I love my clothesline. Not that I love doing laundry, but how many of us do? Something about it just makes me happy. Here are 5 reasons why I love my clothesline and hope you will too.
Just sitting down to write this makes me a bit nostalgic.
I would have to do some digging, but I know somewhere in an old photo album is a picture of me, about 2 years old, sitting in the laundry basket as Mom hung clothes on the line.
She loved putting clothes out to dry on the line. I don’t know if it was the smell for her, the being outdoors, or just not having to run the dryer in the house. But she loved hanging out the laundry.
I remember running in and out of the sheets as they blew in the breeze. My sister and I used to play hide and seek through the sheets as they dried in the warm summer air. It was a simpler, happy time in our lives.
Maybe that’s why I can’t live without a clothesline.
I cannot name a house that I spent any amount of time as a child that laundry hanging out wasn’t just commonplace. Each of my grandmothers had one. Even my great-grandma who lived in town had a small, square-shaped one that she used.
They all loved their clotheslines…. and that’s part of why I love my clothesline, too.
Why I Love My Clothesline Reason #1: Smell
I must admit, there is something just amazing about the smell of freshly washed and line-dried sheets on the bed. I love being outside anyhow, and having the smell of the outdoors wrapped around me lulls me to sleep faster than my electric blanket in winter.
The smell of the flowers and the grass embedded in my linen just makes me happy. And who doesn’t sleep better when they go to sleep happily?
Why I Love My Clothesline Reason #2: Sunshine
I don’t know if it’s true or not, but my family swears that the sun will bleach out stains (if you have any) left from just washing. I know a favorite of my grandma’s to wash first thing in the morning so she could hang them out all day was my grandpa’s work shirts.
Something about hanging them in the bright sunshine really seemed to get out the yuckiness of them from working hard all day long. I never remember my grandpa having a ring around the collar or anything on his work shirts. So maybe they were right.
Why I Love My Clothesline Reason #3: Energy-Efficiency
During the summer, it’s harder than heck to keep the house cool. I’m sure you have issues with it too, especially on laundry day. I love the fact that not only am I saving electric costs by not having to run the dryer, but it helps keep the air-conditioning from running constantly too.
It’s a win-win!
During the winter, we have our dryer vented into an indoor lint catching system to help heat the house. While that’s awesome to help with heating costs in the winter, it does nothing to help during the hot summer months. So not having to run the dryer at all is amazing.
(In case you are wondering, here is the indoor lint catching system we have.)
Why I Love My Clothesline Reason #4: Ambiance
Ok, I’ll have to allow you to make fun of me some for this reason. Goodness knows I do.
I think it makes the house look more “country” to passerby’s when there’s laundry hanging out on the line. It’s a crazy, country “status symbol” type of reason, I know.
But I’ll own it. I love that the neighbors mention how neat it is that I hang out our laundry. I love that people drive by and honk as I’m out there putting clothespins on damp laundry.
I can’t imagine living in the huge brick farmhouse we have without having laundry hanging out to add just that little something extra to the landscape.
Why I Love My Clothesline Reason #5: Convenience
Ok, this one is more why my hubby loves the specific clothesline that we have.
We live in his grandparents’ old homestead. His grandma had one of the old-school, permanently in the way clotheslines.
You know the ones. Made out of huge silver pipe concreted into the ground and harder then the dickens to mow around.
We upgraded to a retractable one.
The pole has a sleeve that is concreted into the yard, but the pole lifts out so that we can just mow right over it without having to bother trimming or weed eating or anything.
This is the clothesline we have. Make sure not to forget to purchase the pole to connect it to also.
Get One to Fall in Love With for Yourself
Even if you do not have a huge yard, the retractable option works even in small spaces. I used to live in a suburb, with a small yard, and still had one there. Just have a small patio? Get some clothesline rope and string one up yourself.
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