poll for do you air dry your laundry?

[eagle]

sorry about splitting this up. forgot to add the option for the poll. here we go.

also, if you wish, please add info about your work situation, since i think that is a partial reason why some choose not to air dry.

personally, i never gave this issue any thought, only when our dryer broke down did i start to look into it.

no judgement from me EITHER way.

AND

do you use a clothesline or do you use racks indoors (and there are outdoor ones too!)?

[mikala]

I air dry delicate sweaters, nice denim, bras/underwear, wool socks, fleece and synthetics that will dry quickly like workout clothes and long underwear. I primarily use an indoor drying rack next to a fan.

When I cloth diapered I air dried them as often as possible. The sun does really good things to stained diapers.

I'm a sahp but I had similar laundry habits when I worked. Environmentally I'd like to air dry more but the quantity of laundry we do combined with our climate makes it tricky.

[SnuggleBuggles]

If an item can't hack being tossed in the washer and dryer, I am quite disinclined to own it (nice dresses are an exception). I SAH so I don't have a lot of clothes that need to be dry cleaned.

[Binkandabee]

I dry everything until almost dry, then hang up to dry inside.....so I do both. This is how I avoid using an iron :) I don't ever hang anything up outside to dry due to my asthma.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I dry everything until almost dry, then hang up to dry inside.....so I do both. This is how I avoid using an iron :) I don't ever hang anything up outside to dry due to my asthma.

I never iron. I just catch things right when the cycle ends and fold right away. No wrinkles. If I miss the end of the cycle, I turn the dryer back on for 10-15 minutes.

[boolady]

We do both. We do not have a clothesline, though I'm not opposed to the idea. We use two drying racks. How does my work situation play into the equation? I can only do laundry when I'm home, but it doesn't mean it can't be drying when I'm away from the house.

[JBaxter]

Sweaters & Bras I air dry everything else goes in the dryer. As a kid we hung everything out. I vowed not to do that as an adult

[JElaineB]

I mostly use the dryer, but I air dry clothing labeled as "hang to dry" or "dry flat" and also bras. I WOH full-time.

[MelissaTC]

I do not dry my bras, shirts or any other delicate items. I have a 16 yr old dryer rack that I use to dry items. Clothes lines are against our HOA.

[123LuckyMom]

The weather in my area is, I feel, too changeable to air dry outside. Our neighbors are very Eco conscious and set up a clothesline when they first moved here. They used it for less than a month!

I do air dry lots of items inside, but it really doesn't save on energy, because I still run the dryer for the other items.

I'm curious, though, do any of you use a line outside in winter if you live in a cold climate? Don't the clothes freeze rather than dry?

[citymama]

I machine dry a lot - sheets, towels, most kids clothes, kitchen cloths, etc. Try to do so on low where possible, or medium.

But I line dry a lot too, especially when it isn't wet out. I use a clothesline on the deck when it's dry and sunny (which is about 9 months of the year) and hang indoors on hangars and frankly, on furniture in our study when it is wet out - the indoor heat seems to work wonders. I line dry kids and our tops, tshirts and shirts, jeans, dresses, skirts, grown-up pants (exercise, work, casual), and lay sweaters flat to dry. They tend to pill and fade less, last longer and look newer.

I work from home, but I rarely do laundry during work hours.

[MommyAllison]

We do both. We have an outdoor clothesline that we use often in decent weather, but we have pollen allergies so have to stop for a month or so when everything starts blooming. It definitely saves us on our electric bill during the summer though! There are some things that always get dried in the dryer (undies!) and DH hates line dried towels. We live in a dry climate so I'm sure an indoor drying rack would work well, but we have such a large amount of laundry that I think I'd need a lot of drying racks. :)

[abh5e8]

Yes. We dryer dry socks/undies and hang the rest.

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[BabbyO]

We do both, but mostly use the dryer. I hang the "dry flat", "hang to dry" and delicate items on a rack in my laundry room. I've wanted to get a clothesline outside as my parents always used a clothes line when I was growing up, but DH is not inclined to give up that much of our lawn for a permanent clothesline, and I've never had great luck with the temporary ones.

Frankly, at this point because I WOH and DH WFT, too, I don't know if I'd really use a clothesline a lot. Plus, I live in WI...and while my parents hung cloths on the line often well into Dec...I'm less inclined to bring frozen clothes into the house! :)

[indigo99]

I dry wool socks, underwear, sweaters, and DH's shirts on a drying rack or hanging in the house. Everything else goes into the dryer. I did hang a line inside our screened porch for when we do the tablecloth (can't go in the dryer) or wool mattress pad (would never get dry in the dryer). Our HOA says we aren't allowed to hang anything outside at all which I kind of hate. There are places we could put one where the only ppl who could see it are those living right behind us. The guy is the HOA VP though.

[zukeypur]

I either use the dryer, dry clean, or don't buy the item. I hate the feeling of air dried crunchy clothes.

[trales]

we line dry outside about 4 months per year, hang delicates inside, and everything else in the dryer. i WOTH during the academic year.

[hillview]

We both work full time. I air dry lululemon and other workout clothes. Everything else goes in the dryer. We'd need a WHOLE room to air dry everything!

[buttercup]

I'm curious, though, do any of you use a line outside in winter if you live in a cold climate? Don't the clothes freeze rather than dry?

Oh, they freeze :) I use my clothesline all summer and fall, but not in the winter. I have a drying rack for that.

[sariana]

Our HOA does not allow clotheslines in the yard, and we don't really have a space indoors for air drying. If I do have something to air dry, it goes on the drying rack either in the laundry room, which also serves as our garage access, or in the tub in the master bathroom. We don't use the tub, so it doesn't matter functionally, but it looks bad, IMO. DH hates it when I set up the rack in the laundry room because there's not a lot of space there, but I like to use the heat from the dryer, which builds up when the door to the room is closed.

I voted "We use the dryer" because I rarely air dry, only when absolutely necessary.

[ilfaith]

I voted I use the dryer...but I do air dry items that specify they need to be dried flat or hung to dry. Our HOA does not allow outdoor clothes drying (and since it is usually so humid here anyway, I wouldn't even attempt it). I can't imagine having all my laundry hanging all over the house...with three boys it's a never ending cycle.

[AnnieW625]

We do both and will air dry when the weather is great outside.

[baymom]

We do both, but mainly use the dryer even though the weather here would permit me to air dry a lot more than I do. I use a drying rack and hang stuff from our upstairs hallway railing. I will admit that I aspire to air dry a lot more than I do, but just haven't made it into a habit yet.

[KpbS]

I do not dry my bras, shirts or any other delicate items. I have a 16 yr old dryer rack that I use to dry items. Clothes lines are against our HOA.

This. I end up air drying most of the kids shirts--all uniform shirts, t shirts that aren't junky, anything I really want to pass from DS1 to DS2, etc. I've found their shirts are in much better condition and don't shrink like they do in the dryer if I toss them on the drying rack which has its permanent residence in my bathroom.

[wencit]

I use the dryer for our underwear, socks, towels, and sheets. Everything else gets air dried on a rack, which I use indoors during the colder months (November through March) and in the garage during the warm months. We wear mostly 100% cotton clothes, which shrink if I throw them in the dryer, no matter how low the temperature I set it to. DH has been on the receiving end of my wrath a few times when he's accidentally thrown my favorite pair of jeans into the dryer and they've shrunk so much they no longer fit. For that reason, he's no longer allowed to do the laundry!

ETA: I also throw the kids' clothes in the dryer, because I buy them on the larger side so they have room to grow into them and to deal with the shrinkage issue. Me? I'm not buying any bigger a size than I have to! :D

[Nooknookmom]

Air dry things that shrink. Dry rest. I have no certain days for laundry, seems to be every two days I do two loads.

Have line over washer and dryer so it's easier. I'm in Cali and we used to have the laundry room outside In Garage(normal here like it is in basements back east) anyway ...was a pita to hang dry clothes!

When our dryer croaked I hung dry for a month....;)

[mommylamb]

Kids' stuff all goes in the dryer. towels/sheets in the dryer. DH's and my stuff is split. underpants and t-shirts, etc are in the dryer. Most of our other clothes are hung dry. Indoor drying rack. We live in an HOA and they don't allow clothes lines.

[kboyle]

i air dry all my lululemon, kids under armour t shirts, and my bras. we have a clothesline that runs across our laundry room to one side. i use hangers with the shirts and hang pants over the line, same with bras.

i'd like to use the line outside but it's pretty high and i couldn't reach it when we moved in so it's doubtful my 4'11" self grew and could reach it now.

our dryer lately has been catching on some clothes and getting stuck, so it's causing holes when it does. anything thin (athletic gear), expensive, or important gets line dried unless it's heavy material, that's not getting stuck as the dryer rotates.

[Dream]

During winter I hang dry all the Hanna and Boden in the laundry room which is also where the boiler is. All other clothes I dry in the machine. During summer I air dry everything in the backyard where we have a clothing line.

[marymoo86]

I air dry both DDs clothes except undies and PJs. Some of DHs clothes and mine are air dried depending on item. Of course sheets/towels are dryer.

So we do both - I WFT part in home/part office

[speo]

I am a sahm and I really can't imagine air drying most of our clothes. I air dry some of mine and a few of DH's shirts. My family generates a lot of clothes. Each person has a minimum of 2 rounds and many times 3 rounds of clothes per day. This includes pjs, school uniform, and sports/workout clothes. Plus we have cloth napkins and "paper" towels. Also with my allergies and asthma, I couldn't take clothes dried outside. And our washer/dryer is in the garage, so that is where things dry.

I would MUCH rather give up my dishwasher (and I run a load every day) over my dryer.

[echoesofspring]

I air dry anything delicate, or that might shrink. I have a wall mounted drying rack in the laundry area and a larger fold-able one for outside. When we did a lot of cloth diapering I line dried those because the sun truly was amazing for getting stains out. I'll sometimes do an oxyclean load and then sun dry for the same reason.


hate the feeling of air dried crunchy clothes.
What is up with the that crunchy feeling? I feel like I read when I was CD-ing more that it depended on where you lived if your clothes were crunchy or not. Honestly it's so hot and sunny here in the summer I would probably feel compelled to line dry more if everything was soft once it dried.

[ECMom]

The only items we use the dryer for are towels, sheets, and underwear & socks for my husband and I. Everything else we air dry. I am currently a SAHM but we've done this even when I was working.