If I had a dollar for every time I have heard, "I can't line-dry, we can't have a clothesline where I live," over the past 3 years, well... I would have enough money to buy a new stash of diapers! It seems there are always HOAs in condos or rules in apartments saying the occupants cannot put a line outside the dwelling. Or people will say their weather is bad, so line-drying isn't an option. Well, I live in Washington- the state- where it rains 362 days of the year (but you'd better believe I have my diapers out in the sun on those 3 days of the year we see the light!), and I still line-dry my diapers. I just had to do some rigging.First, I bought a drying rack- the cheap wooden kind my grandma would have hung "slacks" on back in the day. ('m pretty sure I paid $10 for it. I tried it out- draped my diapers over it, but I really couldn't fit a lot, and they really didn't get dry all that fast. Back to the store. I found some pant hangers that had clips on them for holding the pants on- and the clips were removable, so I bought them, took them home, and put the clips on my drying rack. Voila! It held a lot more diapers! Then I found those same clips for cheaper in the laundry section of another store- sans hangers- so I got more! By this time, I've still spent only about $25 for my whole drying rack with clips.
I've been drying my diapers on these racks for almost 2 years now. I hang the diapers up during the day, leave them overnight, and by morning all the inserts need is a "fluff" in the dryer for about 10 minutes. I'm not doing 2 cycles in the dryer like I did when I first started using cloth, and that really helps the electric bill! (Hey, more money saved that I can spend on diapers!) Oops, sorry... I mean better for the environment and stuff. But really, I think I'm extending the life of my diapers by not tumbling them for a couple of hours in the dryer, and at the very least I'm saving electricity.So for the bargain price of around $25, you, too can line-dry your diapers.
By Stacy F.
31 comments:
Me too. I started line drying all the time, but throwing the stuff that gets stiff into the dryer with another load of clothes. I do this because each load costs money on a quarter machine.
I have only been cding for about 2 months...and I live in Washington too. I utilized the sun whe i could...but I have been trying to think of a better way to hang my diapers. Those clips are a great idea! Thanks for sharing!!!
I do the same thing! We live in a townhouse and our condo assoc. is mean... They don't let us do anything or put anything outside.
I have the same exact rack but no clips. I probably owe the roominess I have on it to elimination communication or EC. Combining EC with cloth diapering makes the lowest impact by not using as many diapers (not needing to buy as many diapers, thus not washing as many, saving money on soap and energy, etc). I typically use about 3-4 diapers in a 24 hour period! If my rack does get crowded, i use the side wooden bars... and then i'll use anything from the kitchen chairs to the empty hangers in our closets!
Great idea to buy that rack! I also use my back porch railing that gets sunlight half the day.
That's what I want to do. I live by a steel plant. So I don't want to hang my cloths out on the line to get soot all over them. Thanks for the tip.
I love the clip idea! I was using the same rack, but without the clips so not many diapers fit. I'll have to try that!
I love the idea of using those clips! I have to dry everything inside too, and your idea seems much better than mine (using hangers in doorways throughout the apartment, where I hit my head and they fall down!)
lmao! i love the line "oops...i mean better for the enviroment and stuff." the ONLY thing that wouldve been better is saying "and junk." :)
i do something similar. cept with hangers...no clips. i do my laundry so that right before bed theyre out of the wash. i hang them like pants on hangers, then they go in the bathroom. i wake up, pee [tmi?] and that smy reminder of HEY DIAPERS TO DRYER DIAPERS TO DRYER! tens mins, TOPS, and theyre perfect. the ONLY one that isnt if my grobaby AIO snap-in. but i just let it hang til nap time and its good to go. :)
What kind of clips are those? I'm line-drying on the little rack inside, too (also live in Washington!), but I've been draping and they don't all fit.
Drying racks are also great for those like me who are allowed to put up a line...but have so much backyard shade that there's no good place to put one. With my folding drying rack, I can follow the sun -- or set it up in the garage if it's raining.
I love my drying rack, during rainy season you just never know how much sunshine you'll get on any given day. It is really nice that I can just pull the diapers inside.
Thanks for the encouragement...living in WA, I sometimes get discouraged about line-drying. I just need to get better about putting the drying rack out overnight. :)
I was just telling my husband I need to get a rack or string up a line indoors. As it is, we end up with diapers draped over the back of the dining room chairs, since I'm trying to line dry more.
Once we move I'll be able to hang outside, though!
I have been using my drying rack like this as well. I just got some large plastic clothes pins at Walmart (eek) and pin up the inserts and anything I don't want to drape. On a sunny or not raining day the rack goes out on the deck. I'm in Maine where the weather is unpredictable, so I can only leave out if I am home! I'm working on getting DH to put up a real clothes line...even though we own our home and have plenty of property we are in a newer home with trees far from the house so it will take some work to have a line that is practical for me (i.e. not such an effort to get to it never gets used :)).
I have not yet air dried my prefold diapers. Although I feel like I should, it is just sooo easy to throw them in the dryer. I do line dry my covers, though. So far, the diapers are holding up great despite all the tumbling, but we are definitely gobbling up some extra coal-fired electricity!
Anyway, I like the clips/rack idea and wanted to add that I just bought a HUGE drying rack at Target for $25. I mean, this is the mother of all drying racks and you could fit a ton of diapers on it. I bought it for my line-dry clothes, but may end up using it for diapers as well.
Thanks for the motivation!! :)
When I've line-dried inside in the summer, my stuff gets a musty smell though....
I have those clips too they are great: ) I got mine at wal mart where the hangers are; ) Kelly.... what all is in YOUR stash??? hmmm :-D
We live in Georgia where we have the opposite weather problem (it's been over 90 degrees every day since, seriously, May) but although we finally have an outdoor area I've never thought I had the time to set up a whole clothesline. This drying rack with clips idea is perfect.
That is a great tip! I do have a line out in back but that is great for the winter!
We line dry also, a lot of time inside. It helps speed up drying time if you set up your rack in a room with a ceiling fan (especially one where the fan is on anyways!).
You can get the clips 5/1.00 at Walmart! We use them on our baby coathangers.
Thanks for this post! I keep telling myself to line dry despite the elements (pollen, rain, etc.), so you've really motivated it to just do it already!
In an effort to start line drying, I got a really cute little octopus hanging dryer from Ikea. It's called the Pressa Hanging dryer with 16 clothes clips and costs only $4.99. I've been able to fully dry eight BG shells, liner and doublers in just a day. It's great to be able to cut down on the electricity bill and use less A/C in one fell swoop.
Thanks again, Gaby
I have a huge drying rack that has two sides and three levels, it fits a ton of diapers. I just cip them on at night and by the early afternoon all they need is a little fluff in the dryer. My rack also has wheels so I can wheel it inside and out very easilly to take advantage of the sun when it makes an appearance.
We use a similar rack (about $10), and it is working well. I use prefolds mostly, so I "have" to lay them out. If I run out of room on my rack, I put the covers in the bathroom on the shower curtain rod. I LOVE that I can fill the rack fromt he washer and then put it outside - so much easier!
I live in a small apartment and my stand-up drying rack doesn't fit, so I found another solution, and it's only $4.99 at IKEA. These are simply wonderful, and they take up virtually no space when hung from a hook on the ceiling! Check it out:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80189663
What a great idea for getting more diapers onto your drying rack. I used to use a drying rack in my basement for my diapers until my husband installed my clothesline. I will have to remember your clip idea when winter comes and I have to start drying indoors again.
I actually have a pot rack that I purchased at a garage sale for $5. Hanging it from the ceiling in our laundry room which is extremely sunny, gets the job done well without a nasty drying rack to trip over. And Target now sells pants clips as part of the Huggable Hangers collection which are reasonable and great for this! Excellent suggestions... Thanks!
That's what I use. Sometimes in the kitchen, sometimes on my deck. I can even take it out of town with me when I travel by car because it is so compact!
I'm glad to see this. I often talk myself out of line-drying for various reasons...it's raining, it's mowing day, etc. Thanks for the reminders.
I am so going to try this method!
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