I am making a conscious effort to save money at the moment and one of the ways is by cutting down on electricity. I am trying to dry clothes outside on the line if the weather is good or by putting it on the radiator if the heating is on and the weather is bad. Previously, I dried everything in the tumble dryer. Which do you do?
We line dry if the weather is decent. I have a rack that we hang clothes on if the weather is bad. Placing the clothes directly on the radiator is asking for trouble. My brother used to do that and scorched more than 1 shirt. Then there's the fire hazard. You can rig a rack with 2 chairs and a broom stick or something along those lines. We put everything on hangers. They take a little longer to dry, but they dry.
If a dryer is available, I will use that. I find that clothes that have been hung out to dry are often stiff. it is not so bad for some items but for towels it isn't great. we have a cabin where there is no washer or dryer available yet we get our clothes very dirty. Hand washing and drying will work in a pinch but it would not be my choice. I really don't know how anything got truly clean before washing machines.
It's getting warmer here so a washing line is my choice. Not to mention that I love the warm smell the clothes take when I dry them outside In the winter I used to put them near a heat source to dry them faster but I found out that doing so puts mold on my walls and in the end I spend more, not less, because I need to re-paint my walls. Tumble dryer, I never used one, I have plenty of space to dry and clothes to wear - the money I'd pay for electricity sits better in my pocket.
I cannot stand drying clothes outside. Even though it costs more, I always, always use my dryer for everything.
I have come to really appreciate my dryer. I live in a wet tropical climate where monsoon can last up to 4 months every year, and if it doesn't rain, it's often steamy and very humid. I am very conscious of moulds and fungi that can develop in clothes and bedding if they don't get a chance to dry properly. For me a clothes dryer is essential to good health.
During the summer months since, I prefer to have my clothes dry out on a line outside. The wind which blows almost all year round makes them dry even faster. When the weather gets bad, there's an unused old building [I live in the country guys!] that in it's better days was used for storing produce or something which we now use as the place where our clothes are dried [only when the weather is bad].
It's just me and my husband now, so now kids to take into consideration when thinking about how much laundry there is. I feel it's worth the cost to use a dryer, rather than wait forever for items to dry outside. In addition, it's less stressful to use the dryer, and to me that's worth it.
Dryer all of the way. Reason is I have too many allergies to weeds, grass, pollen, trees, etc.etc.. I can't hardly breath now let alone adding more allergen to my clothes. So this is my reason for not line drying clothes.
