My mother does laundry everyday. A lot of the time, she just does it by hand and then hangs it out. I save our laundry until I get enough for a load and then use the washer. We rarely use the dryer, preferring to save energy and electricity costs by hanging our clothes out on the line.
When we first moved to Illinois, our little village in the 'burbs had certain Covenants that you just did not break. We didn't quite know the extent of those COVENANTS until we moved in. In fact, at one time they restricted who could live there. That totally blew us away!
I remember going to a garage sale with Peggy (Musings of Meggie)when she bumped into her old teacher (I think that's who it was.) After looking at me he asked her what happened to the covenants. I remember how much that shook me up.
Times have certainly changed in the Village since then, thank goodness. Oh dear... I got diverted again, didn't I? Anyway, back to those covenants.
I did read the covenants which said I could only hang my clothes on a line in the backyard hidden from view, only on the weekdays, and not on holidays. We followed those rules and installed a portable clothes line that I could take down when I wasn't using it. Our neighbors (older, retired colonel and wife) who lived across the street actually came over to ask if I'd read the covenants because he thought clothes hanging wasn't allowed at all. I explained that I had read the covenants and would abide by them. You'd think we wouldn't get along with those neighbors wouldn't you? They became one of our dearest friends who watched over us and made sure we would be welcome by everyone they knew.
In fact....... oh dear.... I'm digressing again.
I did hang my clothes out until we renovated that home and the clothes line couldn't fit in that backyard space again.
So here I am back in Hawaii hanging my clothes out again. But now... hanging your laundry out is endorsed by Hawaiian Electric to conserve energy. Nice to know.
Mom wa right! I too love hanging my wash outside in the Waikiki breeze!
ReplyDeleteAloha-
interesting how homes in the olden times had a clothes line now no one knows what they are...we have very restrictive covenants here-can't park on the streets overnight or have your garage door open other than to come in and out or work in the yard.
ReplyDeleteI love the smell of sheets hung outside!!!!!
ReplyDeleteNope, I use the electric dryer for all of my wash. I swear by it. haha. Love those Bounce sheets that soften fabric and make them static-free, too.
ReplyDeleteMy mother and sister still hang their clothes on the line, though. Several times, thieves stole their lingerie.
Nothing nicer than sheets on the bed dried in the sun! A clothesline sure helps with saving electricity. I used to have an indoor drying rack and that was a big help. See that they are becoming popular again. I used to get satisfaction from pinning the clothes on the line and hearing them snap in the wind!
ReplyDeleteI have heard of places that don't allow you to hang out laundry. Can't imagine it! How ridiculous! And, yes, it does seem in these days they would want you to save electricity. Why on earth would anyone object to clothes on a line? It seems very pleasant and homey to me.
ReplyDeleteFirst, Meggie's old friend's comment is INCREDIBLE! What was he thinking???!!!! Second, I still love hanging my clothes out on the lines. In fact, the snow has finally melted enough in the backyard that I can hang clothes out again, and I did just that for the first time last week. For some reason, I enjoy hanging clothes out but always dread having to go get them in at the end of the day.
ReplyDeleteKay, I hear you about the neighborhood covenants about hanging clothes out. I really miss hanging my sheets out, I love the smell of fresh sheets on my bed, the dryer just doesn't do the same job! Our neighborhood won't even let us have clotheslines, permanent or non-permanent. I always hung everything out except towels. I felt they got too stiff. Sometimes I would hang them out though and then just throw them in the dryer for a few minutes to soften them. I'm glad you can hang your clothes out now!
ReplyDeleteFunny how practices go out of style and come back again. In Ireland houses used to be stone...then when new houses were made of concrete, people plastered over their stone and drew lines on (I swear this is true, you can still see them) to make them look like concrete-block houses. Now people who build concrete houses have stone facings put on, and people who buy old plastered-stone houses spend thousands chipping the plaster off.
ReplyDeleteWeird.
Can't help commenting on the comments you've gotten in the past, and sending a hug of sympathy. When we lived in Belfast, we moved into a neighbourhood that we were told was mixed. We were the second Catholic family to move in, and boy did we get the remarks, and occasional insults and threats. Some days were just crushing. I'm glad we're all moving on from such things!
Loved the smell of clothes dried in the sun! It's been a very long time since I've lived anywhere that it was allowed. Here in Seattle you'd have to hold on to your wet clothes for a long time just to have enough of a dry day to hang them out -- if it were allowed, but it isn't.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I put the clothes into the dryer (I live in an apartment with no clothes line) I remember how great the clothes smelled when drying in the sun and wind, but even better when frozen solid in the bitter Alberta winters. In those olden days we had only cloth diapers - the freezing seemed to bleach them super white and soft soft soft.
ReplyDeleteKay;
ReplyDeleteI remember the clothes line well. I just don't remember a friend of mine that said that?
There were some ignorant people around, that's for sure!
You were a trail blazer back then...you were the first.
I love the smell of sheets that are dried outside. Never could manage a line by myself and was a little envious of your sheets!
I live in one of those places that will not allow you to hang washing out on lines :( Seems ridiculous as there is nothing like the smell of the fresh air on laundry after it has dried in the sun, let alone saving on energy and costs which is something we're all interested in. As for that rude man and his remark about the Coventants, I've just remembered an Einstein quote, "It is harder to crack a prejudice than an atom." When I first moved to America I remember prejudice because I was British. It would crop up every now and again. We had to give a party once and one of the officer's wives on Gregg's ship told me rather frostily that she wasn't supposed to accept any kind of British hospitality and she felt guilty for being there. I just smiled and said I was glad she had decided to come. She didn't like me very much because I was British, but I kept trying and eventually we came to a truce of sorts. Prejudice is a hard nut to crack.
ReplyDeleteI am amazed at how stupid people can be in how their words cut like a knife. What gives them the right to interfere in the lives of others about insignificant stuff?
ReplyDeleteOk...the end of my rant!!
We can't even hang clothes outside in my whole town!!! My parents bought in an "adult" community and they frown upon cars in the driveway overnight. I'm very law-abiding, but some "covenants" are ridiculous!!!
ReplyDeleteAt least the farce behind your laundry line laws didn't make the Late Night tv comedians' monologues! About 15 years ago, Geneva was a little red in the face after the City Council tried to put a damper on damp clothing strung up around town. I will be hanging all my sheets every week, now that the weather is nice!
ReplyDeleteCloudia: I just love the idea of conserving energy where I can.
ReplyDeleteLin: I think I'll do a post on how many cars people have in Hawaii. We counted one house that had about 7 cars parked everywhere around their home.
Kay: Me, too!
Gigi: Your relatives must have really nice underwear!
Cheryl: We do have that snapping in the wind. It's very windy here.
Bobbie: I agree with you. I guess some areas feel it makes there community look poorer?
Jean: It is extra work to hang out the wash plus having to watch to make sure it doesn't rain.
Sherri: My kids always complain about the towels being stiff when they come to visit us.
Susan: That is funny! I do remember the same thing in New Orleans. Those plantations drew lines on their mansions to make it look like marble slabs.
Prejudice is a very painful, cutting thing to experience. I didn't understand how much until I moved to the "mainland."
Sylvia: We've got that problem with rain during the rainy season here, too.
Janice: That's really interesting about the freezing bleaching the diapers.
Peggy: It wasn't a friend necessarily. It was an old teacher of yours if I recall. I think I remember it because the sting of it reinforced the memory.
He didn't actually say it in my presence. He said it to you and you told me because you were so surprised by it.
Denise: I can't believe there was prejudice against the British! I thought everybody wanted to be like the British.
I love hanging clothes on the line. Maybe when we get the remodel done and start the work on the outside I can beg for a clothes line.
ReplyDeleteMare: It's true! Words can hurt just as much as sticks and stones.
ReplyDeleteJoyce: You should see how many cars a lot of people have in Hawaii; especially because we don't have a good train system here.
Kelly: I love being able to hang out the wash! I always feel so much more environmental.
Jill: Of course it's raining today so there'll be no hanging out the wash for my mom.
We do not live in a covenanted neighborhood, but as a young person growing up in the country, we had to line dry everything, so now I choose not to. Jet fuel is also a problem here by the airport.
ReplyDeleteI love hanging my clothes out to dry. It seems to give them life or more substance. In Arizona, sometimes when I finished hanging them up, the clothes that I had hung up first would already be dry!
ReplyDeleteI love seeing clothes hanging on the clotheslines. Those convenants sure sound odd. I guess the neighbourhood was particular which can be a good thing too.
ReplyDeleteI remember my grandmothers only washed on Mondays. When I was growing up and my mother was teaching, Saturdays were wash days. However, I notice now she is retired, Mondays are wash days again. As for me, its whenever I can fit it in.
Be hanging ours out again soon!!!! I LOVE the way line dried cloth smells.
ReplyDeleteMy mother lived in a bungalow where she wasn't allowed to hang out her washing and had to use a tumble dryer - what a dreadful waste of electricity. I have to use ours in the winter, and hate to do it, I can't wait for the weather to be warm enough to hang it outside. It smells so much better too.
ReplyDelete