For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for May 30, 2014

Drying laundry outside makes it smell sooo good…the only problem is the birds don’t wear diapers… ;)

My neighbor hangs out clothes almost all year long. Even when they were building a new school next door, and clouds of dirt were blowing everywhere!

I don’t think my Dad did it right…when I was younger, he would always hang clothes out on the lawn. But when we got them off when they were dry-my parents were separated btw-they would smell musty. We live in Virginia so that might have something to do with it.

It may seem “natural” in sunny weather but clothes still needed to be washed in the winter even without (or before) dryers.

I remember frozen shirts hanging on the line. They did eventually dry but took much longer.

I guess I’m just too sensitive to odors. I can smell pollen, and/or any other pollution on line dried clothes. And if I wanted it, I can get that “line dried” smell by doing a second rinse, and drying on low. And no, I don’t use fabric softeners.

Dry clothes on the line. Then put in dryer for 5-10 minutes with no heat. They come out soft without fabric softener.

Who has clothes pins anymore?

They make great wind-clips to hold music at outdoor concerts!

“But the man on the telly said the penguin’s going to blow up!”

I love clothes from the clothes line…..that smell is wonderful. The only problem is drying towels and jeans, they are so stiff and scratchy. I used to put the liquid fabric softener in the washer to help but they still would be some what stiff. I do know that drying shirts on the line cuts down on ironing.

LOL!!!

Clotheslines (and fences) are prohibited by our HOA.

I remember growing up and all the neighbors hung their clothes out to dry in the summer. Now some neighborhoods have deed restrictions that forbid clothes lines. Too bad. As for the winter, mom would hang some on the line indoors.

I don’t remember any bird droppings on any of the clothes. They seemed to like the car after dad washed it on Saturdays better.

That was great!

A couple of months ago, I learned how to make Limburger cheese in my very own dryer! I had run the dryer once, and noted that the laundry wasn’t dry, so ran it again. Later, noted that the dryer made a noise and sent clothes around when I turned it on, but it didn’t heat. Clothes were still wet. “Got to do something about that,” I thought. But being old and forgetful, I didn’t take the clothes out. The next morning I was planning to drive to the gym, and noted that the whole garage smelled exactly like the freezer chest at another house, after the freezer had been unplugged for quite a few days. (After all, this was Florida during a March warm streak.) Even the car, with windows cracked open, reeked.I re-washed the clothes using scented detergent, handfuls of OxiClean powder, and a boatload of baking soda. The clothes came out ok, and I dried them at a laundromat. The car aired out pretty quickly. The Limburger cheese? It had been in the interstices of the clothing, but I didn’t bother to refine it out to serve on rye with onions.

I still hang sheets, shirts and my housecoats etc…on the clothesline. Our house is up on stilts so we don’t have birds flying over the lines.

flagmichael: That’s why you should rent (so you can move out easily, or buy, so you have control and equity – not that sucker-bait where you have all the liability and they have all the control.

Be thou careful; thy mimicry may get thee a lightning bolt!!!

A woman I worked with always smelled so great so I asked her what perfume she used. She said she didn’t use ANY fragrance items but hung her clothes on the line over her grass after she mowed it the day before. AWESOME.

Alos: The dollar store has clothespins

I remember hanging my clothes out on lines (pre dryer days) and when I took them in, they would be covered in June bugs up in the creases where the pins were. Sometimes attached to thickest parts of my clothes.Guess they were trying to keep cool and get a drink attached

Going back I visited my Grand Parents in the Bronx.They lived in a walk of tenement. The clothes lines in back on the building was hooked from one building to another.All you had to do was open the kitchen window and hang the clothes out. What a marvel idea.

Nun’Ya Bidness: In most places, that’s illegal. Turn them in anonymously, the fire will last long enough for the police to investigate and take it from there.