I’ve been hanging laundry out for over 40 years. I had to chuckle at some of those questions. I’ve never had bird poop, ever. There is nothing better than the smell of freshly washed sheets, hung out in the line. Oh, so good. Nothing better!
Ohhhh but crunchy towels bring back childhood memories 😂😂 I come from a family of 14 and a dryer we didn’t own….memories are the best! Your children will think back fondly of these days. ❤️ blessings to you ❤️
In west Texas, I watch out for Haboob storms rolling in quickly, a lot of high winds and dirt. I will check out your clothespins because we have more windy days than still. I had to patch up a comforter after the wind tangled it in the chain link fence. A few years ago, my husband was given metal posts so he made me a new line. It’s been wonderful to get fresh smelling clothes. I also have hard water so I put white vinegar in the rinse dispenser for every load. It helps the towels too.
I was raised in Ohio, we always hung clothes outside..now that I’m an adult and have lived in Florida most of my adult life I hug all of my clothes outside. Even when the kids were small and we had 3. None of my kids hang clothes outside, but I still do. I love the smell of the clothes when I bring them in! It still makes me smile when I see the clothes moving in the wind!
Thats a lot of laundry !! lol In NZ most people still use washing lines, we have large rotary lines. When I was a kid we had lines like yours, but we also had a long piece of wood like a skinny post with a notch in it, that way we could put it in the middle of the line to lift it up to stop sheets etc dragging or being eaten by goats lol
Here in Indonesia where i live the sun is very strong in the morning. So i got started the night before by soaking some of our heavily stained clothes in hot vinegar water & by sunrise i throw them into the machine & i’m done doing 3 loads of laundry by noon. During rainy days then i ran my dryer and you’re right putting them up in the sun when the sun is strong beats the dryer. When my son was younger, he always helps me w/ laundry. He would bring the laundry in when they’re dried. Now he’s in college, he does his own laundry.
I LOVE my clothesline! I usually do one load a day. Each person has one full 20' line. They are hung that way so each person can retrieve their own. It's frustrating when lazy kicks in and other household members use the dryer. It's like I can hear the money flying out of the bank directly to the electric company.
This is so interesting to me because I'm in New Zealand and I would estimate 90% of households would line dry clothes. It would be weird to move into a house without a washing line outside.
I, like you, love to hang laundry outside. The breeze removes the wrinkles, and the fresh air gives the laundry such a clean fragrance to which nothing can compare!!
Growing up my mom did clothes and towels Monday Wednesday Friday because we didn't have many changes of clothes. When I went away to college I had enough for a week so i made myself do laundry the same day ever week and it made life so much less stressful
When my kids where smaller, I always hung my laundry out on the clothes line. Nothing smells as good as line dried linens and clothes that have blowed in the breeze. Have a blessed day!
We rarely got bird poop on laundry and the only bugs we got was chiggers on the low hanging sheets in the summer.our Victorian ancestors would lay their sheets on the grass to dry because the dun and I think the chlorophyll would whiten them.
The rough surface on the line dried towels is my favorite. It exfoliates your skin. Never ever use fabric softener. It coats towels and interferes with absorbing water.
Oh my RuthAnn running the washer on the speed cycle only. Never considered that. I'm starting that habit now! I use soap nuts too. Or Oasis detergent because my laundy drains outside onto trees. I use the Oasis detergent for dishes too - my main sink also drains outside. Here in AZ that water is important.
When I was growing g up, my mother taught me how to place things in the basket, in a certain way, to make hanging them up easier and faster. I never minded, oh and we used a wringer washer, she never let me use it though. The fresh bedding was my absolute favorite thing. Made sleeping so nice, smelled so fresh.
Here in New Zealand line drying is our normal and we typically try to only use dryers when the weather isn't dry enough, even in cities we have smaller lines including a spinning or rotary version. As the lines go slack you can use a very simple moveable stretcher pole on an angle in between fixed posts to lift the line higher for your sheets etc, super helpful for anyone like children or a bit short like myself!
I love the fragrance of clothes & sheets that are line dried. In my years the only issue with bird poop was a neighbor who would let his pigeons out 😞. But we lived through that too 🙂
This is incredibly calming. I finally know that I’m not the only one who does things similarly. I love the speed wash idea and hanging dry. I’m in Tennessee so the clothes would be dry in minutes ! Do you ever offer guided tours of your farm or accept volunteers?😊
Smart woman. I grew up hand washing, living in NYC I used washer and dryer but when I travel to Barbados we now have a washer and I enjoyed watching the clothes drying on the lines.
You can use a long pole or long tree branch with a fork on top, prop up your line in the center for extra support and raises your line up, drys clothes faster too.
I’ve really had great results using the “Tide to Go” pen for stubborn spot stains. Usually the garment is not dirty other than the spot. That saves me from washing the entire piece.
Love hanging laundry! Loving your Country views! I miss my farm. I’m from Nebraska and going to see my daughter in Iowa is one of my greatest blessings! Loved your practical advice!
I live in the UK and when ever we have a lovely dry day or it's our summer I always use my line. Love the fresh smell. I do have a dryer and don't wanna use it all the time either. It's lovely to see you putting washing on your line too. Just found your channel yesterday now binge watching your videos. Thanks angie 🇬🇧
I have just recently discovered your channel and I am really enjoying watching all your videos! I really appreciate your dedication to your family’s nutrition and health. My maternal grandmother used to line dry her laundry. She would hang her laundry on low hanging lines and when the line was full, she had long wooden poles that were forked at one end and she would use the poles to lift the laundry up high away from the ground. I grew up in Southern Ohio which is very hilly and mountainous. Not sure if being in the hills of Appalachia had something to do with “lifting” the laundry up.
Even though this is an older video, I'm old too, so I thought I'd throw in my 2¢. I used a old Maytag ringer washer with babies and cloth diapers! We didn't have a dryer, so I for 3 seasons, I had couple of long lines from the back porch to a tree, and each day, was diaper day, then on Mondays was work clothes for my husband, and diapers. My clothes got squeezed in when ever I could... I also had to heat the water, double wash the diapers and then rinse. Borax and water was a necessity! The diaper service my grandma bought me for 12 weeks gave the babies a rash, so I didn't use it past 12 weeks... Their poor little bottoms were covered in bag balm to keep all the chemicals off. In the winter, I had racks and could put them by the stove to dry. I remember a few times when I'd fill both lines, grab the kids, and run to the store, and come home to rain, and I'd have to ring them out again, and rehang. Thankfully THAT wasn't very often!
LOL, your fruit and flower sheet, I used to have a big sofa with the print upholstered fabric on it.. I really liked that sofa ..not for me now but then it was great.. I lived in Lancaster Country , Holtwood..and the house we bought had the Amish Pulley lines I loved that line!! If I could have brought it with to Fla.I woulf have however .I live in a forest and oh my the pollen and tree pine dirt .Its horrible! I just hang most my clothes on door frames .always laundry hanging down my hall way..I dont get sinus problems them
Been hanging clothes out for years, shirts are fairly ironed, they smell wonderful, and they are sun bleached. Sheets are so much better on the line. Hate having to use the dryer.
Yes, please! I’d love to know your winter laundry tips! We are in MN and winters are near impossible to hang laundry out. I do have two wooden racks I can use, but our house is tiny so space is a consideration. Would love your thoughts-
This Inspired me to start trying line drying! Could you talk about how you cut/ wash your hair one of these days? I think I have similar curly hair but have never cut it short. I don’t know what to do since I tossed the hair products with chemicals in them 🤷🏻♀️
You might like the hair products at plum natural products in Lebanon Ohio. They have a website and they do ship. I've been using their bar shampoo and bar conditioner for several years and my hair really likes it. I have naturally curly hair that's always been very dry and as I've gotten older it's gotten almost crunchy. But this shampoo from plum leaves it nice and soft.
Just discovered and subscribed to your channel and I am learning so much. I would love to have a clothes line, but my husband is hesitant to put poles in the ground ( or to even use a metal umbrella clothes line) because he said he would have to cement the poles in. You didn't mention this, so I am wondering if cementing them in is actually necessary.
I was raised hanging clothes. They may have been a tad stiff, but, boy did they smell good. In winter they would freeze to the line... in these days many cities and towns including where I live have ordinances that you can not have a clothesline. Is that modern day ignorance or what? We had a Woman's Friend wringer washer. Worked like a charm if you kept fingers out of the wringer. Had to fold buttons inside or they would pop off!!!
I listened in case I didn’t know it all 😁 Since our Moms are cousins and we have the same background I grew up doing laundry just like your Mom . I use the dryer more now because we have so many days that aren’t good drying days . Hot an humid , too windy or cold an damp . But also plenty good days 😊. Growing up we didn’t have a dryer and had a wringer washer which didn’t get clothes as dry as the modern washers . I remember bringing frozen clothes in an standing them by the wood stove 😅. Or having wash lines strung through the kitchen for the wood stove to dry overnight, we had so much fun playing around the hanging clothes .
I have to pause the video because I’m laughing so hard……”who lives here and where is your mother” ? That was hilarious and I remember those days❤ That clothes line looks exactly like my daughters except she has leaning steel posts, the big chunk of cement is pulling up through the soil 😳she has the same turnbuckles and even the dilapidated birdhouses !!! She bought an old farmstead that has a little old barn from 1918 and the original part of the house was built in 1932, there must have been a cabin before they built the house that’s still there 🤷🏼♀️ Every time I house sit and do laundry, I imagine all the clothes that have been hung on that line and the people who lived there. Blessings PS-I’m going to order those clothes pins for both of my daughters !!! Thank you
I find I can get 2 times the laundry done on the line than in the dryer in the same amount of time - I will hang shirts up - but my house USED to be one with lots of closets - now I will probably change all that - tiny closets if any - but it dries so darned fast!
Hey, have you heard of washer balls? The have silicone balls inside them that gets the water to the right pH so you wash with only water, not expensive detergents or skin irritating detergents.
I miss having line fresh laundry. Its not allowed in my neighborhood 😑 People have become ridiculously pretentious in our society. If their machines broke, they would go not know what to do😂
This is my first video with you on this channel... after the first 5 minutes of watching you, I started to smile as thought to myself, " Now here is a channel that will eventually have over a million viewers and sponsors! I love the way you are raising these children... Put the computer games down and do your chores! I have a good feeling that these children will grow up to be hard working, honest, respectful, loyal mature "Christian Adults" who will respect their elders and have the ability to deal with all of life's issues without running for their "Safe Spaces!" God Bless you all, and I wish you all the success in your destiny. I also know that you will have a very large viewership real soon as your ability to learn the this new technology!
Hanging laundry is my favorite housework task because it gets me OUTSIDE. The movement of hanging the clothes on the line gets me looking up and noticing how blue the sky is or how fluffy the clouds are, I breathe deeply of the fresh air, I feel the wind on my face. I love it. And the clothes smell so good afterwards. One tip for hanging socks, to make it go faster. I drape a bunch of them on my left shoulder, then I don't have to bend down to retrieve one sock at a time from the basket. I pick one sock at a time off my shoulder with my left hand and then clip it with my right. It's really quick and it saves my back.
I’ve just recently found your channel and I’m lovin it. Like you were a large family and I could do laundry on almost every day of the week. I rarely use the dryer unless I’m unwell and there’s not much help about. I love the clothes line. Our power bills are so expensive that dryers are not used at all if we can avoid it.
I’m so proud to have had a mother who taught me all the things you just shared with us. We are so blessed! I love love love the smell of line dried clothes and sheets! It’s indescribable!
I’m 76 years old and I can still remember when I did my first washing and a ring washer and hung them on the line in the winter time my husband comes home from work and they were stiffer than a board. They were his longjohns and sweatshirts I remember that and then I remember our first year anniversary meal was a disaster. Even the dog outside wouldn’t eat it but now I’m a great cook, good housekeeper I like to do craft I can but I don’t need to anymore but I appreciate your show because it takes me back when I was young
I was lucky enough to experience washing with a ringer because that was all my grandmom had. Scared me, but when you are a kid, you like to do the scary things. Grandmom also had us haul the water outside afterwards and pour it through her garden. My mom hung out diapers, (always had 2 sometimes 3 in diapers at one time) even in the winter. If they stayed frozen on the line she would bring them in and resort to the dryer. Cold cold fingers and chapped hands hanging those diapers out in the winter.
I switched to thinner (and cheaper) towels. Honestly they dry your body just fine out of the shower but it doesn’t take FOREVER to dry them like those ultra thick and fluffy towels. Did the same thing with beach towels too.
When I lived for a short time in humid Florida I discovered the wonderful of using linen for towels. I bought heavy clothing weight linen on sale at local fabric stores and cut the fabric to length and put in a simple hem on the raw edge. These dry super fast, need less soap and ZERO fab softener. They are super absorbent. I love them for hair. I still buy washcloths BUT I look for the thinnest I can find and buy stacks so you only use one time...that's where the germs and yuck are.
Forgot, linen makes a great beach towel too. Also look for upholstery weight linen fabric for towels, hand, body, and beach towels, they are fabulous! You will need to wash them in the hottest water a couple of times to get rid of the sizing and stain retardant but they last for YEARS.
I like thin towels so much more than thick and heavy. Never heard anyone else say this before. I bought one linen towel and really like it. Never thought I could buy a linen fabric heavy enough. Thank you for that idea!
Thanks Ruth-Ann. In Australia it's pretty common to line dry here and we have such hot weather too. I only use my dryer if we have lots of rain & humidity. Great tips about training kids up though!
Likewise, my dryer is only used during spider season and used just to cook off any wayward spiders that may have crawled into my clothes. A few years back I scored a very nasty bite from one 🕷️ in my pyjamas and it’s left me traumatised so , that’s why the dryer is used.
I’m lucky to live in Arizona where my clothes dry outside in about 20min most of the year!😂 With zero humidity and 100+degree days it’s often faster than that. I love your videos, thanks for sharing!
I bought a travel suitcase cart at thrift store. Then I put a laundry basket where the suitcase would go. Use a hanger and bungee cord to attach to cart. The handle goes up and down. And it has wheels. So easy to hang laundry out. Hope this helps.
Have you considered sorting the laundry daily as the dirty clothes are placed into the baskets? We sort this way instead and it saves time and energy on laundry day. Only full loads are washed. We also hang the majority of our clothes for quicker drying and return to the closet. Using a clothing rack instead of a line is easier here. I can see why you need a few lines. Thanks for all the tips!
I’m with you. Our kids don’t need to be pampered spoiled children. They need to learn how to be independent when they get out on their own. We are a team (family) and we do things together including chores as well as play. I also don’t do laundry until I have a full load not this everyday stuff with only a couple of items in it which works out to about once a week. I’m not sure about no soap in my towels but I definitely don’t use even half the amount they say to use and sometimes I use vinegar. Have a great weekend RuthAnn. 😊
My admiration for you is beyond bounds. 😊 My mom always hung our clothes…ironed them too - sheets and all… we never even had a dryer. In winter she would hang it in our basement… I agree, although I do have a dryer, I actually do, to this day, still love hanging laundry. 🥰
You have churned up such memories! There IS nothing better than climbing into bed made with line dried sheets. It is always therapeutic for me to hang wash, never a chore. I remember my dad would help my mom hang wash in the winter. He would hang out every sock! My mom would tell him we could put them on the radiators, but he insisted. The laundry would come in frozen stiff! Such good memories. Thank you for sharing your beautiful family with us. Maybe one day you could tell us about how you and your husband met, about your children, your daughters upcoming wedding? Blessings
All of six children always had chores and we never questioned anything because that’s how it always was. My Mom had a system for doing the dishes, drying dishes, vacuuming, toys picked up and bath time. We were so proud of working with her. She worked full time with my Dad in our Family business but she always had time for us. Our Family has grown now to 30 and she does the cooking for holidays. We help but when you host gathering the workload is always heavier on that person. ~ Janet😘
I'm a widow, and my laundry loads are very small. In the winter, I hang mine by the wood stove, and in the summer, I have two folding racks I can set out to hang mine on. I love the smell of line dried laundry!
It saddens me so much that here in Vermont we have ticks now, and I'm concerned about hanging my laundry outside, and possibly bringing ticks into the house. I may be over-vigilant about this, so I may rethink my feelings about this--I so love to hang out my laundry, get the freshness of the sun drying my laundry, and save energy. My sister-in-law taught me about 30 years ago to hang my shirts upside down, to keep the little marks off the shoulders where the clothes pins stretched them out, a revelation to me! I've since taught a number of people to do that, also sharing pins. Thanks for addressing this topic.
@@sav.c23 , I live on a floodplain in a very "ticky" area due to that. I would say that rigging your clothes line up in an open area and fairly high off the ground, you should be fine. I still dry things out, I'm just cautious to check things, and give everything a good shake. Also, ticks are around most in the spring and fall, not so much in summer. Good luck!
I'm not as familiar with ticks, but don't they just crawl and get transferred to humans when people brush up against bushes or long grass? I feel like the chances are pretty miniscule that ticks would come onto your laundry when they're hanging up off the ground. But I say that with all humility; you might know something that I don't know.
Babies and toddlers came out with me to hang laundry. A stroller worked well for this. Diapers are the best when line dried. Keeps them so white.. I even enjoy seeing the laundry waving in the breeze.
"Who lives here and where is their mother!" I had my girls room clean this morning and at the end of the do when my mom came over in the aft, it was already a mess! My mom probably wondered about my homemaking skills lol. I questioned them too ;)
I laughed about someone asking about dust from the wind, I lived under a flight path of large international airport and people would ask me about the exhaust dust from the planes overhead! haha. Hanging out laundry is sort of cathartic. Being out in the wind and the sun - just in the outside air is time to put your mind and your day in order. And it's an easy way to save money and get some exercise.
I'm 66 and I have line dried my clothes all my life. For the last 30 years, I have had two washers and one dryer. It is much quicker to run my two washers and put my clothes out to dry than to throw them in the dryer. My brother-in-law was moving (back in the day) and offered me his washer. That is how I came to have two washers. Seven years ago we moved and left that washer with the house. It was still going strong. Goes to show you how well things were made back in the day. I can't imagine not having a clothesline. It was a priority to install a line when we moved into our new home. One of God's simple pleasures it to sleep on sheets that have been dried outside!
I loved that video. In today’s day and age, the old fashioned way of doing laundry gets pushed aside. My Grandmother used to hang the clothes outside, and I watched and helped her. She always said the sun bleached her white sheets. They were always white as snow. In her latter years, she had to use the dryer though. She also loved the smell of the outside on the clothes. My Mother hung out the clothes when I was younger and taught me also. When I got older, she just used the dryer. I was an only child so there was never that much laundry. I had to change out of my school clothes, look them over, and either throw them in the dirty clothes hamper or put them on a hanger again. Then I looked over the play clothes and did the same thing. Mom and Ma-Ma taught me how to run a house-hold. I will be forever grateful. I don’t think there was anything I did not know how to do except car maintenance, tires, oil etc. At that age in history, it was “man’s” work. Over the years I learned some of those things though. You are doing a terrific job with your children. They must know what to do when Mom will not be around and how to get on in this world. You deserve a medal. A lot of Mom’s don’t, or can’t, teach their children.
In Australia nearly everyone line dries, it’s cheaper and the smell is gorgeous. The only problem we have is in the summer getting the clothes in before the sun bleaches everything!
We always used line posts in the middle of the line to raise the laundry up more off the ground and to keep those end posts from bending like that. Nice job.
My grandmother did that, too. The line is lower and easier to reach, then when the clothes are all hung, prop up the middle of the line with the pole. I found a 7ft piece of bamboo with a string branch at the top, so I didn’t even have to attach a hook or anything.
I was blessed to have a mother and grandmother who taught me to hang clothes out and the benefits of it. I was kind of shocked so many people had questions. I am 62 and have been hanging out clothes over 50 years I don’t think I have ever had bird poop or bugs be an issue. Crazy how many people thought that would be an issue. I am glad to see that your channel teaches people how to work together and also how economical it can be not to use so much energy. Clothes smell so good and last longer in my opinion when you line dry. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. You are a pleasure to watch.
I love this video my fellow Iowan :) I love hanging clothes on the line ! Haven’t been able to do it for quite a few years now. ( Apt living ). Oh but I remember those days. I had a wringer washer for a period of time too . I loved it. I would put my son on top of my clothes basket and carry it all out to the line. Up those basement stairs I went. There was a tree root I almost tripped on in route to the line. Lol Always forgetting it was there. 😂 We had livestock so flies were a problem. The black little specks. In the winter I hung them on lines in my basement. The wood stove dried the clothes fast. 😄
I also love hanging my laundry and am so grateful to my mother for having taught me since it’s not something that many folks seem to do anymore so thank you for sharing this dying art! One thing that I do when hanging my shirts is to only peg the back fabric so that the breeze flows through the shirt and dries faster (did that make sense?). Thank you so much for your educational videos, I’m so glad I’ve found you! ❤🇨🇦❤ Hugs from Canada xox
Line drying is certainly not a dying’art’. What is a dying art is peoples ability to use common sense and know how to budget and save money. That and being lazy about hanging out washing is what prevents folks from using the resources provided by nature.
Great video - you reminded me I have a load in the washer from a load I tucked in this morning so thank you! I live on the W coast so only have a retractable "clothesline" I dream of having a real clothesline as my grandparents had; as a child they had a swing mounted to one end of their clothesline post - it was a favorite!! Such memories ❤.
In other words you are teaching your children valuable life lessons. When my older son was a newborn he developed a very bad case of diaper rash from infant eczema. My doctor had me switch to cloth diapers washed in ivory flakes and hung outside in the sun. The rash cleared up in just a week or so. I never went back.
