When most people do laundry, it is a two-step process. They put the laundry in the washer and after it has been cleaned, they move it over to the dryer before putting it away. It is the standard of how people have done laundry for a number of years, but that wasn’t always the case. You don’t have to look back too far into the past to realize that we may have been doing laundry wrong for the past few decades. After all, our grandmothers, and perhaps our mothers would hang the laundry out on the line to dry.
It is true that there were dryers in existence but not every household had one. Even if they did have one, the person doing laundry realized that there was nothing quite like hanging out the laundry to dry. Of course, just because you can hang laundry on the line does not necessarily mean that you are doing it right. In fact, there may be methods that you are aware of that could really make a difference in how you are doing your day-to-day laundry. You may want to use it regularly to air out your clothes of the fresh air or perhaps if your dryer breaks. In either case, remember the seven rules that will help you to get the most out of hanging your laundry out to dry.
1. Wipe the clothesline
The last thing you would want to do is to hang the clean clothes on a dirty clothesline. Always make sure that you wipe down the clothesline before you hang up clothes.
2. Hang shirts upside down
You might be tempted to hang the shirts by the shoulders but it can make bumps in the shirt once they are dry. Those bumps are going to be there for a while. You may have a bit of a crimp when you hang them upside down, but it irons easily and will be noticeable.
3. Hang socks by the toes
If you hang a sock by the heel, you would stretch it out. There is nothing quite as irritating as wearing a sock that has been stretched out.
4. Keep your clothes color-coded
White sheets and linens should be hung with other white clothing and colored pieces should be at the opposite end of the line. It’s the same reason why you would want to wash them separately, you don’t want the colors to bleed into the whites.
5. Hang sheets on the ends and delicates in the middle
The sheets are big enough to hide some of the intimate laundry that you may be hanging out. They may know it’s there but they won’t get a full look at it.
6. Group the clothespins
You can use a single clothespin to pick up multiple pieces of clothing. They would use this method to save money back in the day but being resourceful is always a good idea.
7. Ignore the weather
It doesn’t have to be the perfect sunny day to dry your clothes outside. It doesn’t matter if there was snow on the ground or if the weather was cold, you still had to get the laundry done. Try it, will be amazed at how well it works.