sunshinetreva:

My mom had the umbrella type and her favorite feature was that it folded up and she could pull it out from it's tube holder in the ground and put it away in bad weather

Mine is like that. I made a point of installing mine next to my cement patio so I could stand in one spot and move the empty lines toward me instead of walking in wet grass.

I have lines to hang out .. I do every time I can ..  we have have 2 lines in the basement too ... 

we do save money hanging out .. I live the way my towels smell and the sheets are heavenly

I just hung a load of towels on the line a little while ago. It's very warm out, but it's windy, and they'll dry quickly. And they'll smell wonderful.

 I'm not sure, really, how much we save by line-drying. We're on the budget plan with Virginia Power, so it's the same every month. This is our first year doing that; I think they do an adjustment at the end of the year, so maybe we'll find out then if there was a decent-sized savings. But even if there isn't, I'd still use the clothesline. It's nice to get outside and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.

 I do use my dryer for some things--finishing off jeans and shirts so I don't have to iron them, and of course I use it in the winter when it's cold and raining. But it's 25 years old and doesn't dry as efficiently anymore. I think we're going to have to replace it pretty soon.

I use the umbrella type clothesline and love it.  I will put some clothes on hangers, such as dress shirts.  I noticed a reduction in my electric bill when I started to be faithful in using it.  I enjoy the smell and feel of my sheets when they are dried on the line!

I hang my clothes inside on drying racks and I definitely see a difference in our electric bill.  My dryer is on the older side, not an energy star appliance so maybe that is part of the reason but I estimate that I save between $40-$60/month by not using it as much (I use it about a third of what I used to).

I still use the dryer for sheets, towels, socks and underwear and that's pretty much it.

 We used to line dry more (well, rack dry that is) but since my friend and her five children moved in, well not so much.  Dh and I have pretty much beenvanquished to one small room in our house, and we simply do not have the space.  Maybe someday.

 i started line-drying over 25 years ago, when i lived in an all-electric house.  this is pre-"energy star" appliance!  the difference was huge, for me, at the time- drying clothes for 5.  now it's just 2, but i'll never go back.  well, i did use my gas dryer for the first time in 3 years this month because the rain never stops!  and stuff stays in much better condition much longer.  elastic doesn't wear out of underwear and socks for, like, years!

Our old electric dryer died a couple of years ago so we sold it for scrap and started using a clothesline.  The electric bill went down by $30/mo.  And we gained space to store canned food!

I also have two drying racks that I use indoors in wet weather, or out on the deck in good weather.  And the deck railing is very good for heavy stuff like comforters. Sometimes I can have four loads drying at once.

The downside is that you have to plan ahead further, there's no running something quickly through the laundry.  And you have to keep an eye out for weather changes!

 

I can compare to using a coin op!

A load of clothes is $1.50 to fully dry.

I can put that on my two racks and dry overnight with a fan blowing on it.

My only difficulty is my down comforter.

I have a friend who continues to encourage me in being dryer-free. He will point out that he dries his down comforters on the rack all the time.

I respond with: "at the same time? There's the no cover for the night issue, as it takes a long time for them to dry."

(he suggested I come stay with him.... errr... a quarter tank of gas versus a dryer cycle... but what company )

mulewagon:

Our old electric dryer died a couple of years ago so we sold it for scrap and started using a clothesline.  The electric bill went down by $30/mo.  And we gained space to store canned food!

I really like this idea. Hey, if you don't have it, you are not tempted to use it.