Makes perfect sense.
Thanks to having hands that chap, dry-out, and get red, sore, and irritated when exposed to the winter cold, line-drying in the winter would be a no-go for me. My hands would be a mess...
Old-fashioned clothesline drying...
- Thread starter Aunt Marg
- Start date
Thanks to having hands that chap, dry-out, and get red, sore, and irritated when exposed to the winter cold, line-drying in the winter would be a no-go for me. My hands would be a mess...
Oh, Jerry, how I wish we never aged or broke-down, for reasons just like this.
jujube
SF VIP
OK, let's talk about wringer washers. Remember those ornery contraptions?
My mother had a Maytag. Laundry day was always an ordeal. The washer stood by old stone "twin tubs". When the agitating was done, the clothes were run through the wringer into the first tub, filled with cold water. My job was to get in there with my arms and hands and swish the clothes around. Then the wringer was swung over the divider between the tubs and the clothes were wrung into the second tub of cold water. There I got to swish them again and then they were wrung into a laundry basket.
I got my fingers caught more than once in that wringer. Boy, did THAT hurt! And if you put too much through at once, it would pop open and you'd have to pull the laundry out and re-set the wringer. Bother, bother, bother.
I was so glad when she got first a dryer and then an automatic washer. That was a Red Letter Day at our house.
I had an old Maytag wringer washer later when I lived in Turkey but thank goodness, the maid used it. She thought it was wonderful. The locking mechanism for the wheels didn't work, so the washer would boogie all around the bathroom, bumping into a wall and heading in another direction. If you needed to use the bathroom while the washer was on, you had to sit there with a foot out to fend it off. Occasionally, the cord would get wrapped up in the legs and the plug would pull out of the wall.
My mother had a Maytag. Laundry day was always an ordeal. The washer stood by old stone "twin tubs". When the agitating was done, the clothes were run through the wringer into the first tub, filled with cold water. My job was to get in there with my arms and hands and swish the clothes around. Then the wringer was swung over the divider between the tubs and the clothes were wrung into the second tub of cold water. There I got to swish them again and then they were wrung into a laundry basket.
I got my fingers caught more than once in that wringer. Boy, did THAT hurt! And if you put too much through at once, it would pop open and you'd have to pull the laundry out and re-set the wringer. Bother, bother, bother.
I was so glad when she got first a dryer and then an automatic washer. That was a Red Letter Day at our house.
I had an old Maytag wringer washer later when I lived in Turkey but thank goodness, the maid used it. She thought it was wonderful. The locking mechanism for the wheels didn't work, so the washer would boogie all around the bathroom, bumping into a wall and heading in another direction. If you needed to use the bathroom while the washer was on, you had to sit there with a foot out to fend it off. Occasionally, the cord would get wrapped up in the legs and the plug would pull out of the wall.
Duster
Member
- Location
- Deep South, US
Do I remember? OMG, do I remember! LOL!
Up until the early 70's, at which time my mom finally got her first automatic washing machine, I helped wash baby siblings diapers in her wringer washing machine, and I even experienced popping a few pairs of rubber pants over the years! Boy, did those pants ever let out a loud bang when they popped!
I remember washing in the wringer was a big event, in that the washing machine would have to be rolled out, plugged in, filled with water, and on and on the steps went. My job was standing behind the rollers making sure all landed into a waiting laundry basket, and my mom forever reminded me to watch my fingers, my hands, etc.
Things that had buttons, snaps, and zippers, extra care was needed when running those types of items through the rollers, and boy did those rollers ever squish everything flat!
I have a cousin that permanently lost a fingernail due to her getting her finger stuck in the rollers, and I can't help but think of how many other young children were permanently crippled by those old wringer washers, getting their hands and arms and things caught.
Talk about a great walk down memory lane!
Thanks for it, Jujube!
ROFLMAO! Or the cooling of the good-fashioned days of being bashful.
Forget to mention, Love the picture, Radish!Outside clotheslines not allowed in my small condo community. I don't use the dryer often, but use a large aluminum clothes drying rack and hangers for blouses/tops. I miss hanging outdoors, though.
drifter
Well-known Member
Coal burning cities and towns were especially hard on clothes hanging out. I remember at Ft Cambell, KY
back when coal was burned, you could hang a white tee shirt out late in the evening and by six o'clock the
next morning, it had to be rewashed.
I think it has to be almost twenty years ago that my wife asked me to remove our close line fom the back yard.
I remember becaause it was made from steel pipe and was deep in the ground with a large amount of cement
surrounding the poles. I didn't know this when I started. Thinking the job a simple thing, i worked the better part
of three days removing it and manhandling the heavy pipe. A previous owner, a building contractor, had installed
it. Wife wanted to put in a garden; it was in the way. She hung a rope in the garage and hung what she wanted
to hang on it. The rest went in the dryer. But, in rural areas many still use one, especially if they were raised up Coal
with a clothesline. Looks like I over-talked this subject. Excusa porfavor or something like that.
back when coal was burned, you could hang a white tee shirt out late in the evening and by six o'clock the
next morning, it had to be rewashed.
I think it has to be almost twenty years ago that my wife asked me to remove our close line fom the back yard.
I remember becaause it was made from steel pipe and was deep in the ground with a large amount of cement
surrounding the poles. I didn't know this when I started. Thinking the job a simple thing, i worked the better part
of three days removing it and manhandling the heavy pipe. A previous owner, a building contractor, had installed
it. Wife wanted to put in a garden; it was in the way. She hung a rope in the garage and hung what she wanted
to hang on it. The rest went in the dryer. But, in rural areas many still use one, especially if they were raised up Coal
with a clothesline. Looks like I over-talked this subject. Excusa porfavor or something like that.
Lovely story, Drifter! Thank you for sharing, and not at all, when it comes to topics I've started, no worries over adding whatever you want, and as much of it that you like!
She use to hang out diapers!!!
mike4lorie
SF VIP
- Location
- Brockville, Ontario, Canada
Our clothes are on the clothesline from Spring till Fall... Don't remember ever being hit by bird droppings, and I love my bath towels out on the line...
Absolutely, that was the way of the day back then.
Good on ya!
Camper6
Well-known Member
- Location
- Northwestern Ontario Canada
The birds always pick my car instead and always on the windshield. How do they do that?
The little stinkers, and if your experience is the same as ours, always right after the vehicle is freshly washed! It's as if they know!
Warrigal
SF VIP
- Location
- Sydney, Australia
I have two options for drying clothes and neither is a clothes drier. I usually hang the whites - towels, hubby's undies, socks etc - on the rotary clothesline in the sun. Occasionally a small bird leaves a mark but it is a simple matter to throw the item back in the laundry for rewashing. Coloureds that I don't want to fade I hang on a retractable 5 strand line under cover. Sheets and bath towels are best on the rotary line but the retractable one can handle them too. During wet weather I hang everything under cover and leave it there until it is well and truly dry.
The climate in Sydney is warm so I never have to deal with clothing freezing during Winter. Not having a dryer does mean a saving on electricity bills.
The climate in Sydney is warm so I never have to deal with clothing freezing during Winter. Not having a dryer does mean a saving on electricity bills.
That's what I call being setup and prepared for anything and everything related to solar drying!
Love the sounds of your 5-line retractable system!
One thing I do once the insect season is in full-swing, it toss everything into the electric tumble dryer for a minute or two before folding, just in case my washing has played host to a creepy-crawler or two.
Camper6
Well-known Member
- Location
- Northwestern Ontario Canada
You poop on windshields?C'mon, we all like our fun, don't deny the birds theirs.
Old Dummy
Who am I? Why am I here?
- Location
- In the backwoods of NYS
I long for the arrival of spring each year. The green, the warmth and sunshine, the gardening, and using my clothesline.
I know times have changed compared to yesteryear, but how about a show of hands as to who all still dries washing/laundry using a good ol' outdoor clothesline?
Proudly holding my hand up high and waving away!
For those that do, do you have an old-fashioned pulley-line?
I do, but I only use it mostly for sheets or other big stuff. I've never owned a dryer, so I have an ancient wooden rack indoors that I hang most of my wash on.
I didn't read the whole thread so maybe someone mentioned this, but: You can use a clothesline year 'round if it's not raining. On those very cold, dry winter days the clothes will start to freeze before you finish hanging them, but they will actually freeze-dry. And the colder it is the faster they will dry.
Go out in a few hours and feel them, if stiff then obviously they still have ice in them. If they're limp then the ice has all evaporated. I got the idea from reading about Eskimos -- that's how they dry their wash.
I haven't used a clothesline for decades, but when I was growing up we lived in an apartment on the third floor, and we had a pulley clothesline. My mother didn't let me take in or hang the wash until I was older. In winter it was neat when pants and shirts were frozen stiff.I long for the arrival of spring each year. The green, the warmth and sunshine, the gardening, and using my clothesline.
I know times have changed compared to yesteryear, but how about a show of hands as to who all still dries washing/laundry using a good ol' outdoor clothesline?
Proudly holding my hand up high and waving away!
For those that do, do you have an old-fashioned pulley-line?
Now I have a dryer in the basement laundry room, and I like that a lot better. But I know what you mean, it was nice to dry clothes in the sun, they'd smell so fresh.
Good on ya!
Very interesting mention about the way of the Eskimos. Thank you for that, and keep on line-drying.
As a fulltime homemaker and being old-fashioned as I am, there's just something about line-drying and seeing a row of washing on a line that makes my heart go pitter-patter.I haven't used a clothesline for decades, but when I was growing up we lived in an apartment on the third floor, and we had a pulley clothesline. My mother didn't let me take in or hang the wash until I was older. In winter it was neat when pants and shirts were frozen stiff.
Now I have a dryer in the basement laundry room, and I like that a lot better. But I know what you mean, it was nice to dry clothes in the sun, they'd smell so fresh.
Camper6
Well-known Member
- Location
- Northwestern Ontario Canada
Something tells me sales of wooden clothes pegs are not so hot anymore. I remember everyone kept the clothes pegs in wooden fruit baskets . I used to fix the springs as a boy when they went weak. Washing clothes and rinsing them and hanging them in cold weather was a sure way to get arthritis in the fingers.