Do you air-dry your laundry or do you use a dryer?
@highflyingxangel (9225)
United States
January 31, 2009 10:52pm CST
For the second or third week now, everytime we've washed our clothes and tried to dry them in the dryer, well, it just did not work out. We made a late night trip to Walmart about a week ago to get a drying rack so we could air-dry all of our clothes.
We had to dry shirts, socks, under wear, jeans and towels this way. We were running out of room in our bedroom so we had to make the extra trip for the drying rack so we could have extra space.
We made the decision to save money on laundry, since we have the new drying rack, to only machine dry our jeans and towels and to air dry our shirts, underwear and the like. It is saving us a few dollars by doing this and it is a better for the environment. Well, tonight was the first night to try only machine drying our jeans and well that didn't work out so well either. Now our room is full of clothing that never got dried!
We are really getting tired of constantly paying for dryer's that don't dry our clothes! I'm starting to feel like someone is messing with our dryer when we're not around and that is why our clothes aren't drying. My partner doesn't think so, but it truly is getting old.
So, anyway, onto the question. How do you dry your laundry? Air-dry? Machine dry? A mix of both? If you air-dry your laundry, how do you do it? Drying racks? A clothesline? Have you seen any dramatic increases in money saving because of air-drying?
4 people like this
12 responses
@eagle_f15 (1827)
• Malaysia
1 Feb 09
I air dry..in fact sun dry the laundry in my house. I live in an apartment and there's a special cage like thing with bars above for hanging laundry. So that's the place where the clothes are all hanged to dry. Never owned or did have a dryer before. Most of the household from where I come from have a washing machine but having a dryer is rare here. Don't intend to get a dryer too.
2 people like this
@bamakelly (5191)
• United States
12 Feb 09
I can understand that living in an apartment can have its certain needs for special ways of drying clothes. It sounds like a great idea you have there for laundry hanging. It seems kind of convenient. I also think that hand drying things could be better in the long run. They seem to be fresher that way.
@tigerdragon (4297)
• Philippines
1 Feb 09
it depends on the kind of place you stay. if you are on a high rise apartment then you do not have the luxury of space to hang dry your clothes.so, you really need some sort of an electric dryer for your clothes but if one stays in a house and lot then it is very practical to air dry most clothings. i do air dry my washed clothings and better yet under the sun.
2 people like this
@cripfemme (7698)
• United States
1 Feb 09
I try to use the dryer, but as the one in my apartment building doesn't often work well; it often ends up air dying at least in part. Thanks for posting this discussion it reminded me to get my laundry which I had forgotten in the washer. My assist just moved it to the dryer.
@highflyingxangel (9225)
• United States
1 Feb 09
You're welcome! I hate forgetting laundry in the machines. I hate getting too busy and not remembering to do anything.
1 person likes this
@bamakelly (5191)
• United States
12 Feb 09
That has happened from time to time in my case. More often then not I get caught up doing some other chore and I forget all about the clothes in the washer. It can be a pain to deal with sometimes but the wash has to get done.
I am really glad that I at least have a washer at this point. No dryer to speak of at this time.
@checapricorn (16061)
• United States
3 Feb 09
[i]Hi angel,
We are using dryer but I I love that idea, I will also try to find that rack at walmart, It's always nice to save money!
[/i]
1 person likes this
@highflyingxangel (9225)
• United States
1 Feb 09
Thank goodness for dryers that work!
2 people like this
@gitfiddleplayer (10362)
• United States
2 Feb 09
I put it in the dryer, I don't have time to air dry it.
1 person likes this
@bamakelly (5191)
• United States
12 Feb 09
That is something that I am sure a lot of people do. Just put it in the dryer. It might make life easier that way for a lot of people. I guess it just depends on how much time you have to deal with drying your clothes.
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
17 Feb 09
when the weather permits it we will dry clothes outside that is if the weather is at least 50 out. But if not I will use the both the line and dryer. I have a clotheslines I will set up in my kitchen and dry clothes that way. When out electric was out that is what I did also when I hand washed a few items that we needed. It does same money for us. In the summer out bills are cheaper then in winter because of the dryer so I figure we save about $5-10 a month buy line drying alone in the summer.
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
21 Mar 09
I use a dryer to dry my laundry. Even though my dryer is just about on it's last leg I'd hate the thought of having to use a clothesline. With all the wild birds we have around here the laundry would most likely get pooped on and I'd have to wash everything all over again (and again and again). Which would just end up costing more in the long run. 
@irishmist (3814)
• United States
21 Mar 09
I used to have a dryer, but when I moved there was no dryer hookup, although I do own my washer. I do laundry twice a week, and hang it on my shower curtain rack and I have a wooden dryer rack. In the summer I Have a line on my enclosed back porch and outside.
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
22 Mar 09
In winter I usually use the dryer. However, when we are exceptionally low on funds then I will line dry as much as I can. I don't use a drying rack currently though I did in the past. I have a line outside, but in winter one can't do that nor do I feel like trudging thru the snow.... so then I have some over the door hooks, extra room upon occasion in a closet, and of course hanging them from the shower rod.
If your drying rack isn't drying as well... could you put it in the sun & or have a fan blow on them as well. Sometimes it's best not to put as much on there as you have room otherwise it takes forever to dry.
@Shar19 (8231)
• United States
2 Feb 09
I use our dryer since we don't have anywhere to hang the clothes inside. When it's warm outside in the Spring and Summer I will hang most of the clothes outside on our clothes line. I really never noticed much difference in saving money by airing them outside.
1 person likes this
@maezee (41988)
• United States
16 Feb 09
My dryer works, but a lot of my clothes (especially work clothes) HAVE to be "hung dry" or "lay flat to dry" (or so says the care label) so I have to use the drying rack on those. I recently bought a small-sized drying rack, but my laundry room is so cramped that sometimes it's hard to navigate through without knocking clothes off of the rack and having to re-clean them (and then re-dry them). I love using drying racks, though, because not only do they save on electricity - but you also reduce the chance of having your clothes shrink.
I LOVE using the outdoor clothesline, though. The only problem is that friends of mine (who live in the same neighborhood) have had their things stolen in the past because of it. :[
