Monday's Question Of The Day - January 22, 2018

[LTS3]

Dryer for most things but I do hang up or flat dry (inside, not outside) some things.

 

[nansiludie]

Line drying for most of the year. Only use the dryer in the winter. I just love the scent of fresh line dried laundry.

 

[Mother Dragon]

When I was growing up (yes, this is one of those oldster's stories), we had no dryers, so everything went on the clothesline. You hung the sheets on the outside and your unmentionables inside where no one could see them. Some clotheslines were just that, sets of lines, usually clothesline rope and then later, metal, fastened to poles at either end. We usually had several. The new thing was a rotating central pole with long ribs extending out so the lines made squares, again in tiers. The order of hanging was the same. To save clothespins, you'd fasten two pieces edge to edge with one clothespin. Eventually all the lines would sag and you'd have to tighten them with a turnbuckle. Short people carried a little stool to hang clothes (yes, I did!)

Pants like khakis and jeans went on pants stretchers while they were wet to keep them from shrinking. Getting a pair of pants fastened onto one of those would teach you new words and sometimes they'd come loose while they were out on the clothesline. I hated those things.

Neighbors were really neighbors back then, and if it started to rain, you brought your own clothes in first and then went over and brought your neighbor's in if they weren't at home. Sometimes we'd have two or three batches of clothes that weren't ours.

Most of the things had to be ironed, so you mixed up starch (Faultless powdered starch and hot water, mixed to just the right consistency and without lumps, allowed to cool), dunked the clothes, wrung them out, and started ironing. If the clothes were getting dry, you sprinkled them with water from a soda bottle with a cork and a top with holes in it. Irons didn't have steam options for a good long time. If you didn't finish the starched items, you had to put them in the fridge so they wouldn't sour. If they soured (as they still will if you leave them the washer too long) the stink was very, very difficult to get out. If you scorched something while ironing it, you sprinkled it with lemon juice and put it back out in the sun. That usually took care of it.

It was a lot of work, but those clothes sure smelled and felt good!

 

[AbbysMom]

While I love the smell from line-drying, with my allergies almost everything goes in the dryer. There's a few things that I dry by hanging it over the shower curtain rod.

 

[artiemom]

Mother Dragon I also have those memories; as I grew up without a clothes dryer.

There was something 'special' about the line dried clothes... that is, until the birds came out, or the rain or freezing cold temps, or snow... then we had lines which my dad set up in the cellar.. they were line dried in the cellar.

 

[amysuen]

In the summer I put everything but towels and jeans on the line, but in the winter I use the dryer for everything but delicates. I love the smell of line-dried clothing but hate having a mountain of it to fold all at once.

 

[Kittysmamma]

Clothes dryer with lavender dryer sheets. And I use dryer sheets in the truck to keep everything smelling....um....more acceptable.

But cat hair on my clean clothes doesn't bother me one little bit. Makes me happy.

 

[Kittysmamma]

And remember what we always say...a meal isn’t complete without a cat hair.

 

[Mother Dragon]

Mother Dragon I also have those memories; as I grew up without a clothes dryer.

There was something 'special' about the line dried clothes... that is, until the birds came out, or the rain or freezing cold temps, or snow... then we had lines which my dad set up in the cellar.. they were line dried in the cellar.

Yeah, the birds could ruin a fresh load of laundry and you had to check the lines before you hung things, too. We didn't have a basement, but we didn't have freezing cold too often and it almost never snowed. We did have a few lines in the detached garage where the washing machine was, but they wouldn't hold a full load of wash. Weather forecasting wasn't nearly as accurate but we somehow managed. Which kind of clothespins did you use, straight or spring? We used spring and sometimes one would break and let something drag on the ground. That was not a happy occasion! Colorful plastic clothespins eventually made their appearance and we thought those were wonderful. We even color coded the clothes - more or less!