When I went on a rant about laundry rooms earlier this year, telling you how I hate when they’re in an inconvenient spot near the garage or kitchen, some of my readers from Australia commented that they wouldn’t want them anywhere else. They don’t use dryers as much as we do in the States, so they need their laundry as close to the back door–and clotheslines–as possible. My second-floor laundry room wouldn’t work for them.
Hanging clothes out to dry isn’t even an option for me. My neighborhood has a strict Home Owner’s Association (HOA) that will send you unpleasant letters, followed by a fine. A lot of communities believe that a neighborhood filled with clotheslines will look so bad, it’ll affect their real estate values.
Look how much fun this couple has with their clothesline!
The LA Times’ article “Is Your Clothesline Illegal?” reports that some homeowners, calling themselves “right-to-dry” activists, are fighting back. They point out that clothes dryers hog 6% of the electricity used by U.S. households, which isn’t great for the environment or utility bills. Do you use clotheslines? Do your neighbors?
{ 67 comments… read them below or add one }
I love line drying my clothes and I have to admit as much as I hate my laundry room/ mud room, the convenience to outside is unbeatable.
Emily@remodelingthislife´s last blog ..Easy DIY Wall Art For Kids
Oh I should say that our clothesline hides discreetly under our pergola. There are no rules here but I don’t need everyone to see my laundry.
Emily@remodelingthislife´s last blog ..Easy DIY Wall Art For Kids
Cute Article! I wish I had a clothes line…we must have the same HOA, ha!
Beachbrights´s last blog ..Peek Inside: 100 Ideas Makeover Style
We live in a subdivision that has a HOA that strictly forbids clotheslines, as well as boats and trailers parked in your driveway, no odd exterior paint colors, and required identical mailboxes…ugh!!!
It’s not that I don’t see the value in the HOA (I for one don’t want to live next door to Sears’ on-sale purple painted house (unless it’s a painted lady…hahaha), but really? No clotheslines…we’re a subdivision in a 1-stoplight town in rural America.
Besides, so many of my neighbors have those ugly privacy fences up (I think Martha Stewart refers to them as cattle yards) that I couldn’t see people’s laundry anyways! I’m trying to live more green and would definitely love to hang out my clothes…especially my little ones onesies, rompers, pillowcase dresses, etc!
Great post!
Valerie´s last blog ..The Ferris Wheel Ride of Life
Yes, yes, yes….but I am in Australia. I can wash and dry all in one day. I only use my dryer for towels (too scratchy otherwise). My mum had one just like your photo – best thing in the world for drying but not so pretty. I have a fold up type that attaches to the fence. Nobody can see it. I live in a townhouse and the line is close to the laundy which is at the back door and utility area. I also have a courtyard around the other side of the house so I can’t see any of the utility area.
Our house had a clothesline (conveniently placed just outside the garage door next to the washer/dryer) that I used all the time. We removed it when we did some work on that side of the house and I do miss it but don’t quite know how to put one back. Maybe I just need to think harder. And no HOA here to stop me, btw!
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Most Cape Cod home have a clothesline…mainly for hanging towels after a day at the beach in the summer months. We even have a clothes line named after us. A “Cape Cod Clothesline” is a couple of lines of rope strung between two wood structures that each look like the letter T. The lines have to be tightened regularly because they stretch under the weight of heavy beach towels. During the spring and fall, I dry my sheets and pillow cases on the line, just to bring that sweet smell of fresh air back into the house.
The rest of the year, I must admit that I really love the convenience of having my washer and dryer upstairs near our bedroom and bath.
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When my husband and I bought our house this spring and replaced the old appliances with new ones, we never ended up buying a dryer. We put up a retractable clothesline in the backyard. Despite one bee sting, we love it. The old dryer still sits in the laundry room – I suppose once it snows we will have to use it.
Our homeowners’ association only allows clotheslines if they can’t be seen from the street. I don’t have one because my laundry room is upstairs, but I do love clothes dried on a clothesline.
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I have clothesline poles in the back yard, but no line, and one of the poles is almost engulfed in the branches of a small tree. I have some line for them in a drawer somewhere; they’re handy if we’ve been camping and need to air stuff out. Otherwise it rains too much here. And, I have a small house, so everything is convenient! Well, everything is close by, at least.
I grew up in the country and we had a clothes line. I really don’t like them much. Makes the clothes stiff.
Becky @ Farmgirl Paints´s last blog ..Simple Connection
When Mussolini was in power during WW2 hanging your clothes outside was illegal. The minute the war ended and he lost power, everyone resumed hanging their clothes out! I can think of things a whole lot worse like old clunkers in the street or side yards or yard clutter or neglected landscaping. A nice little clothes line secluded in your backyard should be just fine, although I do not have one. Cranking up the curb appeal would be time better spent in my opinion. Great post, Julia, as usual!
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I LOVE my clothesline. I am an Aussie who lived in Hong Kong for 3 years where everything had to go through the dryer. When we moved back to Australia I was so excited to have a line. My husband hates them though and whenever we have guests coming he pulls it out of the garden and stores it under the house. It’s a fold down rotary hoist and sits in a tube placed in the grass. And of course, then there’s the environmental issue. But really I just love the way the clothes smell after being dried in the fresh air and things don’t shrink either!
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I LOVE my clothesline – I live in New Zealand and I don’t have a drier – your clothes are “delicious” after a day in the fresh in my case country air and they are SO WHITE – yes, it is more labor intensive but it is also a rewarding part of living – the old “little things” make the difference.
No ban in my neighborhood which makes me wonder….why don’t I have one? So eco-friendly! And I’ve always thought of them in the lovely Italian village sort of way, so charming.
Heather Bullard´s last blog ..Warm Heart, Artisan Hands
Australian! And yes, I have a clothesline, and try to use it as much as possible. The clothes may be a little scratchier, but they generally don’t need ironing, and they have this lovely outdoorsy smell, and I’m not contributing as much to green house gases or my electricity bill. I have a small round hangy thing that I picked up from the “$2 shop” that holds all my “privates” and I hang that at the back of my clotheslines line if I’m feeling embarrassed, but mostly I don’t care. We all wear undies don’t we? That’s what we call them here, what do you guys call them?
My MIL loves to hang her clothes out…it reminds me of the Beverly Hillbilly’s. I know that there is a fresh smell that some love. I do use a drying rack inside as I don’t put many of my clothes in the dryer!
I liked your images though!
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I actually hate the laundry rooms on the second floor or by the bedrooms. One, the noise and blocking potential in the hallway. Two, while it is practical for the clothes and bedsheets, I just picture the horror of a washer breaking and water overflowing everywhere! Mold and squishy or warped floors. Not good.
I live in south Texas so it’s almost always hot here. We have a long pole along one side of the garage and then a line outside. Just shake the clothes, put on a hanger, and they dry perfectly. I just put my sheets in the dryer for a couple minutes before bringing them in for the dryer sheet smell lol.
Not allowed in my neighborhood. But my mom and my grandma always hung out the clothes and sheets, and there is nothing like the fresh smell of climbing into a bed with line-dried sheets!
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We live in Seattle, wa. and it rains very frequently 9 or 10 months of the year. Very hard to dry clothes for a family out here. In the summer, I do drape a few things over the deck railings, and have been trying to figure out something nicer. Bought a drying rack and it stained my clothes. Is it a conspiracy to make us use our dryers??
I use drying racks which I use in my garage and outside when the weather is really nice. I couldn’t live in a neighborhood where they told my how to dry my clothes.
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I’m with SongBirdTiff. I really am glad we don’t have an HOA telling me how to dry my clothes, that I can’t have a screen door, that I have to cut down a tree because it is growing too tall, what kind of trees to grow, what kind of fence to put up, etc.
We are just putting up one of those privacy fences, and I don’t think of them as cattle yards. Martha!!!! The people next door have 9 dogs (even if that is illegal, they were eventually told to get a kennel license). The dogs bark at us every time we move, so the fence went up and it is much more peaceful, although they still bark at every other thing.
We have a clothes line. I grew up with a clothes line and it was my job to hang the diapers. I loved my job. It was so peaceful, the laundry was cool and smelled so good.
For Becky: Yes the clothes do get stiff, but I dry the jeans in the dryer for about 10 minutes then hang them on the line. They are not stiff.
We do have rainbird sprinklers, which I have to remember and gather the clothes before they come on, or wait until tomorrow. But if they do sprinkle, the blouses are completely ironed from drip drying.
The only thing I don’t like having them near the kitchen is the washer and dryer are SO NOISY. It was a retrofit, that room used to be the kitchen and is located in the middle of the house, since they added onto the house, so my dryer has NO VENT. I use it in the winter when I am feeling chilly in the morning to warm the house. I make the vent blow into one of those grated pans that holds water. They sell those in some catalogs. Otherwise most of my stuff drys on the line. even in winter.
Fun post, thanks. it was fun to read everyone’s opinions as well. Comments are as fun as the posts sometimes.
~a
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According to my older sister there is a right an wrong way to hang pants on the line….Who knew? The lost art of “LOL” <–(laundry on line)
Clothes lines are permitted in my city neighborhood (as are chickens!), but I unfortunately have no where to put one. I do use drying racks in my basement laundry room, though, and dry only socks, underwear, sheets, and towels. Everything else hangs to dry. Clothes last much much longer if they don’t go through the dryer.
One of the best smells in the world is a bed made with sheets that dried on a clothes line outside.
Oh I love my clothesline. I didn’t use it as much this past summer as I usually do but there is nothing like the smell of fresh sheets on your bed that have just come off the clothesline. We live in an old home and so there are no restrictions and I am so glad.
LeAnn
LeAnn´s last blog ..One of my all time favorite kitchens….
We use our clothes line or the wire balustrading of our back deck, but I do live in Australia.
I can’t believe you have neighbourhoods where clothes lines are banned?? No, they’re not always super-attractive but what do you do if you don’t want to use a dryer, for environmental or financial reasons? Or just because you don’t want your clothes to shrink? I gotta say I agree with Songtiff, being told how and where to dry your clothes seems like lunacy.
I really wish I had one but my hubby just hasnt had time to put one up…..and it rains a lot in BC Canada
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My grandma and grandpa had T clothesline poles stuck in the ground at their old farm house and my grandma used it a lot in the summer.
I would much rather use a dryer. A dryer you can turn on and go off and do other things. A clothesline you have to worry about it raining. At least here in Washington you do.
We don’t have a clothesline either. We are in Seattle and um, well, our clothes would be better off hung inside where it is dry. (which I do from time to time!)
But I love the idea of a clothesline and in the summer I do sometimes lay things over our deck railing! Love the fresh scent!
melissa @ the inspired room´s last blog ..Fall to Winter Front Door Decor
Clothes lines and drying your clothes on a rack is the way of life here in the UK. It is actually more rare to have a dryer than not. I must admit I have both and try to use the clothes line when the weather permits…which to be honest in the UK can be rare at times ;o)
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You know…I don’t know what the deal is in our town to be honest. There are some very strict historical society standards, and to be honest I haven’t seen any clotheslines. We are all on VERRRYYYY small lots so I’m not even sure we could have one if we wanted to. However, the new tenants in the house directly across from us have taken to hanging clothes on a rope strung along their second floor front porch.
Lucky us.
laura @ the shorehouse´s last blog ..Tea for two. Or more.
I have a rotary clothesline on my back deck. I love it! I don’t use it all the time- especially when it’s super cold. I also have a clothesline in my laundry room which is very nice. My family is from Austria and we never used a dryer there. We hung the laundry either outside or upstairs in the attic (with attic windows open)…and everyone else did the same.
My HOA doesn’t allow it either. I would love to be able to hang clothes outside. Fortunately we have a small vacation home on a lake, and I am able to use a clothesline there. One of my favorite simple pleasures is to get into a bed with the sweet fresh smell of the outdoors in the sheets.
I use a drying rack inside for things I don’t want to shrink in the dryer. This makes a lot of ironing work for me, and I imagine a clothesline would do the same. Then the iron would be on and I’d use up even more electricity.
In our former house the HOA would not allow the use of clotheslines so we just hung a retractable line below the top of our fence line. The only way you could see our laundry was if you in our house or a neighbor’s upstairs. No one ever turned us in.
Now we live in a nice country town that laws clothes lines, I use mine all the time but my laundry room is now in the basement which is a pain, oh well, so goes life!
I would love to do it but my husband who is highly allergic to everything in the air (it seems) objects. Does anyone have experience with seasonal allergies and line drying?
Being that I am asthmatic, I can’t imagine hanging clothes outside to dry. I am rather fond of the zillion rules imposed by the HOA, as I don’t care to look at flapping clothing. In my old non-HOA neighborhood, no one hung out clothes. The air quality wasn’t stellar, so maybe that was the reason. Maybe if your mom did it, you also hang clothes. My mom was rather fond of the dryer. This is an interesting topic.
I hang about half our clothes out to dry. Some things like underwear I put in the dryer and I usually at least partially dry the towels. Growing up I always thought seeing laundry hanging out was so pretty. It never occured to me as something to hid or that would offend people.
The Tiny Homestead´s last blog ..Late Blooms
I didn’t vote because my neighbornood does not have a HOA, and I WANT one. I don’t want one that would take up too much of the yard though. My Mother-In-Law had one that was attached to a post on the porch, and could be pulled out to hook onto a post on their pergola. When she wasn’t using it, it was out of the way. I don’t have a place to hook the other end. Where I live, it’s hot/dry during the summer and warm/dry during the spring/fall, so I would use it most of the year.
I want one for sure. An outdoor’s model, that is. I hang my freshly-washed clothes, those not placed in the dryer, to dry in the basement. The opposition to outdoor clothes lines stems from clothes and sheets being left out way into the eve, after dark, annoying neighbors. The key is as always good manners…promptly bring items inside and certainly before dark.
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I don’t have a clothes line in my new house and I REALLY miss it. I only have a foldable drier now for my unmentionables and my blouses, etc. In my last house, I just stepped out the back door onto the deck and there it was. There is nothing like going to sleep on sheets that have been dried on a line. They smell like fresh air and sunshine. So many things can be dried without electricity … though I did like my towels dried in a drier!
I never dried my unmentionables on the outside line … but I have a folding drier in the house for that. Really we should start thinking more green. Think of the electricity we would save if everyone just had a folding drier … let alone a clothesline!!!
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I grew up with a clothesline in the back yard, and I would love one now. If only I could convince my husband that it would be okay to hang our clothes outside to dry.
Blakely´s last blog ..Elephant Ears
I so miss my clothesline. My HOA won’t allow it either. Snobs! When we lived in our first home my clothes were always out on the line. Just like when I was a child, and my mother had the sheets blowing in the breeze.
Stephanie @ A Fine House´s last blog ..Friday Driveby
Apparently a clothesline is the ONLY thing our HOA forgot to include in our ridiculous restrictions (we all have 3-5 acre parcels so who really cares) because I haven’t been hauled off to prison yet. I love hanging out our bedsheets, especially when we have guests. I blogged about my unfortunate entanglement with our clothesline earlier this summer. A subject near and dear to me! Thursday Afternoon Smackdown
Ellen
Nouveau Stitch´s last blog ..Don’t call me a “bag lady” like its a bad thing…
I really didn’t want to vote “They’re banned in my neighborhood and I’m glad”, but I had to. We live in a condo development and we have a touch enough time enforcing the community rules. I can only imagine how bad it would be if people put clotheslines on their patios.
That being said, if I was in a SFH, I would LOVE a clothesline. My grandmother still has one on a pulley mounted from her deck out to a tree across the yard. It’s fantastic!
Hi Julia!!!! Here in Argentina, like Australia (same latitude) every body used clothesline, in some neighborhoods, there are rules about it. We have it ,in one side of the garden,that it is impossible to see it. But when there are no rules, I prefer dryers!!!!
Greetings from Buenos Aires
To be honest I were glad if I had a backyard and then I would certainly have a clothesline. Living in an appartment with a balcony I am proud to say I have a clothesline there – LOL.
If you have every visited Italy or Hongkong you would not complain about clotheslines at all – this belongs to the cityscape and is considered a pittoresque attribute! At least for photographers….
petra voegtle´s last blog ..Some Mysteries and a cozy Retreat…
What are these HOAs and what gives them so much power?? Not allowing clotheslines seems absurd to me, especially in this day and age. I have a clothesline and so do a few of my neighbours. I love seeing the clothes flapping in the breeze, as it usually signifies a lovely, warm and sunny spring or summer day!
I will admit I don’t use mine all the time, as our laundry is also on the 2nd floor with the bedrooms. It is a bit of an arduous task to haul a basket of wet laundry downstairs, and sometimes it’s just easier to pop it all into the dryer right next to the washer…but I do love having the option. I don’t hang my own undies and bras out though. I guess I’m a bit modest that way. But hubby’s boxer shorts are out there for all to see!
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My fiance is from England and over there, almost all of the washers are IN THE KITCHEN!!! I was shocked to discover this and found it to be really strange and terrible, but they all explained to me that it makes sense for them and they all air dry their things. Many of them don’t even have dryers – and they def. have clotheslines in the back.
Very interesting. I love learning about little cultural differences!
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We just moved out of a development with an HOA that didn’t allow clotheslines. We’re now in an area without an HOA (yeah!) so I really want to put up a clothesline in the spring. Right now there is a small clothesline in my laundry room which is nice. I plan to use that as much as possible this winter.
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I don’t have room for one anymore. We are all pool and crowded deck now! But I would love to have one!
I think laundry hanging out on the line looks beautiful! It gives me such a feeling of nostalgia.
And I love the scent of line-dried, sun-dried, fresh air-dried laundry!
Great post!
All the best,
Eileen
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I didn’t vote because you didn’t have the option of “I would love one, but I’m too lazy.” My neighbors have one and think it’s awesome.
That couple does look like they’re having fun. They remind me of the couples painting and doing house projects in their JCrew outfits. Yea right…I paint in my oldest clothes and believe me…I rarely smile.
Nikki´s last blog ..Flashback Friday: How to embarrass your Husband
yes I sure do have a clothesline.. as a matter of fact I have two… It is hard to believe in these days of the green movement and environmental concerns that everyone would not be allowed to have one.. most people use them here…
one of my favourite scents… fresh laundry from the clothesline…
your blog is amazing!!! Thanks!!!
gwen´s last blog ..Study of a Dragonfly
Oh my Julia….we had one when I was a kid I was the oldest of 5…..so a lot of times my Mum would ask me to get the clothes, if a summer storm popped up we all made the mad dash !! We had a dryer but my Mother liked to hang her clothes out. We had a neighbor that had one on a pulley and she’d hang out her window to bring in her clothes…I ALWAYS wanted one of those
So now I am the Mommy and when my kids played football, cheering, softball , baseball etc….the team colors were red and white….so I always put their uniforms out on a and I mean A just one line…..hubby ran one from the deck to a tree. We also used it to hang the pool towels. But that puppy came down real quick…..once there were no more uniforms….Not a fan can you tell LOL !!! I don’t like shaking the clothes for bugs….yuck !!
I think I am going to go into my laundry room after this comment and HUG my dryer LOL
Great post Julia….
Have a wonderful week-end…..by the way did the Little Lamb clean up candy wise ???
Kathy
Clotheslines are not banned in my neighborhood but I don’t have one. If I did, I would definitely use it. I know some think they are an eyesore but they kind of remind me of simpler times. I kind of like that.
Christi
Christi at A Southern Life´s last blog ..Southern Fall Colors
I absolutely love my clothesline. We live in a century home in Northern Ontario and our laundry room is right at the back of the house, just off the kitchen. When we moved in I found a skinny, long doorway that was blocked off. It didn’t take long for me to realize that it was the doorway that the original owners had for hanging their laundry out on. I don’t have to walk out of the house. The line comes right into the house and it attached on the opposite wall from my washer and dryer. It is lovely in the spring, summer and fall – of course I don’t do winter – I don’t like ice on my delicates
I’m an Aussie here, and can’t imagine being without my rotary hoist. (Like in the picture above) There is a family of kookaburras that live in the gum trees near my line, and I regularly look out my kitchen window with my breakfast cup of tea, and see them keeping watch over my yard from the top of my hoist.
I’m australian and have never used a dryer in my life, I saw my mother use one once and never again, it seemed very unatural and a bit lazy, my clothes came out burning hot and felt like i’d microwaved them.There is nothing like fresh aired clean sheets off a line.Even in my sisters apartmebt block in the city, everyone in the block takes the stairs or lift to the roof and hangs out their clothes
I didn’t vote because you didn’t have the option: they are banned in my neighborhood and I use it anyway. The neighbor who overlooks that part of my backyard has one as well. I was thrilled when I saw hers and told her so.
I like so much to see clothes lines. I think it’s beautiful and a sign of life.
Here we have a lot of tall buildings with a lot of families in them and it’s so nice to see all those colours on several layers untill the bottom. A proibition on hanging clothes here would be a disaster for the person who would have such idea!
I couldn’t do without mine.
paula´s last blog ..Apple season
Ah, the Hill’s Hoist!
My parents moved to Australia from the north of England, and hanging the clothes outside to dry was one of my mother’s delights, especially when she could immediately take in the first items which had dried while she hung the last.
In England I had a thing called a Sheila-maid, a rack on pulleys which hung in the laundry room, for use on wet days. When I had an Aga I could ‘iron’ sheets and linens by folding them carefully and putting them on the shiny lids over the hotplates – it worked beautifully. I still hanker after an Aga, but not while I’m living in California!
I have a clothesline here, but my neighbour sometimes asks me to take things in if she is having guests – I am very fond of her so I do. More and more I just use a little Ikea folding metal rack, with underwear hung on the inner rungs ( I seem to have become respectable). It is a real pleasure to dry washing the natural way – maybe if my children were still at home it would be too much work! It smells so fresh out in the open air.
Tricia Rose´s last blog ..Fisherman’s Cottage
I live in a neighborhood that has strict HOA policies, so I am a closet closeline person. I started last summer with a clothesline that closes up when not in use and it is hidden with my privacy fence. I would like to add that my electricity bill has dropped $30 a month!!!
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Wow, I’m in shock that there are area’s in the world where it is forbidden to dry your clothes outside. Never thought that was possible. Sometimes we live in a strange world
The moment the sun is shining in spring and I can put my clothes outside for the first time that year, is always a very happy moment. I love to see them hanging in the sun, moving a little bit in the wind. Also your wash smells so much better, and feels softer.
To see great photo’s of clotheslines around the world: http://balkonsmetwasgoed.web-log.nl/
They are definitely frowned upon in my neighborhood (HOA) although I think if somehow you can keep it out of site then you’d get away with it.
Clearly it makes great environmental and economic sense to dry clothes outside. But I remember when we lived in the UK, the somewhat iffy weather made for many interrupted meals when we’d be part way through lunch, notice it had started to rain, and would then hare outside to gather everything in. Then an hour later the sun would be out… it did get to be kind of a pain!
I sense that HOAs will come under increasing pressure in coming years to bend on this rule. The same goes for solar roof panels – we are not currently allowed to install those either, which, given the worldwide energy situation and availability of sunshine in California, is absolutely nuts!
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I didn’t vote because there wasn’t an option for me. I want a clothesline and they’re allowed, but Rich thinks I’m nuts LOL
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I took baby steps. First, I had a drying rack on the deck for pool towels. Then, after noticing that things dried quicker on the rack than in the dryer, started with small clothing items. Then I ran a line across the yard and just hung sheets. Loved the smell and the kids noticed it too. So, I started looking for a folding, umbrella-style dryer and bought a lovely Brabantia (made in Holland). It’s marvelous. You can hang four loads on it one after the other and then take everything down and do your folding outside with the birds and the dogs at the end of the day. I now check the weather and do my washing when I can hang it out.
If the neighbors are a little freaked out by a clothesline (a permanent addition to the yard) perhaps they could be gently conditioned to the idea by seeing a nice laundry drying rack like this one we got being used on the patio or deck during the warm months?
Then after awhile of getting used to the concept they would be OK with the permanent clothesline and neighborhood peace would be maintained…