When people here in the U.S. think of solar power, often the first thing that comes to mind is the costly and mysterious system of panels and batteries they imagine they’ll need to run standard household appliances and electronic gadgets. This misconception is convenient for the fossil fuel industry, which depends on our continued reliance on their products for their continued success.

Here in the high desert of far west Texas, we have one of the sunniest, driest climates in the country - and yet many people still overlook all the excellent opportunities we have to employ the power of the sun passively – without spending a cent on panels.

After hearing acquaintances speak of purchasing new clothes dryers and witnessing college students, tourists, parents of small children, and others stuffing quarters into the barely-functioning units at the Laundromat, I became inspired to try to raise public awareness of the elegant simplicity and beauty of clotheslines through a kind of “happening” which combined performance art and public demonstration.

For me, hanging out my laundry isn’t just practical—it’s emotional. My posts were dug and my lines tied by my dad, my pegs were taken from my grandmother’s old line on the family farm, and my peg bag was lovingly hand-sewn by my mother.

But for those who don’t have those emotional attachments, there are laundry line options. One of those is the Ezyline—a line made of Polypropylene sections designed to hold your clothes without pegs. I recently strapped one up in my backyard to see if the Ezyline lived up to its name.

Set up was relatively easy and I was ready to hang in roughly 10 minutes. It felt a little odd at first to hang without using two hands, but I quickly found my rhythm and was completely thrilled to find I could reach for my next article of clothing while hanging the one I have. I got my clothes hung up in record time! An hour or so later, I headed out for retrieval and was pleased to find my “take down” rate was even more accelerated than my “put up” rate was. I couldn’t believe how quickly I was finished. Plus, all clothes were securely kept in place despite the gusts of West Texas weather.

This has been something that intrigued me for a long time. I had memories of frozen items coming in from the washing line, and, after ironing, were 'aired' on a rack or radiator. So I have been experimenting with the idea.
The first time was a set of sheets that I put outside. It was cloudy, but alas the partly sunny forecast from the weatherman was a snow shower by midday!  I brought the almost frozen sheets inside and put them on the indoor line to dry. They smelt great but not the best result.
Last week we had brutally cold weather courtesy a cold front from the north. The cold nights in part were from the snow cover, but also because there was no cloud cover. The sun was shining, the humidity was low and I had shirts to dry.
You feel a bit silly putting on boots and trotting over snow to the line with a basket of damp laundry, but I did it anyway and hung the shirts to dry.
Over about 4 hours (11 - 3pm) they dried - just. The collars were still damp, but after a quick iron, they were hung in the laundry room overnight and were ready to be put away by morning.
So clearly the key is a very dry clear day, and a good number of hours, but drying linen on the line outside is very feasible even when there is snow on the ground!

For some reason I have always dried things outside in clear weather but never thought about doing it inside. The idea of damp laundry all over the house, was not appealing. In Georgia for the most part I could dry outside all year round anyway so that was not an issue.
Then we moved back to Ohio which has winter.
The basement in the house is unfinished, and has a short double line in the laundry area. I have found that putting shirts and jeans on these two lines dries the clothing in just a few hours.
I have also found that I enjoy putting the sheets or washing out on clear, cold winter days, even though there is snow on the ground. The washing does not necessarily dry, but an hour or two outside, and an hour on the downstairs line, still give that 'fresh air' smell, as well as dry laundry.
So now I can dry laundry without the dryer all year round again!

Show us your clothesline love!

In honor of Valentine's Day, write us and let us know why you love to hang out! Submissions will be featured on our web page and in our newsletter, Hangin' Out! Please email your submission (and a photo of you with your clothesline would be great!) to skitts@laundrylist.org by January 31st. Happy hanging!