Clothes line....

[abifae]

Water relaxes the fiber...

When fiber is moistened, it relaxes. Then, if it is air-dried in one position, such as on a line, it holds the shape and becomes fixed in that position to some degree. That is why you get that stiff feeling: all the fibers are locked in position, whatever position they were dried in. (It's like blocking a knitting project - pinning a wet item into shape and letting it dry in that position.) If, however, it's agitated as it dries (such as being flopped around in a dryer), it doesn't dry in any one position and is more flexible.

Other google answers include a chemical reaction between the sun and the detergents can add to the stiffness.

 

[nachoqtpie]

That's the one thing that I'm soooooo afraid of! I HATE stiff or wrinkled clothes!

 

[miss_thenorth]

I fold my laundry right off the line. I usually give it a quick snap, like you are shaking out a floor mat, before I fold it. It loosens up the stiffness. It is as Abby says, the fibres dry in a stiff position, so you need to loosen them up. The reason towels are so stiff is becasue of all the loops in the fabric. It is also tru if the wind is strong enough, it helps to loosen the fibres. Vinegar in the water does help too. I have also found that since making my own laundry soap, my laundry is not a s stiff as it used to be either.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

That's the one thing that I'm soooooo afraid of! I HATE stiff or wrinkled clothes!

I would not be afraid of that.
There are several solutions. Pop everything in the dryer when you bring it in for 5 minutes.
Iron everything prior to putting them away.
Acquire a clothes steamer that you can run over the clothes with before pulling them down.

And, you can also just proceed, and find what items you are not bothered by being stiff.
I love my bath towels to be scruffy, but not my shirts.

 

[Wifezilla]

We are not advocating ripping your dryer out and throwing it away!

Before you do a big install of a line and pole, just try drying a few things outside. Then do the quick fluff in the dryer. If it feels fine at that point then go ahead with your project. You will still save a ton of money drying things on the line and just running the dryer to make them soft compared to completely drying them in the dryer.

 

[abifae]

Five minutes in the dryer works wonders!

I used dry cleaners clips on a lot of clothes, so that it would hang right while drying. Saved me a lot of ironing and frustration. So blouses, I'd just clip the front closed and hang it by the shoulders. No funny hangs in the fabric.

Really heavy things I'd either lay over multiple lines so it was not hanging by shoulders, or I'd loop it through several hangers on the line and just go out and adjust the lay of it every once in a while so nothing would pull funny.

The line after an SCA camping trip was pretty impressive lol. All those voluminous dresses sprawled and drying

 

[moolie]

The stiff thing is analagous to what happens to a canvas tent when it rains. When canvas soaks up water, it stretches and you need to tighten the guy-lines. Then, as the canvas dries it shrinks and you need to loosen the guy lines or rip the tent.

When you wash clothes, the water stretches the fabric--line drying shrinks it back. Because it is hanging still, or lightly blowing in the wind (unless you dry your laundry in a gale ) it shrinks pretty stiff. Dryers tumble the clothes much more than any wind can do as they remove the water because the clothes are hitting the agitator bars as well as each other.

That said, dryers hasten how quickly clothes wear out because of all that friction.

 

[nachoqtpie]

Oh I couldn't ever get rid of my dryer... I just can't bring myself to dry my unmentionables on a clothes line, and I'm sure my daughter will feel the same when she's old enough to care!

 

[abifae]

Oh. You can't put those through the washer OR dryer!! Ruins them!!

I have a TINY line on my little apartment porch and I seem to ONLY dry unmentionables outside LOL! And anything silk.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Oh I couldn't ever get rid of my dryer... I just can't bring myself to dry my unmentionables on a clothes line, and I'm sure my daughter will feel the same when she's old enough to care!

Thats what the middle line is for.
You hide them in between the big stuff if you are not comfortable