The Future is On The Line

The clothesline seems to be getting a lot of press lately: People either love it or hate it, and the battle is heating up now that it's warm outside. Many private communities actually ban the use of clotheslines because they believe it makes an area appear to be poor, according to an article on Time magazine's Money blog. Another article in The New York Times reported that even a trailer park forbid one of its residents from hanging her laundry.

Tell me, in what universe is this an eyesore:

While this is not?

I know - it's a pretty vehicle. And, in fact, we own a large SUV ourselves. My point being, the condition of the culture whereas the SUV is symbolic of our urbanized sprawling development and expansion.

However, now that frugality rules, clotheslines are gaining momentum. There's even a documentary film in the making about the right-to-dry movement, which is called Drying for Freedom, to be released in late 2010. (You can see the trailer here.)

I've looked up some of the reasons why people love or hate the clothesline, and here are some answers:

Pro-clothesline folks love air drying because it shaves significant money off of electric bills (in fact, according to Time Magazine, dryers account for about 15% of domestic energy). Clothesline fans also say clothing smells fresher and does not wear out as fast. Whites are brighter when dried in the sun...and most clothes and fabrics last longer when air dried.

On the other hand, anti-clothesline activists say outdoor drying makes allergies worse by capturing dander & pollen on fabrics. They also claim air drying is a hassle, complaining it takes too much time to hang clothing, that clothes fall off line and need to be rewashed, that garments feel "crunchy" after it dries on a line and that the line itself is difficult to install. All to which, I say..."oh, grow up".

Ultimately, pro-clothesliners are worried their anti-air-drying neighbors will think a clothesline is an eyesore, or that their neighbors might see some 'unmentionables' or that their neighbors might think that they can't afford an electric dryer........(yeah, these are problems...)

However, both clothesline haters and those of us who love our clotheslines are not too excited about the love affair that bugs and birds seem have with hanging clothing.

So, if you want to dry your clothes outside, but caught up in the "what will the neighbors think" problem, there are a options.

There are some effective and aesthetically-pleasing products, such as the retractable clothesline. Or, how about the Wall Shelf Drying Rack to keep your 'unmentionables' air-drying, but unseen. Or, what we use, a Fold-Away Clothesline from Home Depot. And for those neighbors who are all giving you the hairy eyeball, why not set up your own solar clothes dryer. Who can argue with that?




This is a revisited article from my friend, Paul over at his Kitchen and Residential Design Blog.
other references to Shelterpop.