So... you wanna make a clothesline?

I pretty much always use a clothesline in the summer. It helps me out for many reasons, and nothing as romantic as sheets that smell like honeysuckle or a fresh outdoor breeze, though.

The truth is, I quite enjoy hanging out the laundry and I can't explain to you why. It's time consuming and monotonous, but makes me feel... peaceful. I like that I can dry clothes in batches, and the laundry gets done much more quickly when I don't have to wait on the dryer. I like that I can dry larger things that won't fit in the dryer. I also like that the energy required doesn't cost me a penny.

My first clothesline at this house was made from repurposed lumber which we had leftover from an outdoor staircase we removed. I built it myself when my husband was at work and it worked really well. But I decided that the spot it was in needed a vegetable garden, so I took it down.


My second clothesline was this thing. It opens like and umbrella. We found it at a yard sale for $15. It lasted us 3 years, I believe, but this year it was done-for. The metal rods had rusted through and we couldn't repair it. It went to the scrapyard.

I have seen in my neighborhood some houses that have a long line reaching from the house itself to a tree or a post near the outside of the yard. The line is retractable and can be unhooked and coiled up to get it out of the way. I decided to make one of these. We just took the line out of the old umbrella hanger, but otherwise the cost would have only been $7 for the line and the hooks.







A couple durable steal hooks screwed into the utility post at the very edge of the back yard, and then a third bolted to the wooden brace on the corner of the house was all the installation it required.

If you don't have a utility pole, perhaps you have a shed, or a tree?

 

 

 The reason Joe staggered them was so it would be easier to wind the line around the two of them and prevent it from slipping off. We can adjust the slack as we need to.

When the line isn't being used, it can be coiled up and hung on the corner of the house, out of the way. This isn't a very tidy picture, but it can look neater than this.

 

 

For tips on properly hanging laundry, hop on over to Our Mindful Life! Kellie's got some great advice!