Where Have All the Clotheslines Gone
Posted: September 2nd, 2010 | Author: Halbe | Filed under: Uncategorized | 7 Comments »
A consistent change Devon and I have had to make on this trip involves our laundry – we don’t use dryers, we use clotheslines.
When we first used one in England we thought it was a bit of an anomaly. We didn’t mind using it, but thought it was kind of a pain in the butt to coordinate our laundry with weather. Then we went to Wales. They too had a clothesline. In fact, every place we’ve visited has had a clothesline. Many don’t even have dryers.
So, what’s up with the states? Why don’t we use clotheslines? I know we used to, so where have all the clothes lines gone? I grew up with a dryer my whole life. You only had a clothesline if you didn’t have the money to buy a dryer. The U.S.’s attitude of quick, easy and unconcerned with environmental impact, I think, is well illustrated with the disappearance of the clothesline.
Recently, for obvious reasons, there’s a lot of talk of energy conservation, alternative energy etc. I think using a clothesline is one of the easiest and quickest ways to make a clear and significant impact. If you live in an area that has sun any time of year, I say use a clothesline.
# 10 on our list of things to have when we go back: clothesline.
You will be happy to know that I had a really super clothesline installed this summer. The dryer has been mostly silent since. Yes, it takes a little more time, but not that much.
After reading this post, I thought of my sister-in-law who is a blogger (on a hiatus due to a high risk pregnancy) and a blog she posted last year. Thought you might be interested. http://www.turnitupmom.com/go-green/the-case-for-a-clothesline
(If you read the comments, I obviously got annoyed when someone commented that clotheslines are things that “white people like.”)
Well, one of them went into our dog run. Mom has many clothespins and is always finding ingenious ways of hanging clothes in various configurations to use as few clothespins as possible. By the way, I responded to the pasta carbonara posting this way, but it got blocked because of (it said) an improper e-mail address. Hope this one gets through. (I wound up e-mailing my response to the pasta carbonara posting via e-mail.) Mom says you don’t have e-mail where you are now so I shouldn’t worry if I don’t hear from you for a while.
We installed a couple in our backyard to take advantage of the dryer-like weather. Things dry faster on the line than they do in the dryer.
And I heart crunchy towels!
We had one and a line when I was growing up. In some communities (we’re back to us white people, Sarah… heehee) they are banned due to esthetics. Doesn’t that just say it all about Americans and energy conservation?
I’ve got one going in my yard. Things to get a little dusty, it’s so windy here but… guess I heart dust, too!
I’m posting the contrarian view on clotheslines. I love my dryer. I grew up with clotheslines, which work great in San Diego where it’s almost always sunny. But with hard water, the clothes were always stiff and scratchy. And up here in the frozen north it’s too cold in the winter, and too windy and dusty in the summer–I don’t want grit and wheat weeds in my undergarments, thank you. But for those who find a clothesline workable…go for it!
You might go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9msqdw27c28 to see how the Tibbe-Line works.