[Greenbuilding] drying clothes

[candtcampbell at juno.com]

>> I have not experimented with different detergents. My clothes are almost
>> exclusively cotton and the city water probably is medium hard. But if I were
>> to put a pair of blue jeans out to dry on a rack, I would expect the jeans
>> to be so stiff when dry that they would almost stand by themselves.


>Hm. You say you 'would expect' this. And I sense that your expectation would
>be that this state of affairs would be unacceptable. I wonder if you tried
>it (the drying on a rack, and putting the clothes on afterward) and report
>back. Most of the world doesn't use clothes dryers and somehow they manage.

I didn't say I couldn't manage. I'm trying to avoid potential problems before I consider investing in equipment. 


>>And badly wrinkled too. Underwear, flannel shirts and T shirts would fare no
>> better.

>I've washed all my laundry cold and dried it on the rack everywhere I've
>lived. I've also never ironed anything except, very rarely, a shirt. I don't
>go to weddings that often. I suppose I've been missing out all these years,
>but honestly I'm not sure what the problem is that you've conjured in your
>mind.

As problems go, wrinkles are pretty insignificant. But if I can avoid them, I will, just to be socially acceptable.

>that is not my experience with blue jeans and cotton shirts, and I've been 
>hanging clothes on the line for a long time.

>Bob Waldrop, OKC

If you are hanging outdoors, I would think that the breeze blowing would deal well with the wrinkles. But I would also think that you risk soiling by birds and insects.

>Nor mine.  Nothing is stiff, and most of the wrinkles hang out.  Most of the >clothes are cotton.

Don't the clothespins themselves create pinch marks?

>(If you hang the shirts and pants upside down, and use 2 pins at the bottom >corners, there's often no need for an iron.)

Excellent tip, thanks.

Charles