Hanging clothes on the line

I had a post and lost it. Dang.

I'm no expert but I have hung a LOT of clothes to dry over the years. At home I did them on a wringer washer and hung them to dry. Too much soap is a common problem that causes stiffness - or inadequate rinsing.

I would be hesitant to leave them on the line additional time. The longer they are in the sun and the wind the more the fabric and color are deteriorating.

I miss having a clothes line. Nothing smells as clean as line dried sheets. We have lived here for 11.6 years and hubby has yet to set my clothes line posts. He might soon, though. We just had a $150 electric bill!

Hey.

Put some bleach in the wash water. Make sure they're wrung out real well before putting them on a line...find an old hand wringer to squeeze em out if your doing this without a dryer all the time.

RF

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I would LOVE a $150 electric bill!

I found that my nicer Egyptian cotton towels aren't as stiff as the cheaper towels. I haven't noticed a smell, but I do enjoy the crisp lay of the fabrics. It makes hubby's polo shirts a breeze to look nice and the T shirts look almost ironed.

You might want to run an empty load with some vinegar and see if that helps the odor. Just a thought.

I have always line-dried all my washing. Sun and wind are free. I have owned an electric drier for about 30 years, and used it very rarely. Even in rainy weather, I use an indoor rack for drying clothes. I've NEVER had a problem with stiffness or nasty smells.

I think you're probably using too much detergent, or soap. If that isn't rinsed out adequately, it will cause fabrics to become stiff, and it will also cause them to become smelly after a time. I suggest you use much less detergent, and put some vinegar into the final rinse to 'kill' the soap.

If the smell is a musty smell, it's because you're leaving your wet clothes for too long before hanging them. You should hang them immediately after they've been washed and spun dry.

I'm wondering, too, if you're allowing your clothes to dry completely on the line, or bringing them in when they're still slightly damp. This will cause them to smell if they're left in a pile for any length of time before ironing them completely dry. That smell is probably the beginning of mould.

It's important to bring clothes inside as soon as they are completely dry. If you hang them outside in the sun for too long, they will become stiff.

I've never had a problem with stiff towels, and I can't remember EVER putting them through a dryer. Choosing a windy day to hang them out will result in very fluffy towels, but once again it's a matter of how much soap you use to wash them in, and how much of that soap is rinsed out. If you've had a build-up of soap, give your towels (and other clothes) a run through an entire washing/rinsing cycle without soap, and without any fabric softeners - except vinegar in the final rinse. You might need to do this several times to extract all that built-up soap.

I suggest, too, that you give your washing machine a thorough cleaning. Clean out any filters (have you ever smelled that stuff that accumulates in the filters?!?) and let the machine run through a whole long cycle with no clothes in it but a generous glug of vinegar for the rinse cycle. This will get rid of any soap scum that may come from tainted water sitting in the hoses and gathering in the 'fluff' in the filters. Do this every 3-4 months or so. This is especially important if you wash in cold water, so for the cleaning process, use HOT water. (I use only cold water all the time - it's cheaper!)

too much soap...

mc and co

or does your mother inlaw live with you?

mc

I love lined dried towels and sheets! I love the smell and texture.. I agree, too little wind and they seem to be more stiff. If you don't like the natural smell of sunshine and wind..try adding a small amount of linen water to the wash. You can find it in rose, lilac, honeysuckle or almost any scent you like.

We have hard water, I've been told that's what makes stiffer towels. Yes my kids complain that their clothes are too stiff and rough and that they have a funny smell. Oh well to bad, no dryer, but they sneak and use it anyway.

Our clothes line is on the patio and it's pretty much enclosed (we live in a condo) so I think thats why it has that stale smell to it (animals on other patios, not to mention our two rabbits). I told the kids if they don't like it to buy some fabreeze(they all have jobs!) or help pay the electric bill.

So I think that the smell you are refering to is that maybe your clothes line is to close to animals or a dumpster. I have heard that if you add vinegar to the rinse it helps to soften the clothes and remove excess soap. My mom always added fabric softerner to the clothes and they weren't stiff after being dried on the line, I'm just to cheap and I never remember when to add it. HTH's

I forgot to add that I don't think the laundry smells, but it is pretty stiff sometimes.

Since using homemade soap I noticed right away that our clothes were soft and did not stink even after being hung on the line to dry with no fabric softener. The wind usually blows everday so that does help. On still days the only things that are like cardboard are the jeans. The stiffness in clothes is from the residues of soap. Clothes with start to stink because some fabric softeners have animal tallow in them and after a while may smell(this is what I have read and heard) Water plays a role in the stink too. Our water smells bad if thing sit for a while--vinegar helps with that.

The main reason why clothes line dried smell more starts with the washer. When the washer is not in use, leave the lid up or door open as there is always some residue water in there and will breed bacteria more readily when the lid or door is closed. This water and bacteria is then transferred to your clothes when you wash them.

When you dry your clothes in the dryer, most of this bacteria gets killed from the heat and hence the clothes do not smell like those dried on a line where the outside temperature is nowhere near hot enough to kill the bacteria.

Learned this from our local health inspector one day while discussing the proper sanitation of towels used in a clinical environment.

I live in Ohio (the humidity capital of the world ) and I have the musty problem every single summer. This year I finally found a cure for it. I bought a small bottle of tea tree oil and add three drops of it to the fabric softener in the dispenser. Tea tree oil is a natural anti-fungal. No more musty. Essential oils seem expensive, but one bottle lasts forever!

As to smells on line-dried clothes: I just got my clothesline up and used it for the first time yesterday! Some of you remember that I posted a thread in Countryside Families called "Too Stupid for a Clothesline" or something like that because I had a horrible time getting a clothesline that wouldn't break or sag horribly.

I thought people that said clothes dried outside smell like outside were a little loopy because the outside doesn't smell that strong to me so how could the clothes pick up a smell? Well they do! It's as though the fabric magnifies the smells already there. I have some wild mint growing outside and my clothesline is right next to a group of pine trees. Yep. Minty pine scented clothes! I can barely smell anything out there, but the clothes reek of it

RedTartan

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nothing I love more than sunshine dried clothes. I sleep best the very first night I'm tucked into my lined-dried sheets. but...I agree that when humidity is extreme, they don't quite dry fast enough. I do use the dryer when those days hit. here in PA that's only a few days a summer, tho. I also keep my washer door open to air dry well (have a front loader), so no smells.

If it's not a windy enough day, then walk by several times and shake the clothes or tug on the line to do so. I have to do this when I line dry in the den in the winter. It keeps them from getting so stiff.

I love the sponge idea for the front loader and I must try the tea tree oil, thanks!

One big drawback to using a line to dry clothes! I use an umbrella line so I don't have to worry about having to mow around permanent poles and the base is set in an open area of the yard. Right now, I have two barn swallow families with just fledged nestlings that are learning to fly. Can you see where this is going? So...I just brought in some sheets and towels I put out this morning and one of the sheets and 2 of the towels are "decorated" ARRGH!

I forgot until today about the time I went to bring in clothes to find a bunch of twigs close to the size of my closed fist in the fold of a sheet. I couldn't imagine how they'd gotten there until a tiny little wren started scolding me for all she was worth. Since then I've provided her and her sisters with some tiny little nest boxes and haven't found any more tinder in my laundry.

Oh that's priceless! LOL!

The only time I've had stinky clothes off the clothes line is when the dag gone Tom Cat went and marked them up for me.............

My dr says line dried clothes, provided they dry in direct sun for at least 2 hours are more sanitized than dryer dried. However, local health dept. says the opposite. Go figure.

Anyway--clothes will definitely pick up smells in the air. Mine don't go out during wood burning season, or when the neighbors had 3 large dogs just across the fence, or when anyone in several miles is applying cow dirt, etc.

But many people do mistake clean for stink.....that is, they are so used to the stink of the dryer sheet that plain clean clothes smell off to them. Add to that many people use too little detergent and too cold water to actually get the clothes clean. Perspiration or body oil build up, bacteria thrive, and whew--give me a break. Give up starbuck's and put that money on clean clothes or stay downwind, please!!

Our clothesline is as low tech as it comes! An old dog tie out cable strung between 2 trees. Right now that is where I hang out all our laundry (4 farm kids, two adults and a cloth diapered baby). Aside from the socks and underwear-I hang those on one of the old fashioned wooden clothes trees inside the back porch.

Sure, the jeans leave something to be desired-but there is no better way to dry linen and bed sheets! And the smell.....aaahhhh! I can't resist sniffing even baby diapers

Oh and FWIW-if you do have softened water don't add vinegar it can make clothes kind of scummy....



Truth be told I hope this photo is forever etched in my memory.

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My best,

Melissa

I've been told that the "fresh" line dried scent is actually from the pollen outside. Perhaps the "stink" is something growing nearby with nasty smelling pollen.

We used to have that problem when we washed my socks with the laundry. I told the Mrs. just to quit washing them and the rest of the clothes are fine now.

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I actually like to hang towels out in the evening and leave them overnight, they smell wonderful and do remain much softer.

The key to keeping them from getting stiff is to get them off the line right away, the longer they hang, the stiffer they get.

Melissa, love that pic, I'm always taking pictures of my sons diapers drying on the line.