Oct
11
2006
11
2006
Handy Dandy Drying Rack
Filed under: Conservation, Environmentalism, Green Living, Homemaking, Simplifying
This is a common sight in our living room. We’ve started to air dry our clothes. This handy dandy drying rack holds smaller items, jeans, Bella’s clothes, etc. and we hang shirts on hangers and hang them on the shower rod. You could also use a retractable line like this. Or one of these beauties. By hanging our clothes to dry, I am accomplishing several things:
- Our clothes last longer when they aren’t dried in a dryer. Less shrinking, fading, etc. Dryers break down elastics, distort the shape of clothing, and they eat socks! Because the clothes last longer, you don’t need to buy them as often…thus saving money and time.
- Less energy consumption…the dryer is one of the worst.
- Saving money … $1.00 a load.
- Eliminating static cling
- Cutting down on ironing
- It causes me to realize how many clothes we actually own and makes me want to downsize our wardrobe even more. It’s a more purposeful experience…as I take each item, one by one, and straighten it, hang it, dry it, and take it off.
Stop using your dryer today!
Posted by Sara @ 2:17 am | Leave a Comment
11
2006
Hi Sara,
I wish you could see the size of one drying rack I have. My dad bought it for me from an Amish man.
I can not only hang clothes to dry,and lots of them, I can also put hanging baskets of flowers/plants on it in the fall/winter. And still hang clothes! I use 3 total. The other two are just basic ones you can pick up anywhere.
11
2006
I thought that was true about a dryer ruining clothes but had no evidence. Glad you have confirmed my suspicions. No more drying for me.
11
2006
I just…. can’t. It would be the death of me.
But I LOVED the smell of clothes dried out side on the line when I was a kid.
11
2006
That’s so cool…I’ve never seen anything like that! And here, I’ve been whining about not being able to air dry clothes because we live in an apartment!
11
2006
That is awesome. I am going to look for a drying rack myself. How much clothind do you own? Any tipes for keeping clothes soft without a dryer?
11
2006
any advice for finding a drying rack that doesn’t fall apart? (i will google Amish drying racks) i hang clothes in my garage, on hangers for the most part but with 5 of us have to get creative sometimes LOL
11
2006
We don’t dry clothes in the living room during the day, but all summer we use our clotheslines, and every evening in winter we toss quilts or jeans over a drying rack right in front of our fireplace. Dry by morning. So nice.
Mary, mom to many
11
2006
Drying clothes on a rack also adds humidity to the dry air in winter. I have a clothesline outside and one in my basement.
11
2006
I’ve started doing this, too. I was trying to dry outside for a while this summer, but our clothes would get covered in earwigs (Dave hung the line in a bad spot between our deck and a tree). I’m hoping I can score a neat clothesline system next spring. Maybe I’ll check freecycle.
11
2006
I use vinegar in my rinse cycle. Clothes are nice and soft. Denim is kind of a pain.
11
2006
I have this same drying rack and I love it. I need to use it more often though. But I love to hang clothes outside too.
11
2006
how does line-drying cut down on your ironing?! whenever I line-dry things they are generally MORE wrinkly–and stiff, too.
12
2006
Aaaahhhh… so that’s where all the socks have been disappearing to…
13
2006
Wow, how nice you can do that. It’s so damp here in western Washington, if you hang dry stuff it stays damp for days, and it starts to stink pretty bad. I’m jealous!
13
2006
How do you dry small things? Like mama cloth, rags etc?
13
2006
Well, I have been just hanging them on any surface I can find
I’m trying to get a 2nd hanging rack and/or a retractable line that will be more “small thing” friendly 
If I’m at my parents doing laundry, I will sometimes dry the towels and wipes just because they are softer then, and they have a super-efficent sensor dryer.
13
2006
Right after asking you, I thought about it a bit, and what about one of those rings with hangers? Lehman’s sells an aluminium one with lots of clothspins.
13
2006
If you find a used one…let me know
I’m Compacting now…so need to find a “non-new” one. I’ve posted on Freecycle and have gotten a response for a retractable one…
13
2006
Sara–how can I get in touch with you? I have something you might find useful.
13
2006
You can email me directly at msjanssen (at) hotmail (dot) com.
16
2006
Cool beans, retractable one on Freecycle! *blush* I just bought two new drying racks. But it doesn’t count as you breaking the Compact if *I* buy things and the *net* affect will be less resources used.
Other thought I had, taking a wire hanger twisting and bending the hook so the bar is parallel to whatever you hang the hook on, and create closer spacing that way. I have a length of aluminum bar I bought ages ago that I’m going to experiment with.
13
2006
To save space I put one of my drying racks full of things being dryed inside my bathroom tub during the day. You can use one of those metal hanger things to hang more hanger things on. I can use it to dry extra things on in another room. They are usually allinimum and have a triangle base for stability and then a pole up one side and flip out bar that hangers can hang on. They are portable and can be stored easily. Or hang hangers from the top wood casing at the top of doors. Thanks for helping me think more of what I am doing and consuming.