Hang your clothes out to dry.

[DanTheMan]

Originally Posted by whodefu

always do that, one of the benefits of living in florida is that they dry very quickly and because of the hot weather there is not much in the way of clothes to dry - but if you can just do it in the summer if you are in a different climate that is great, may benefits to doing it besides saving money and energy !

If only Toronto's climate was similar to Florida's! My makeshift clothes line is only efficient for part of the year, otherwise it's straight to the laundermat. Better sometimes than never though right?

[blondepinky3]

Dantheman-love the old shoelaces bit! Great! yes, always do this. Clotheslines trump dryers anyway, energy wise and the smell is far superior!

[dark green]

Originally Posted by B.G._schmid

My wife and I also just moved into a new apartment. There was actually no washer, or dryer. So, we installed a washing machine a few weeks ago, but we chose to hang our clothes outside when it's nice. The only con is that the clothes (especially jeans) are pretty stiff. So, we started using fabric softener during the rinse cycle. Does anyone know if liquid fabric softeners are harmful to the environment? It's a hypo-allergenic one, too. I don't know if that makes a difference.

Hi! here's my story: I remember I couldn't be without fabric softener, it seemed to me that if I don't add it, my clothes will be stiff. The fact is I stopped using any fabric softener long time ago and I only occasionally add 5 ml small capfull of lavender oil to laundry, it sanitises and it is believed to soften fabric. I also heard from someone that you can use just vinegar in water to soften fabric... I didn't try it on my clothes as they're not stiff if I use just enough laundry powder. But I use diluted (caution: eyes closed!) apple cider vinegar as a rinse for hair and it works great, hair is soft, manageble and easy to comb. But that's with hair... I don't know in what proportion should I dilute vinegar in water to wash clothes...
I personally could never get the idea of clothes dryers, maybe it's just something I am not used to and if something is your habit or part of daily routine you don't even notice it's existence. It's like "wait a minute, do I really need a dryer?"...
I just wash clothes, hang them out in the air (but not direct sunlight) while clothes are still pretty wet, use clothes hangers for shirts, T-shirts so that when they're dry they don't even need ironing and look perfectly smooth (I swear I don't iron my clothes and they still look neat).
So I removed thigs that I considered not necessary: fabric softener and iron. And never used the dryer. Am I an eccentric? Your comments will be appreciated.

[oola]

*sigh*

My husband is in charge of laundry. Clothes line has been vetoed. I'll have to be sure to tell him about the $25/month - that might get his attention!

[Maurice]

Wish that had a comparison between electric dryers and gas dryers. My apartment building uses gas dryers in the laundry, and I'd be interested to see how those line up energy-wise.

[Prismseed]

I live in a rural area, complete with two iron clothesline poles I suspect are older than I am. One annoying side effect of clothesline drying bees/wasps. They loved to get into my jeans. Got stung twice one summer. SInce then I picked up the habit of wacking the clothes with a stick before pulling them off the line. Still testing the theory but may start just turning inside out.

Stiff jeans and other clothes is a problem here too. Haven't gotten around to testing but I intend to try putting a fabric softener sheet in the drawer I store my jeans in.

[littlegreenmonster]

It's so much better for the clothes too, and great for saving electricity. We have drying racks that hang on our radiators in the winter, and line dry in the summer even in dull weather. Use a cup of white vinegar ijn the wash for a cheap softener (it doesn't smell afterwards) for clothes that are lovely and soft.