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Though I don't use the dryer
to dry my clothes, I do use it for five minutes or so with some
loads (just long enough to fluff the clothes). I put one load
in the dryer and only leave then there as long as it takes me
to load the washer with the next load.
If you have no clothesline,
you live in an apartment or your homeowners association won't
allow clotheslines, here are a few ways to dry without a clothesline.
You need at least one drying
rack and some type of clothes rod. You can buy drying racks at
most discount stores or hardware stores. You might locate a clothes
rod in your laundry room above the dryer, use a sturdy shower
curtain rod in the bathroom or get a metal clothes racks that
hooks over the back of a door. You don't need much. I can hang
two loads of laundry on one drying rack and 2 feet of clothes
rod.
Hanging on a Clothes Rod
Hang as many items as you can
on clothes hangers, beginning with the obvious things like dresses,
dress shirts and blouses and hang the hangers on a clothes rod
to dry. Be sure not to put the hangers too close together or
the clothes will not dry. You can also hang things like pajama
tops, t-shirts, small kids shirts and one piece outfits. Lightweight
pants, pajama bottoms, skirts and sweats can be pinned on clothes
hangers and even sheets can be folded and hung on them. If you
are really short of drying rack space, you can hang socks, underwear,
wash rags, hand towels and towels on hangers and add them to
your clothes rod, too.
Hanging on a Clothes Rack
When hanging clothes on a drying
rack, I start at the bottom with socks and underwear, wash rags
and baby clothes. Young children's clothes and hand towels go
on the middle layer and the top rack is for towels, jeans, pillow
cases, sweaters, sweats, pajama bottoms and t-shirts. I try to
use every inch of space, so if I put a pillow case on the rack
and there are a couple of inches left next to it I put a sock
there. I even hook bras on the corners of the rack.
Drying racks are handy because
they can be moved to speed up the drying process. Place them
outside on a sunny (but not windy) day. Inside the house, try
putting them over a vent and the heat or air conditioner will
dry them faster. If you don't have central heat or air then you
can place them in front of your heater or a fan. Don't place
clothes close enough to heaters to be a fire hazard.
If you are short on space and
don't want to look at a drying rack in the middle of the room,
do the laundry before bed, hang it and in most cases it will
be dry by morning (especially if you set it above an air vent).
Try hanging large king sized
sheets or blankets over your shower rod, over the rail of your
deck, between two lawn chairs or folded in half or quarters over
your clothes rack. When you fold large items, you must flip and
turn them every 5-10 hours so that each side gets dry.
Sometimes it is useful to hang
a clothesline in the basement or attic. Be sure to check out
your department stores and hardware stores for other ideas. They
have many clever items like retractable clotheslines, things
to hang over doors and some not so new ideas like extra large
drying racks that can hold two loads of laundry each.
Even though this may sound complicated
at first, once you do it a few times it becomes second nature
to you. Pretty quickly, you will discover the most efficient
way to hang your clothes on the rack. I know automatically that
three wash rags fit across the bottom bar of my rack and the
two socks will fit next the that particular t-shirt. It's like
putting a puzzle together- the first time takes you longer than
the times after that because you know where the pieces fit. |
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