12 Basic Rules When Using A Clothesline

Remember when everyone had a clothesline in their back yard? When everyone hung their clothes?

Everything that’s old is new again! We will give you the basic rules for using a clothesline and how to hang your clothes for the best results.

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We have one and even the kids hang their clothes out on it. I had a neighbor stop by last Summer and ask if we were having “financial troubles”. I could tell how much courage it had taken her to ask the question. She was not being nosy but was seriously concerned.

I was a bit surprised but said “no, why do you ask”. She said that she saw the kids and me always hanging clothes on the line and thought perhaps we were having problems. I laughed a little and kindly explained to her that we were absolutely fine and liked hanging our clothes out. Not only did it save on electricity and make the clothes smell wonderful, but that it was actually better for your clothes and helped them to last much longer.

She went home and had her husband hang her a clothes line!

THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES

(If you don’t even know what a clothesline is, better skip this.)

1. You have to hang the socks by the toes…NOT the top.

2. You hang pants by the BOTTOM/cuffs… NOT the waistbands.

3. You have to WASH the clothesline(s) before hanging any clothes – walk the entire length of each line with a damp cloth around the lines.

4. You have to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang “whites” with “whites,” and hang them first.

5. You NEVER hang a shirt by the shoulders – always by the tail! What would the neighbors think?

6. Wash day on a Monday! NEVER hang clothes on the weekend, or on Sunday, for Heaven’s sake! (Also remember that on wash day it is traditional to make a big pot of Red Beans & Rice… get the recipe HERE

7. Hang the sheets and towels on the OUTSIDE lines so you can hide your “unmentionables” in the middle (perverts & busybodies, y’know!)

8. It doesn’t matter if it was sub-zero weather….clothes will “freeze-dry”.

9. ALWAYS gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes! Pins left on the lines are “tacky”! (You can always get a cute Clothes Pin Bag like this one HERE )

10. If you are efficient, you will line the clothes up so that each item does not need two clothes pins, but share one of the clothespins with the next washed item.

11. Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket, and ready to be ironed.

12. IRONED??!! Well, that’s a whole OTHER subject!

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