeans and towels while barely damp and fluff-dry them so they aren't stiff.
Anyway, it's fairly painless and I like the results a lot.

Oh, Fly, I know! The prices are insane, aren't they? The idea of clotheslines becoming an industry... that said, some of them look really cool. (:

Roxyl, if you feel the urge to post instructions about your solar dryer, don't hold back! You said it's freestanding: did you sink the pipe into concrete, or is it a movable structure?

Totally crazy that I live in the desert, optimal clothes-drying weather, and haven't found a way to get a clothesline into my yard yet... that'll be *next* summer's project.

Everything I ever wanted to know about clotheslines, I learned from my mom and dad....tie 1 piece of rope between 2 trees. Cost these days about $3.00 for the rope.

Works just fine for us!

Thanks so much for posting this walkin--I'm actually in the market for a clothesline and this was very helpful. I think I'll stick with the basic 4 hinge collapsable line I grew up with.

I think the thing that broke my mother's heart the most about downsizing from their home to a condo was the loss of her clothesline. She hung out laundry every day, even throughout the winter. As a kid I remember the dreaded "please take in the laundry--I have a few things on the line"--it would always be a lengthy chore because my mother knew how to optimize every square inch on that clothesline--it was never just a "few" things. I always had a clothesline until we moved to our current house where there are "restrictive covenants" about such things. However, I've decided the heck with that and am putting one up anyhow. Let them track me down. I find hanging clothes out on a breezy summer morning to be highly relaxing.

When visiting Ireland last year I was struck by the billboards and advertisements for "outdoor drying system"--many just like the ones shown in the wiki link. Covered outdoor dryers are popular considering Ireland's weather.

Mary

When i was a kid we lived in a house that had a long, narrow room in the back yard for our clotheseline. It had no ceiling and shared a wall with the detached garage.

I wonder what they are doing with that room now?

Thanks for the link. I'm trying to find some kind of retractable line that I can set up on my deck. So far, I haven't found anything I've liked in the stores.

Funny . . . I just got in from taking my clothes off the line. I haven't had a clothes line for years and I went ahead and ordered this one from Amazon. We installed it a couple of weeks ago and I am thrilled with it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00124TUUE

We installed it without cement by getting a scrap piece of pipe at Home Depot. (They gave it to us.) We pounded that into the ground as the "sleeve" for the shaft of the clothes line. We put gravel in the pipe to bring the clothes line up to the correct level. Very sturdy and not too expensive. We can take it down whenever we want to by lifting the shaft out of the sleeve, which is nice. It collapses like an umbrella.

I read somewhere that in Florida it is illegal for HOAs to ban clothes lines. Good for them! With our energy issues, we need to encourage their use.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/content/accent/epaper/2008/07/02/a3d_condo_0702.html