Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Washing day

I used to just fling all the laundry in the tumble drier, no matter if there was a lot or a little, even if it was sunny or breezy outside. I never ever dried on the line. I didn't even have a line. As soon as I started thinking about living more sustainably, cutting down on the tumble drier was a high priority.

But let's face it, not every day is a good drying day. June and July were beautifully dry and sunny, but August has been a bit of a wash-out. So I went shopping for an indoor washing line that wouldn't be an eyesore when not in use. We used to have one a bit like this, but it had got tangled and snapped so we threw it out when we redecorated. However I couldn't find one anywhere, so I decided to rig one up myself with a few wall hooks, an eyelet, a cleat-hook and some clothes line. It takes a full load of washing and dries it overnight whatever the weather. And when I don't need it, I can wind up the line so all you see is a row of hooks screwed into the wall.

I've got an A-rated (i.e. energy efficient) tumble drier, but I'm going to see if I can get by without using it much. That should cut my electricity bill, and of course do my bit to reduce global warming (not to mention sweater-shrinkage).

Click on the cartoon to enlarge it if you can't read the text. If I make it any bigger it messes up the sidebar.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love this! I don't have a tumble drier - never have. And I don't want one. But I've been getting fedup of using the clothes horse type driers and have nowhere suitable for one of those lovely old wooden racks. This is a BRILLIANT idea! I'm off to wander round the house wondering where something similar would fit in :)
Steph (Hedgewitch - not your sister!!)

Melanie Rimmer said...

Over the bath is a good place for a drying line, but mine is in the kitchen right next to the washing machine because I know I'd get all the wet clothes into a basket and then think "Oh, I'll take it upstairs and hang it over the bath in a while", but never do it and the clothes would stay in a wet heap and Ed would think it was a pile of dirty clothes and dump more dirty clothes on top of it, or a cat would come and fall asleep on them and shed hairs all over them.

Debbie said...

hi melanie, thats a great idea. how strong do you reckon it is? i want to string up a line in my kitchen not just for laundry but also to hang my boots and things. do you think your system would work? i'm worried the weight will pull an indoor washing line system off the wall...

Melanie Rimmer said...

Hi Debbie. It's quite strong because the weight is distributed across 8 cup hooks drilled and plugged into brick walls. I engineered it that way because a full load of wet washing is pretty heavy. I have hung wet trainers from it and other things as well.