The worldwide addiction to home comforts is growing with each passing day. We’ve let machines and gadgets take over our lives and execute even the most mundane things for us. One of those things is drying our clothes.
The clothes dryer is one of the most used appliances around the world. While this machine is certainly very convenient, it can break havoc on your clothes, spike in your utility bills and leave a hefty impact on the environment.
Luckily, there’s a better solution to dry your clothes and its name is a large clothesline. This is one of the most practical things you can get for your household and yet it won’t cost you a fortune. Continue reading to find out why you should get one as soon as possible.
Kill More Germs
Keeping clothes and household cloths sparkly clean has always been important, but now with the Covid19 crisis, it’s paramount. Do you know that there’s a chance your clothes are dirtier after you do the laundry? Sure, they’ll be stain-free and odourless, but there might be some nasty germs hiding between the strands of fabric. This happens because you can’t wash all your clothes at high temperatures or use harsh detergents for delicate clothing. Plus, if you don’t clean your washing machine regularly, the drum can become an ideal environment for the spread of pathogens.
Hanging your clothes outside on a large clothes airer is an economical way to sanitize your clothes thanks to the strong Australian Sun. You’ll just need to spread out your garments along the line and the ultraviolet rays will do the rest. The sun can kill about 99% of germs and since your clothes have already been washed; the final result will be squeaky clean clothing.
Keep Your Whites White
If you struggle to keep your bedsheets and pillowcases white, you should try drying them outdoors on a large clothes airer. Body sweat and other bodily fluids can cause your white sheets to turn yellow over time no matter how frequently you wash them. However, the Sun with its powerful ultraviolet rays comes to the rescue again.
For this method to work, you need to spread out your sheets as much as possible, so it’s best to choose a large clothes line. After you wash your linen, you can spray it with lemon juice solution (2 parts lemon 1 part water) for optimum results or use another green alternative. Then, hung it out in the hot blazing sun and leave it there for two to three hours. This technique works for stains as well, but if you should be careful with other colours since it can cause discolouration.
Extend the Life of Your Clothes
The residue you see in your dryer after taking your clothes out isn’t dirt. It’s the life leaving your beloved garments. Your clothes had enough tumbling and tossing in the washing machine and a second-round would be too much. The dryer can be harsh on your delicate fabrics and cause wear and strain on seams, so air drying your clothes on a large clothesline will help you preserve your clothes for longer.
If you want to dry your clothes faster, buy a large portable clothes line and place it near a heat vent or fan. Or, if you’re drying your laundry outside, rotate the clothesline and turn your garments to both sides to get the most out of sunlight. You should also hang your clothes separately to allow the air circulation to dry them more quickly.
Save Time on Ironing (or Ditch It Completely)
Once you’ve mastered the skill of air drying clothes, you can save time on ironing or ditch it completely. The key here is to use a large clothesline that will provide you with enough space to neatly spread out your clothes, linen and delicates. Make sure you shake out your clothing after removing it from the wash before you hang it on the clothesline because this helps to eliminate wrinkles and allows for quicker drying.
You may want to keep smaller items unfolded to minimize wrinkling, but if you’re drying a large sheet, for instance, you should fold it in half to utilize the space on the rod. You can dry t-shirts, dress shirts and other tops on hangers or hang them from a rod, just be careful with knitted sweaters and garments which should be dried flat to prevent stretching.
Save Money on Electricity
They say that nothing is free in life, but some mundane things such as drying your clothes should be. Do you know that appliances such as clothes dryers, washing machines and dishwashers account for 14% of electricity use in most households? If you have a dryer that uses 200kWh per year you’re looking at a cost around $50 based on typical usage, but if you use your dryer more often, this could cost a lot more.
Buying a clothesline is a small investment that can save you a lot of money on electricity in the long run. Plus, if you use dryers sheets, you won’t need them anymore. Since each dollar saved is a dollar earned, you should definitely consider a clothesline solution for your home.
Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
Using a clothesline solution is an excellent way to reduce your carbon footprint because the dryer is one of the most energy-hungry appliances in your house. Drying your clothes on a clothesline can reduce your carbon footprint by whooping 2400 pounds per year and if more people decided to ditch their dryers we could spare the environment from million tones of CO2 in a year.
Moreover, your dryer emits heat in your home which can be unbearable in the hot summer days so you’re forced to crank up the AC and spend even more energy to cool off.
Final Thoughts
If you still haven’t bought a clothesline, you should definitely do so because unlike buying a dryer, it won’t cost you a fortune and as you can see, it offers numerous other benefits.
A large fold-down clothesline or a portable one is a great solution if you don’t have an outdoor area or you live in a small apartment because it’ll allow you to reap the benefits of air drying without sacrificing your space.
PS: Hanging out clothes is an excellent physical activity that’ll help you burn some calories and get your body ready for summer.
