Clothes line....

nachoqtpie

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So.. my husband and I are thinking about putting a clothes line in our back yard.. but I have some questions first...

First... I don't like how STIFF everything is when you line dry it. If I could get them to be softer (without using softner) I would be more inclined to hang... I think that's my biggest thing right there.

How do you guys make your clothes softer while line drying?
 

i_am2bz

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Hi nachoqtpie! :frow

I know this is cheating, but I've dried things outside, then thrown them in the dryer on "no heat" to fluff them up. :p

I've heard vinegar can be used as a kind of softener...but let's see what the experts say. ;)
 

patandchickens

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Washcloths and old towels may "need" to be tumbled briefly in the dryer with no heat.

Other things, I just snap them thru the air a few times before folding and they're fine for our purposes anyhow. I actually like how "stiff" shirts are from drying on the line vs in the drier... they fold so much more tidily :) and no wrinkles except where the clothespins were! To some extent there may just be a "getting used to it" curve.

I agree that putting a little vinegar in the fabric-softener cup of the machine is worth trying (insofar as your problem is from hard water), although I have not tried it myself.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat
 

~gd

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nachoqtpie
Do you have no wind where you are? Things dried in still air like indoors will be stiff. the more breeze or wind while drying the less stiff the item.
 

Wifezilla

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Colorado is as windy as all get out and stuff is still stiff. I think it is because of our hard water. I don't mind it for the shirts. The rest I use the quick fluff method. Vinegar does help some and it is cheap so it is worth a try. Just put some in your Downey ball.
 

nachoqtpie

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Thanks guys!

It's something that we would really like to start... I guess now we just need to make sure we're ALLOWED to have one... LOL
 

abifae

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While they are drying, go out and shake the clothes... It helps them not stiffen so much.
 

savingdogs

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We tried this as a money saver when the dryer broke. It was awful. I will never want to be "self sufficient" without a dryer again. I didn't like it at all. I do live in a rainy cool climate so nothing got dry, everything was stiff, my allergies acted up from all the pollen on the clothes and blankets, and the hair and lint was all over everything. When the dryer got repaired, I had to rewash everything. Things like T shirts and sweat pants were stiff and wrinkled and towels and blankets were like sandpaper. I tried vinegar rinses and then our clothes smelled like salad but were still scratchy. I had to iron my husbands clothes that don't need ironong so that he could wear them and because we have lotsa pets, the clothes were all hairy.

I love my dryer now!

No clothes line for me except for those few things that need to be line dried. Not trying to rain on the parade here, but I had no luck at all with this and couldn't understand it because it seems lots of people love their line-dried clothes. :idunno
 

abifae

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Colorado, it's dry and stiff in an hour, tops. In fact, you want to check it every half hour because it all fades if it is still on the line much past drying. The "hang it up and check in the afternoon" is a great way to ruin clothes, here.

I think it really depends on where you live.
 

BarredBuff

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Im not real sure why it gets so stiff. But we do dry our towells, and bed stuffs on em. :)
 
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