I’d give anything to be able to line dry again like I’m accustomed to back home (Tropical Caribbean Island). Since I’m in an apartment, that’s impossible. However, since it’s getting hot again, I might just investigate the clothes rack idea. Couple that with a ceiling fan and popping a window on a Saturday, and I think I should be good.

Before I came up there (US in 2003) a dryer was, quite literally, a foreign concept.
–
Baz L
Day In The Life of Baz

I am a retired woman (at 57).
Yes, I have a dryer (hand me down). We live on a ranch in Arizona, so the majority of time clothes are outside line dried. BUT, it rained & snowed this week and two loads were done. They were first “line dried” on hangers on a clothes rod over the washer/dryer or on a shower curtain rod. Only if absolutely necessary are they ever put into our electric clothes dryer, and then finished off in dryer after they dry overnight etc on hangers. This week it was one pair of jeans that I needed to wear to do volunteer work the next day.

My rule for overnight line drying, was absolute even for my teens who needed sport uniforms day to day — line dry over night first and finish in dryer, if needed, before school the next day!

Second, I have learned over the years, to acquire basic clothes, pants, shirts, and jackets, in very good fabrics (usually new, but on very good markdown). If you purchase when styles are oversized, you can cut/sew them into smaller versions as they cycle into slimmer styles. Then I buy new (usually on sale) undies & tee shirts in the current style/colors to wear against skin, which I need to toss into laundry bin daily.

My GF and I have the same sort of concept, We differ in the names, we have home/farm clothes, and our good clothes, but the result is the same.

As we live in FNQ OZ we don’t even own a dryer or plan to get one. When it rains we just put them on a fold out clothes rack under a ceiling fan and they are dry by morning.

We also have laundry/cleaning day when all the washing is done and hung in the sun to dry.

The only thing we have to do is to hang our clothes inside out so they don’t fade prematurly due to the sun.

@NYC ERE – It’s 80% machine and 20% hand wash (my shirts).

Longest I’ve ever gone without doing laundry was 3 months, and I still had enough clothes to probably last another 3 months at that. Yea, I know, I have a lot of clothes, but most of them are items I’ve had for more than a decade or so. The thing I run out of the fastest are socks, and when I don’t have any left I just wear flip flops. You got to love a job that has no dress code, it’s great that everyday is casual Friday.

MoneyHangry

I noticed that since I got into frugal living (last year) I started extending the time I wear my clothes before washing them.
Basically I switched from a fixed schedule to a “sniff test” based decision
and indeed I reduced my washing machine cycles.

I kept the kid habit to change clothes after work, and every time I’m at home I dress comfortably and absolutely without shoes (barefoot as much as I can!)

@MoneyHangry: I agree, dress code in the office is very annoying, glad I don’t have one!!

@mm – Haha, indeed. Sometimes I’m surprised to be informed that some of my advise is illegal. For example, some home owner’s associations forbid people from line drying the clothes. Maybe this is the one good reason to travel.

@laura – Superfluous consumption can be seen as a sign of power—I must be rich since I can afford to waste so much. Associating with such power can be beneficial as well—I’m friends with the rich one, so I must be special too.

Plenty examples from the animal world. Humans are no different—it’s simply a result of a focus on hyperconsumption.

For all us nonconsumers, it’s a pretty sad sight actually

Our homeowners association has a clause prohibiting clotheslines, but I wonder if they would actually enforce it. I’ll have to test it out. I normally hang my work clothes on hangers in doorways.

I never really thought about this statement, but I think it is absolutely correct: “Thus once laundry got faster we simply started doing more of it.”

My schedule – I wear my office clothes 2-3 times before washing and change into my play clothes (shorts/t-shirt) when I come home from work. I usually do one load of laundry each week – t-shirts/socks/underwear and another every other week or so – work clothes, etc.

I definitely have a lot of friends who change their clothes three times a day, but then they wash all of those clothes after only having worn them for the first half of the day. Such a waste, but they’re convinced that by touching their clean body, their clothes have mysteriously become dirty.

Clotheslines aren’t allowed where I live (we tried, but were told to take it down), but drying racks seem to be permissible. I guess the racks aren’t so “unsightly”, and probably seen as less “permanent”. It cost more to buy a sturdy drying rack than string up a line, but it has already paid for itself.

I’m too lazy to line-dry outside; using a drying rack indoors right next to the washing machine works great in all weather. And we wash everything in cold water, which saves energy and money and still gets everything clean. Every once in a while a towel will start to smell like mildew; then a few hours in the sun is needed.

It’s funny how germ-phobic Americans are these days. As long as I smell nice, who cares how many times I’ve worn a piece of clothing before?

Line-drying and breast-feeding illegal?!

Damn, that blew my mind… that’s all I will be able to think of today, and my long-suffering DW will get served another rant, I’m afraid

USA, Land of the Free indeed. I lived there for one year, and it was the most restrictive and oppressive place I’ve ever lived (OK, it was mainly in fun-hating Boston but my sense of freedom was strongly inhibited everywhere else too.).