Save energy and money this summer: trade your gas or electric dryer for a clothesline. It’s not revolutionary: people have relied on free solar power to dry their clothes a lot longer than they’ve relied on machines. This summer I’m hanging out our laundry for the first time ever. (I’m a city girl, okay?) I’m a new dog learning old tricks.
I hesitated at first, wondering if the neighborhood association would cast my family into the outer darkness for pinning up our underwear in broad daylight. Actually, several homes in our subdivision have clotheslines already. We didn’t, but using my glider rocker, a drying rack, and two salvaged wire shelves, I rigged up a good system.
I’ve learned a lot already. For instance, timing is important. Recently I met a woman who doesn’t own a dryer. She puts her clothes in the washer before bed, hangs them up to dry in the morning before work, and takes them down at night. Since I work from home, I can usually manage two or three loads a day if the weather’s cooperating.
That’s another thing—the weather. When it’s going to be a hot one, I get busy and gather up my clothes for washing, but cloudy days work, too—it just takes longer. Some people always do their laundry on a certain day, like Monday, no matter what the weather. I do too—it’s just that a certain day happens to occur several times a week!
My clothes feel crisper when I hang them out to dry. Sometimes I have to iron some items, but I would probably have to do that anyway. It helps if I give them a good shake before I hang them up. My towels are slightly scratchy, but more absorbent, especially since I don’t use fabric softener on them. (Softener actually decreases towels’ ability to absorb water). My clothes also don’t shrink like they used to.
There are hidden benefits to sun-drying. Hanging up clothes gives me margin. My summer household is a busy place as I try to keep a writing schedule in the midst of an active family. I get frazzled trying to multitask. But when I step outside to hang up laundry, I can only do one thing since it takes two hands. I’m away from the phone and the computer for a few blessed minutes, and I’m usually not gone long enough for the kids to miss me. I can bask in the sun, smell the blooming privet bush, and watch the butterflies patronize the coneflowers. Summertime stands still for just a moment. Then: “Hey, mom!”
When I’m shivering through an Indiana winter, I try to use my electric dryer efficiently, always doing a full laundry load at a time and avoiding high heat settings simply because it’s hard on clothes. You can save energy using machine dryers as long as you use them properly. The U. S. Department of Energy’s website gives some great some tips:
• dry heavy loads separate from light ones
• prevent a house fire by cleaning the lint filter after every use and regularly inspecting your dryer vent for blockage
• use a moisture sensor if you have one so that you don’t dry out your clothes
• use products labeled Energy-Star
Meanwhile, I’m giving my clothes the “star treatment” by using the free heat from Earth’s own star, the sun. Give it a try!
Check out the Department of Energy’s website for more energy-saving information: http://w.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips.
