Living without a dryer

[FarmerChick]

hmmm....you don't need to be the gal to get the expensive HE dryer....be the gal that gets the cheapest in the store.

that is exactly what I did...bought the cheapest one they had when mine died a few months ago.

I can't do without a dryer in winter...ain't happening at all. We do too much laundry. and heavy stuff in winter takes forever to dry, like insulated overalls etc.

I am not the type to string up clothes thru my home either
That would drive me insane!


but when I did dry inside thru winter sometimes, I would put an extra pole up over the bathtubs....get that extra tension pole, center it right over the tub and I would hang things on hangers and they would be out of sight, (close the shower curtain lol) and would dry easily out of the way.

 

[moolie]

...Finally I sent DH to the laundromat with two babies, a diaper pail and a basket. I figured he might as well have first hand experience of what I was going through every couple of days. Both washer and dryer were fixed that weekend.

Of course they were

 

[Denim Deb]

When I lost my dryer, I hung up clothes for months. And, for part of the time, I had my arm in a sling! (Ulnar nerve transposition in the right arm.) My hubby kept saying he was going to fix the dryer. Finally, I had had enough. I told him that if he didn't fix the dryer, I wasn't going to do any more clothes. Dryer was unfixable, so we had to get a new one. It was years B4 I hung clothes out again. It's one thing to hand out clothes because you want to, but completely different if you have no other option.

 

[River Runner]

We threw our dryer out 5 years ago, save big time on the power bill. We have a clothes line for the spring, summer and fall, and some warmer days in the winter. We also have a line in the basement, it is the same as our clothes line, set up on pulleys and works great. We have a wood furnace in the basement so this does help.

 

[Marianne]

It's one thing to hand out clothes because you want to, but completely different if you have no other option.

Yes, I agree. My aunt raised 3 kids and had no dryer. They could well afford one, too. She told me that she just got used to the routine. When our kids were home, sometimes we did 15 loads a week! I would have gone nuts having to hang up that many clothes.

My first indoor line was a length of para cord with loops on the ends. Our oldest son ran it diagonally across the room and hooked it on a small nail next to the window trim. Our little wood burning stove is in the corner, so the line ran in front of it. We'd wash and hang clothes at night, put them away in the morning and take the line down. The one line was enough for shirts, jeans. Socks, etc were just placed around the edges of the basket or on top of the clothes on the line. Now my lines are in an empty room that one day will be our master bedroom. I don't know where I'll put the lines then.

 

[calendula]

I tried drying clothes indoors during the winter, but they ended up not smelling so great and were very stiff. Hanging them outside first and "freeze drying" them, and then bringing them in sounds like a good idea. Actually, I think that is what the Mennonites in our area do.

 

[k15n1]

It's one thing to hand out clothes because you want to, but completely different if you have no other option.

Yes, I agree. My aunt raised 3 kids and had no dryer. They could well afford one, too. She told me that she just got used to the routine. When our kids were home, sometimes we did 15 loads a week! I would have gone nuts having to hang up that many clothes.

Wow. 15 loads/wk. How many kids were there? 1 load/wk per person is enough in my experience. Now I'm curious how much laundry others do.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

1 load/wk per person is enough in my experience. Now I'm curious how much laundry others do.

is that even possible?!?!?

holy laundry, batman..... we do like 10/week easily and there is just two of us.


mariane:

Finally I sent DH to the laundromat with two babies, a diaper pail and a basket.

best thing i've ever heard! hee hee hee

still no progress on my new dryer

* glares at husband, sulkily drags laundry basket out to too-low-clothesline amidst jeers of everyone in the county*

 

[hillfarm]

i would "try to fix it right in front of him" saying how this has to get done. That usually fires my hubby up. He hates when I mess with what he sees as his to do thing.

I start making plans and sketching out ideas, and next thing I know hes at home depot buying parts.

That or put on a low top and bend over the dryer looking all flustered.
Never hurts to play up the womanly wiles.

 

[gettinaclue]

That or put on a low top and bend over the dryer looking all flustered.
Never hurts to play up the womanly wiles.

I've done this. Whenever one of my projects calls for a lot of heavy labor outside, out comes the lace-up shirt that I "loosen to keep cool"