Farm Laundry question

[Woodland]

In trying to be Green I am hanging my laundry on the line to dry. But it dries so stiff and coarse feeling. i use liquid fabric softener in the rinse cycle - but still. And it feels stiff, "gritty and linty"!

Do you have the same results? Looking for advice here - thanks!

[easyrider]

I hang laundry, too. It is definitely stiffer than it gets in the dryer. My only suggestion is not to use too much detergent. Half of what they recommend is just about right, I think.

[fivehorses]

that is the beauty of hanging things out to dry, they get stiff.
Wear it or use it, and they soften right up.

My mom always hung things out to dry, I don't. But, I miss that stiffness.

[ReSomething]

In trying to be Green I am hanging my laundry on the line to dry. But it dries so stiff and coarse feeling. i use liquid fabric softener in the rinse cycle - but still. And it feels stiff, "gritty and linty"!

Do you have the same results? Looking for advice here - thanks!

Running it through the drier on "fluff" will soften it up and get a lot of the lint out without using as much energy. Towels were the ones that I really cared if they were soft and fluffy feeling so I did that. My breeches and jods I hang dry, I want the elastic to last as long as possible and they get "unstiff" real quick anyway.

And you need to rinse the heck out of things, too.

[kdow]

Skip the fabric softener and put vinegar in the rinse instead. A lot of the stiffness is from detergent residue and any minerals there might be in the water, and the vinegar helps to cut right through that stuff.

The laundry does sometimes smell a little bit of vinegar when you get it out of the wash, but that should go away once it's been hung up to dry. (If it doesn't, try using a little less vinegar next time. :) )

(I actually use just vinegar instead of fabric softener when I'm washing any towels or cloths I want to keep absorbent, even if I'm not planning to hang them to dry - fabric softener coats the fabric fibers and makes them less absorbent.)

[nadasy]

I LOVE the feel and smell of sheets towels and shirts etc., that have been line dried. I've always had a clothesline until I moved here. A combination of 40 mph winds and the birds make it frustrating, to say the least. I dry my towels over racks on the enclosed porch which works, and lots of things get hung over the rail on my Aga where they dry without tumbling (jeans, socks, and if I want warm dry nubby towels).

I have some pretty nice well water, but add a little vinegar to the rinse water also, and use only about a tablespoon of All High Efficiency detergent per load. The post about too much detergent and the use of fabric softener is so RIGHT. Fresh air smells better and feels better.

Love those air dried towels, they do soak up more and can get the circulation going.:lol:

[Frank B]

Many washers have a cycle with an extra rinse. It's cold water, so very little extra energy is used.

Also, if your dryer doesn't have a so-called "fluff" cycle mentioned above, use the "air dry" one. It's the same thing.

[TikiSoo]

I prefer line drying and actually hang wet clothes on hangars on the bathroom rod in winter to help humidify the house.
Vinegar absolutely helps, but a sprinkle of baking soda or even better, Borax in the washload is nature's water softener.
Dryers shorten the life of fabrics in half, especially elastic. And the heat sets stains. I mainly use my dryer to quickly get wrinkles out of a garment I want to wear rather than ironing. :)

[Nes]

Be carefull using vinegar if you've also got some bleach in that load, doesn't go well!

I just run everything through the dryer to stop hubby's whining, but I've also noticed a HUGE difference using a little less soap in the washer & everything still comes out clean! :)

[goodhors]

I use a lot less detergent in our softened water, along with less clothing in a full load. You want lots of water movement to get clothing clean, rinse water to remove the soap residue during the rinse cycle.

I have a top loader, and still only put 3 DIRTY pairs of Levi (heavy material) jeans in a full load and they come very clean after washing. DD and her dressy jeans, light material, can have 5 pairs in a load, all come out clean. I don't usually fill the tub more than half full, fluffy not packed down, in doing full loads of mixed clothing, and they all come out clean.

Had to give son a laundry lesson when he was last visiting, saw the grubby, final rinse water from his load of clothes. ICKKK! I took out half the load, started wash over with my smaller amount of soap. Less clothing in the machine load, needs less soap, equals CLEANER clothes when you finish. You save nothing except cash by cramming clothes in a washer and only doing a couple loads at the coin laundry. Clothes washed that way are still grimy, not white or bright. Clothes last longer if washed clean with more water action to remove dirt. He was surprised at how nice they all came out after drying. Most folks DO put in too many clothes for a load, so water action in the tub is limited in cleaning power.

All hung clothing does get a little stiff on the line. Usually just flapping it as you fold into the basket, gets rid of most of the stiffness. Got lots of practice with it as a kid. I don't hang clothes anymore, too much work and time to do it. Have MANY other jobs that need doing instead.

[kookicat]

I hang everything out in the summer too. I've found that giving everything a quick blast in the dryer softens it up nicely. I use a cool setting and only put them in for about five mins.

[Romany]

I've found out - by mistake - that leaving laundry out on the line overnight, so it gets re-energized by the morning dew before re-drying, leaves it nice and soft again.

I agree with the poster who mentioned that hanging laundry is also a great free way to humidify the house in the winter - our house is so dry from the pellet stove that laundry dries more quickly on the drying rack in the winter than it does in the antique tumble-drier!

[Nes]

For humidifying the house in the winter our dryer exhaust is connected to a sort of bucket structure. So the air drops off the lint, picks up water and sends moist warm air into the house - it is VERY nice mid-winter! However, it forces me to dry my clothes outside in the summer, so I`m always waiting for sunny days! :lol: That isn`t necessarily a bad thing...

I found this yesterday, how to hang-out laundry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgBrSmmutc0&feature=channel_page

[katarine]

Ditch the fabric softener- it ruins a towel's uptake :) you end up wiping off water, not absorbing it :), lower the soap amt you use, and add vinegar to the rinse water to really cut any residual soap

as has been suggested, leaving it out overnight and letting the dew gather on it then re-dry, softens it up some.

I love line dried clothes, b/c I like that stiffness in the cloth, esp cotton T shirts. The only way to deal with lint is to go ahead and dry those dark colored items from the get go. Black always goes the drier at my house, or else it gets that line dried haze on it LOL