Where I live we have a winter and a very cold long winter at that. In the winter I dry my diapers in the dryer and pail liners and wet bags get hung up. I just do not have the space to hang everything up and I keep my house cool, so it was take forever for them to dry. Now that it is warmer, above freezing, I hang them outside on a clothes line. It is always windy here, so they dry fast and the sun is great at getting all the poop stains out. I also love how they look on the line and always make sure the colors are facing the street, so everyone can enjoy them. I have also found that hanging then outside has almost completely eliminated the stink issue I was having and after a few washes and hangs the inserts fluffed back up to how they were when I got them 10 months ago.
I am not looking forward to winter again and having to put them back in the dryer and not being able to see them swaying in the breeze.
- By Angela S.
49 comments:
I love that picture! I hang mine to dry as well.
I need a clothesline.
I line dry when I can, then do a 10 minute fluff in the dryer. If I don't, my prefolds are crunchy and very hard. Unless it's a really windy day, then mother nature takes care of that for me! :) I do love drying the diapers on the line. Like you, I've noticed it helps with the stink issue and the stains. Not to mention all the electricity I'm saving.
I line dry them, but being in the desert, that's a bit of a no-brainer. I am wondering what drying them in the dryer does to the elastic? Have you noticed that it is wearing down? I also have bumGenius... and several photos like yours because I, too, love how that looks!!! :)
That's nice to know about the insertes. I wish I had a clothesline! Maybe we'll get one. We use the dryer for inserts and prefolds and dry on a rack indoors for covers and pocket diapers. Then I put anything with stains outside in the sun on a towel. I would be in trouble with the HOA if anything were to be seen from the street!
I push the button on the dryer. :) Would like to hang them, but my "yard" is about the size of my living room - we live in a townhouse in south Florida. Plus our housing association is fine happy, so I'm sure if they spotted any clothes hanging, even in the back, then they'd slap a fine on our door. Boo!
Right now I have to resort to drying them in our dryer and putting any stained ones in the window sill to combat stains.
In less than 3 weeks, however, we're moving to a HOUSE! With a yard! And a CLOTHESLINE!
I couldn't be more excited -- I can't wait to hang my pretty dipes out for the world to see!
Right now I have to do them in the dryer, but when we move in 3 weeks I'll be able to hang them!!
I'm a little sad that our baby will be born just as it starts getting cooler out (September), because I've been loving the way our cloth diapers look when they are hanging outside on a clothesline. I also think they stay in better condition longer when I can keep them out of the dryer.
I dry inserts, prefolds and fitteds in the dryer for 20 minutes or so and then use a clothes rack for the remainder drying time. Use the clothes rack for the pockets...in the winter the rack sits in front of the heater and in the summer, it sits outside in the sun!
I also feel such joy seeing our dipes drying on the line in the sun! Ahhh!
I live some where really hot and still don't dry on a clothesline, I really need to get one so I can start!
We do the same here... Dry outside in the warm weather, and dryer when it's cold.
I too do a mixture of both machine and line drying. I also love the look of all the beautiful colors hanging on my line when I get a chance to put them out to dry.
I am so glad I clicked over here. You reminded me that I needed to bring in the diapers before I go to bed! As I was hanging them out this afternoon I wondered if I was the only one who loves to see diapers hanging outside. Guess not! : ) Thanks for the post!
LOVE the picture!! We can't have clotheslines, per se, but I dry our diapers on our lawn furniture to sun them ;0). When I must dry inside due to weather, I sometimes dry them in the dryer when I need them in a hurry or I hang 2 pockets side-by-side on an adult-size hanger until they are dry from a shelf in our (tiny) laundry room.
I love the picture of your diapers on the line! It makes me want to wash tomorrow just to hang mine out (though tomorrow isn't wash day).
I like to hang my diapers on a rack outside. Fortunately, living in southern CA, there is no shortage of sunny days!
I use a dryer rack outside in the nice weather. I am trying to convince my husband to put a line out, but I don't think it is going to happen since we too have very loooong winters.
I was wondering about this (being new to cloth diapering and all). Hubby is going to put up a line for the diapers and I will hang as often as I can. Luckily it doesn't stay cold here long so I won't have to use the dryer much, I am looking forward to trying this out :).
Just curious how you get your diapers to stay soft? I have noticed that my fitteds get crunchy in the dryer. I too love the photo of your diapers on the line. So cute!
Ditto and Ditto! Mine hang in the Summer and tumble in the Winter. I just have to be aware to get them in as soon as they're dry or the Oklahoma bugs try to hitch a ride inside...boo!
Great pic! I hang dry my pocket shells and usually throw my prefolds and inserts in the dryer. I don't have enough inserts to wait for them to dry!
Awww cute picture. I wish I could hang mine outside to dry. My inserts and AIOs go in the dryer and my pockets dry on a clothes rack.
Love seeing diapers on a line. So cute!
I do both. I line dry in the summer (after the pollen is gone) but use the dryer during the winter.
ive been using the dryer exclusively. id like to line dry, but im afraid of colors fading. that, and i don't own a clothesline!
I dry in the dryer (also have an hoa that would flip out if I line dried outside)
but they arent drying, so I think we need to clean out the dryer vent again (just did that this spring, too) so my fitteds lay out on the changing table to finish drying.
When I do hang out my diapers outside I hang them on a wooden rack from LL Bean. This spring and summer though it has been very rainy here in Maine so the dryer has gotten a lot of use. I do like using the wooden rack though because if I am at home during the day and see that it is going to rain I can just bring the rack inside.
That pic is precious! I'm new to cloth, so I am looking forward to reading all the responses for some good ideas. Here's what works for now---I hang pockets and covers in my laundry room on wooden drying racks, dry the microfiber inserts in the dryer on the delicate heat/damp setting and then take them out to finish drying on the racks. With AIOs, I put them in the dryer on fluff/no heat to get the excess water out of them before hanging them on the rack to finish drying too. The only thing I dry totally in the dryer are the prefolds and cotton doublers...but that should soon change. I'm hoping to pick up a *real* clothesline this weekend for the new backyard (we just moved and now have the space). :)
I line dry too. But, I will admit, that I like how soft they are when I have to dry them in the dryer (especially the Swaddlebee ecconappi!).
I love using a clothesline. I don't have one at home, but just used it while on vacation at the beach. Will be buying a clothesline pronto!
I must not be leaving mine outside long enough. They are dry, but the stains and slight stink issue are still problems for me.
I would love to line dry and have just bought a clothes line, but so far have only used the dryer.
This is neat. I want to hang my diapers too, but did you have any complaints with neighbors or anything? I am so afraid of someone saying something that I'm thinking of getting a dryer rack so that it will be more discrete. I live in Alaska, so I will definitely have to dry them inside for months at a time!
my clothes line is "down for repairs" right now. so I put a quilt down on the driveway and lie the diapers on it.
or hang then on the shelves on the laundry room if it's raining or overcast.
I just adore seeing photos of colorful diapers hanging on a clothesline, so cute! I'm actually quite jealous, my HOA doesn't allow clotheslines...booo. :(
Jennifer, we just moved from an apartment complex that was"fine happy" too and it SUCKED not being able to let our dipes dry in that amazing sun we got on the porch! I'm sorry!
I have three in diapers and love to dry outside. I have to deal with the dreaded homeowners association too, so I make use of the "allowed" things. Use the trampoline - it allowed for great circulation and you get a good sunning on the needed sides. On more windy days, I put a line up along my fenceline using the post. It is only a few inches from the fence, so no one can see it unless they are snooping in my yard. Yep...leave it up to a mom to out smart the HOA!
I have a drying rack that I use for my pocket diapers and inserts. It takes a while for them to dry inside, but I put the rack outside whenever it's sunny. I love how the sun dries them quickly and bleaches out any of the stains on the inserts.
I heart my clothesline! I love living in the country for that reason alone LOL!
I put mine in the dryer... We only have 1 tree in the Backyard and the house isn't big enough for a drying rack!
I have been daydreaming about a clothes line ever since we started cloth diapering :) I love that picture! We use the dryer and I got an octopus hanger from Ikea that has lots of clips. I hang the covers and outsides of our pockets on that.
We rent and arent allowed to hang dry but I would love to. I usually use the drier or if its really warm, I hang them in the kitchen to dry.
I would love to dry my diapers on a clothesline. I keep begging my hubby to put one up for me. We currently use a drying rack outside, but the sun doesn't touch all of the diapers.
i LOVE seeing diapers hanging on a line. But my husband is sooooo anti clothes line. I have a drying rack on the back porch that I can use, but most of the itme it's straight intot he dryer, which makes me a little sad.
I dry mine in the dryer. I am going to be getting a clothesline put in soon though. I have been having a hard time getting the odor out of my sons diapers (yucky ammonia smell) and I think sunning them will help.
This is one of my biggest "worries" about CDing. I am hoping to make a "makeshift" clothsline off my french balcony!
I hang all my dipes, on an indoor collapsable drying rack. i live in an apt, so nowhere to put a clothes line, and they only have coin dryers here. So I save my quarters and my dipes and dry indoors.I have also been looking into an electric spin dryer. They look very interesting.
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