Blowing In The Wind

The Clothesline Workout

Looking for a way to add a little exercise to your laundry routine? You can burn 45 calories for every 15 minutes you spend hanging your laundry and helping the environment. Do a load a day and spread out your exercise or make it a full day of laundry workouts! Your clothesline workout can be taken a step further by adding some ankle weights or even loose weights to the bottom of your laundry basket. Hauling it back and forth from the house will add a little weight training to your already fulfilling daily routine. Yet another good reason to leave the dryer behind and head outside for some fresh air and exercise!

Reasons to Cover the Clothesline

The most important thing to remember in taking care of a clothesline is remembering to cover the clothesline. There are many ways of how covering your clothesline can help make your transition into environmentally friendly clothes drying easier. First and foremost, covering your clotheslines when not in use keeps it clean. The lines will stay clean, thereby not leaving any lines on your clean clothes. Covering your clothesline also insures that the lines will last longer. They will be protected against weathering from sun and rain, allowing you to use your clothesline longer without having to worry about changing the lines. The use of a clothesline cover also means that your clothesline can stay out during the seasons it is typically removed for. Clothesline Covers are an extremely helpful way to make your clothesline stay pristine and last longer.

Tip Of The Week

Once again you can save money! Turn down the thermostat on your water heater. Clothes will still be washed in hot water and you will not even notice the difference, except to your wallet.

National Recognition

Reading a People Magazine on the weekend, I was pleasantly surprised to find an article called “Dividing Lines” about local eco-activists fighting for the right to use clotheslines. Both Deb Brensinger of Pa. and Susan Taylor of Oregon were forced to stop hanging their laundry. Taylor was fined $1,000 and even had her lines cut during the night! Brensigner was forced to hang her laundry indoors upon legal threats from her Home Owners Association. Although a large percentage of the more than 300,000 home owners communities in the U.S. either restrict or ban clotheslines, this article provides some much needed national recognition to the clothesline struggle. Both women claim they will fight to not give up their right to hang laundry and help the environment.

Tip Of The Week

Another tip to save some money! Make sure you load the washing machine to full capacity when possible. Many people do not take full advantage of how much a washer can hold, wasting water and energy in the long run. Just make sure you check your machine's capacity warning and go from there!

The Hassle Of Dryers

So far I have been telling you about the benefits of drying your clothes with a clothesline. It would also be good to outline the hassles that accompany using a dryer. First off, there is the simple fact that a clothesline is simple, and a dryer is far from! Mechanically, there are things that need to be checked and rechecked to make sure a dryer is working in optimal form. Anything from a clogged filter to a problem with the exhaust vent all restrict proper drying and lead to more money and energy spent on drying clothes. Furthermore, you cannot add wet items to the dryer mid cycle, or else the rest of the clothes get wet and you spend more time and energy redrying all the clothes. Using a clothesline allows you to add articles of clothing as you please and as they come out of the washer. Your clothes are also safer on the line, not having to deal with the possibility of shrinking sweaters or wrinkled clothing. The safety plus the amazing fresh air smells adds up to the conclusion that clotheslines are full of benefits and dryers are all hassle!